50 Reasons I Love My Job

I receive comments all the time about my articles in this paper. Looking closely at my most popular articles, I discovered a common theme: emotion. The articles that people seem to truly enjoy convey great hope or a touch of the heart, these are the ones that people react to the most. I’ve always heard that people follow emotion.
In a great book: 14,000 Things To Be Happy About, Barbara Ann Kipfer lists all the little things that made her happy over a 20-year period.
Among them: being tucked in at night, baby’s first words, pajamas at breakfast, autumn leaves, refunds and surf.
Her book inspired me to think of some of my own. The following are a list of 50 things that make veterinary medicine the greatest profession on earth. I’d recommend doing this with your own life and work.
Such words and images can be a good source of pleasure and inspiration.
1. Purring Kittens
2. James Herriot stories
3. Cats playing with string
4. Children’s crayon drawings of animals and their pets
5. Treating a crazy cat and living to tell about it
6. Stupid pet tricks
7. Driving to a house call on a sunny, cool morning
8. A cat rubbing against you
9. Being nuzzled by a puppy
10. Being the ultimate general practitioner—different species, problems and diseases
11. A newly referred client
12. Placing a homeless pet in a loving home
13. Dogs that say “thanks”
14. Receiving flowers, gifts and “thank you” notes from clients
15. Hearing about all the different “treats” owners give their pets
16. Firm stool after diarrhea
17. Heartwarming visits to your favorite house-call clients
18. Hanging your veterinary diploma on the wall
19. Helping the elderly with their pets
20. A 28th-year anniversary at the hospital
21. Pets that don’t need to be held during an exam
22. Pets that don’t shed or make a mess in the office
23. Pets dressed in Halloween costumes
24. Children listening to their pet’s heartbeat with your stethoscope
25. Staff that enjoy what they are doing
26. The critical patient that makes it
27. The unusual names and nicknames owners give their pets
28. Rescuing a parvo puppy or one hit by car
29. Veterinary school friendships that endure
30. Receiving Christmas cards from pets
31. Dogs cocking their heads when you talk to them
32. Giving school lectures
33. Visits to the hospital by Brownies, Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts
34. Having my daughters come to work to see the “new” animals
35. Big dogs that think they are lap dogs
36. Kids that say “this place smells”
37. My Norman Rockwell print of a veterinarian
38. Clients bragging about their pets
39. Knowing a client by their pet and not their last name
40. Driving down the street and seeing one of my clients
41. “Macho men” baby talking to their pets
42. Dogs greeting their owners after a stay in the clinic
43. Enthusiasm of high-school volunteers
44. Diagnosing a rare disease
45. Successfully placing an IV catheter in a ferret
46. Saving a ketoacidotic diabetic pet
47. Being a Rube Goldberg when trying to fix something, and it works!
48. Being able to call my patients Rags, Fluffy and Zippy
49. Dog sweaters
50. The rewards of job satisfaction, pride and contributing to pets well-being that comes with being a part of the veterinary profession