John, I too miss the "good old days" where most vets were just a
phone call away and also treated various species of animals (with the
advanced warning if they were experienced or not). It's rare that I
see that anymore. Young vets study a specialty in med school and
are so overly focused that they lack the more general and creative
experiences. What's more, they are scared to venture out of their
comfort zone when they leave school due to liability, and well I
hate to say ... it's the "mod" thing to specialize.

It's sad to me that vet schools do not offer as broad of an experience
as they once did. It can get so extreme that not only are we seeing
vets who specialize in fish, for example ... but they specialize in
fish opthalmology. No lie. Many vets will turn down the generic dog
visit in favor of an osteo visit if their schedule is full, just
because they love that specialty (and guess what, it's more
profitable).

In my part of Tennessee, unless they are in a large practice, vets
often struggle horribly so. But, I know where you are coming from with
the vets and Jags. I am from South Jersey originally. Most small animal
vets don't just do well, they in fact do VERY well much of the time and
many could be considered darn right rich owning many properties, etc..
I realize not all vets there are so lucky, but many are. My brother is
a vet. I've seen the changes over the years. When he came out of school
in the seventies, he tended to large animals. But he also donated
time to small animal clinics just because he loved the experience and
refining his surgical skills. In addition, he saw circus animals to
keep himself well rounded. As his business flourished, he specialized
in equine medicine. Not just equine medicine though: he became a race
track vet. He drives a top of the line Jag today. Keep an eye out,
he'll flash you his bling as he waves to you from his gold convertible.
Lol. On the surface he is doing what modern vets gravitate towards
doing. Specializing. But his humble beginning still shines through.

He still donates every off day to spay/neuter clinics. He still takes
calls 24/7. He still cuts people enormous breaks. When he was young
(and still today), we'd occasionally see a saddle show up that was
useless to him, or a ... chicken running around the yard. These were
payments or gifts from people who could not afford his bills but he
sill serviced anyway. A modern day trade system. I remember just
sitting down to a gorgeous Thanksgiving dinner one year with my large
Italian family when the phone rang. My brother literally put down the
carving knives and he tended to a lady who was spending Thanksgiving
alone with her cat. He had seen her the day before and she had to give
her kitty a pill. Even though my brother had already demonstrated how,
she was just too tentative and upset to do it. So he sat with her on
the phone and gave her step by step directions. She'd put the phone
down occasionally and he'd wait for her to come back. She finally said
that she thought she could do it and he told her that if she could not,
to call back and he'd give her a visit. My eyes lit up as much as they
did when I was five, okay, well ten years old and believed that the
cartoon Speed Racer was about him. He became my hero once again. My
brother had machines, equipment, student loans, two new babies, and
malpractice insurance to pay back then. But he still cut people breaks
and was there for them. He's there for them rich or poor.

[Posted in FML 5551]