Despite nearly 90% of pet owners viewing their animals as family members, few understand the emotional and practical complexities of providing animal care that veterinarians navigate daily.
Dr Marie Holowaychuk, a veterinary specialist with extensive experience across academia, emergency medicine and general practice, has urged pet owners to broaden their understanding of the challenges faced by those providing healthcare for their animal companions.
In her new book, A Compassionate Calling: What It Really Means to Be a Veterinarian, Dr Holowaychuk reveals a profession that experiences some of the highest rates of burnout, mental health challenges and suicide risk among healthcare providers.
She explains: “It’s a profession built on immense compassion and skill, but also one that requires deep resilience.”
In her interviews with veterinarians, the professionals often cite their patients as being their main source of professional satisfaction. Yet this same compassionate connection creates what researchers have termed ‘the paradox of compassionate work’, where the relationships that bring vets happiness, also become the sources of their distress.
“It underscores the complexity of working in a profession where that which brings joy also represents one of the greatest sources of sorrow,” Dr Holowaychuk explains.
The veterinary profession currently faces unprecedented challenges, including critical staffing shortages that have forced emergency clinics across North America and the UK to reduce hours or close entirely. Meanwhile, the pandemic-driven surge in pet ownership has dramatically increased demand for services, creating unsustainable workloads for many practitioners.
Besides a gruelling workload, Dr Holowaychuk also says many veterinarians experience moral stress when financial limitations prevent them from providing optimal care. Unlike human healthcare, veterinary medicine lacks universal coverage, leaving practitioners to navigate difficult ethical terrain when pet owners cannot afford necessary treatments.
“Veterinary professionals are often left navigating these morally ambiguous and ethically challenging scenarios, which contribute to the rising levels of psychological distress within the profession,” she says.
The author also warns of the profession’s alarming burnout rates. A recent study, cited in the book, found that burnout among veterinarians costs the profession approximately $2 billion annually in turnover and reduced productivity.
Despite these statistics, Dr Holowaychuk says many vets are reluctant to take time off or ask for help, due to mental health stigma within the profession.
“Veterinarians and other caregiving professionals have an ethical duty to take care of themselves,” she urges, warning that vets who do not sufficiently look after their own health may fall short of providing the best care to their animal patients.
In writing the book, Dr Holowaychuk aims to foster greater understanding between pet owners and veterinary professionals to help clients appreciate the emotional complexity behind the care their pets receive: “My hope is that this book not only fosters empathy for veterinarians but also inspires a future where their wellbeing is valued just as much as the care they provide.”