Grief and Pet loss - A Veterinarian's Perspective
I remember the first time that I saw a euthanasia. I was 14 years old and had just started my Highschool Co-op. I cried my eyes out. The emotion was overwhelming. It was so quick. I did not grow up in a hunting or farming family. I had not been around a lot of death at that point, either with humans or animals. I had lost pets but had never been present during the procedure. It was devastating to watch these people struggle with their decision and experience such raw emotional heartbreak in the presence of strangers. Did it deter me from veterinary medicine? Absolutely not. Did I learn to compartmentalize so that I did not feel that raw emotion during the 1000's of euthanasias I was present for and then had to perform? Absolutely not. Many veterinarians can. It is a protective adaptation. It does not mean that they don't feel sad. It just means that they have the ability to put that as...