It’s quite common for people to go to different clinics for their exotic pets and their more common pets.

While there are some vets who will see dogs & cats and exotics, they’re usually a dog & cat clinic which has branched out rather than any kind of exotic specialist.

Exotic animals require different hospital set ups and equipment. Surgery on a cat, even a little 1kg cat, is vastly different to a 50g budgie. Also, many exotics are prey species and they do not appreciate barking dogs or the smell of cats at all. Even rabbits and ferrets need different wards, because housing them next to each other is like placing a lion next to a gazelle. Nobody is calm and relaxed in that scenario.

Uncooperative clients are everywhere.

You cannot escape them.

You have only two options:

Retrain them.

Change jobs to a far away clinic to avoid the one in particular that drives you inside.

Mixed animal practice has a special type of uncooperative client which owns both large animals (cattle, sheep or horses) and small animals (dogs or cats). They often come in with their dogs on a horse lead or lunge rope.

Large animal practice and small animal practice work a little differently, and some of these clients expect more from a clinic than typical clients would. Things that I’ve had happen include:

Arguing about the price difference between a consultation fee for a dog, which was seen in the practice building, and a consultation fee for a horse which was seen at the owner’s properly half an hour away.

Picking up parasite products for their dog or cat, but also wanting prescription products for their horse, which we have not examined, which is illegal.

Taking phenylbutazone for their horse and administering it to their arthritic dog, just because they decided it was a good idea, and inducing kidney failure.

Why I love my job!

Today I placed an IV catheter and got fluids and antibiotics started in a 50# angus calf with scours, and got him tucked in with warm blankets and supplemental heating.

My first two and a half years after graduation were spent in rural mixed practice. It was admittedly mostly small animals, with a smattering of horses, wildlife and farm animals to keep it interesting.

There were more horses than cattle, but I tried to avoid horses after a little while. I didn’t really like them a whole lot, and horse people drove me nuts. I miss cows though, even if the cow didn’t like you very much, I liked them more than horses. 

Cattle certainly leave you with stories to tell.

To be honest, most of my colleagues who started in mixed switched to small animal practice after a few years, regardless of gender.

Small animal practice pays better, and you’re generally closer to your support networks. There is real difficulty retaining vets in rural settings, partly due to lower pay, increased after hours, less access to continuing education and less facilities for raising families.

Goats were a close second to cattle. Baby goats are great, and goats of valium are hilarious.