My name is Heather James and I am a Veterinarian at the
Sechelt Animal Hospital. You don’t have
to hide it from me anymore. I know you
will go home and google select words from the discussion we had in the exam
room today. I know you will likely talk
to your neighbour, or hairdresser, or banker, or coworker, about it as
well. That’s OK.
I also know that when I have trouble with my car, my
house, or even my own health, I have heard advice from all sorts of sources
that are likely not the best option, yet I have still considered their advice
to be potentially valuable.
What I am going to tell you is the honest truth. Your vet (at least myself and the other
associates I work with) really like telling the truth, and they do it because
they actually care about you and your pet.
We act as an “agent” to come between the science and yourself, and help
you choose exactly what is going to help your pet. Sometimes we have to be creative and consider
logistical and financial challenges as well, but that’s a whole different realm
of discussion. Your Veterinarian went to school
for a long time to learn how to read research articles, be able to challenge
them appropriately with questions, and ethically apply them to their patients. Doing this sort of thing is hard. As someone who has read many research
articles, and also written some (my summers between university were as a
clinical researcher), it’s some of the driest and most complicated reading one
will ever do, and something I will never expect my clients to do. These studies involve everything from
vaccines, to surgical techniques, to nutrition, to new findings on diseases,
etc…
The best part of these scientific articles is the
discussion portion. It always involves the clinical relevance, the significance
of the data, and the LIMITATIONS of the study.
Yes, us nerdy, high-powered, scientific type-A personalities also
publish our limitations. That’s because
it’s our duty. We owe it to every
patient, to which that research applies, to mention these limitations. Us nerdy,
high-powered, scientific type-A personalities also like to pick apart studies,
so it’s a way for the published author to avoid embarrassment.
Now I’m going to flip the switch over to what I call the
“propaganda”. These are the ads for cat
food that show the cat jumping over the moon over a field of blueberries. These are the cheesy pharmaceutical
commercials with no cited data, just good photography. These are the salespeople who distribute
anecdotal and warm-and-fuzzy “data”, published to look professional (and
riddled with buzzwords). These are 95%
of the content of the google searches.
And sometimes, these are the people giving you advice on the street. Example: I could give you advice about fixing
your car. I fixed my car a couple of
times, and I googled it. You could take
my advice (don’t, I’m a vet, not a mechanic), and it might go well, or I might
cost you your car. Really, the advice I
should be giving about cars is: “sounds like you should talk to a mechanic”,
and if I was to speak like a true scientist I would say “you can listen to me
but my limitations in this task are plentiful…”.
The propaganda will never explain the limitations of
their claims. They will rarely show you
the “data”. They will rarely even have
support of an expert for you to use as a resource. I challenge you to look for these things when
seeking what is right for your pet.
This is where your vet comes in. If your vet is good, they can distinguish the
science from the propaganda, and they can apply it to your situation. Just because there’s a protocol for “cats
with diabetes”, does not mean that that applies 100% to you. Your vet will recognize that your cat is not
just a cat (he/she’s your baby!), you also have another cat with no issues, you
have a busy life and need to work silly hours, and that you’re terrified of
needles. They will put all of the
science together, adjust it accordingly to your circumstances, explain the plan
and limitations, and follow through with you as long as your cat is alive.
Our vets hold our clients to a high standard. We expect our clients to listen to what we
say, do what we say, feed how much they need to, and follow-up according to our
recommendations. My request for you is
to hold us to a high standard. Hold the
pet food companies, pharmaceutical companies, and natural/holistic suppliers to
the same high standard. What you need
from us is: truth, transparency, accountability, access to information when
needed, consideration of your special circumstances, and follow through.
My mission statement in my career is: “It’s my privilege
as a scientist to understand that I could be wrong, but my duty as a human
being to try my hardest to do the best for my patients, and to pay attention to
new ideas as they come.”
Thank you to every pet and pet parent who challenges me
on a daily basis. You make me a better
doctor.
