July 1st, 2006

Saturday. I always work on Saturdays. All my friends go biking, running, or boating on Saturdays. I wake up by seven, hit the Starbucks, buy breakfast for the crew, and work solidly until at least noon.

Most vets seem to work on Saturdays. Keep this in mind if you’re in the market for a career change. Veterinary work is retail work. You may spend eight to twelve hours a day ensconced in the back of a strip mall—on a Saturday. If this is just too much for your sense of dignity—find another profession.

We suffer all kinds of other indignities, too: we clean poop, we get peed on, we sweep hair, and we occasionally mop the vomit, too.

And how about those anal glands: I have two advanced degrees and I charge $20 to squeeze a gooey paste from the backsides of your pets. Dignity be damned, I say. At least I can go home and say I did something productive.