A “What I’ve Learned as a Veterinarian” Series Post
Emergency medicine is one of the most intense, humbling, heartbreaking, and equally rewarding parts of veterinary medicine.
And after 23 years in this profession, I’ve learned something important:
Emergencies don’t just test your medical skills — they test your heart.
They reveal what you rely on, what you believe in, and what matters most.
This blog is one of the most important in this series because it speaks to the core of why I became a veterinarian — and what emergencies have taught me about pets, people, and myself.
❤️🔥 Lesson 1: I Love Emergency Medicine — Truly, Deeply, and Honestly
Before I explain why we sometimes have to refer emergencies, I want you to understand something very clearly:
I love emergency medicine.
I love the intensity of it.
I love the focus it demands.
I love the split-second decision-making.
I love the way an entire team moves like a single organism when a critical pet comes through the door.
I love watching experience, instinct, and training all collide — and somehow, beautifully, become clarity.
Most people don’t know this, but emergency medicine is where I feel most like the veterinarian I dreamed of. In emergencies, the world gets quiet in a strange way —
the only thing that matters is the pet in front of me and the team around me.
In those moments:
- the adrenaline hits
- the room sharpens
- the noise fades
- and the mission becomes painfully clear
Save this life. Do everything you can.
Emergency medicine is where I have seen the most incredible comebacks —
dogs taking their first breath after resuscitation,
cats waking up after trauma,
pets who arrived dying… walking out of the hospital days later.
It’s also where I’ve experienced the greatest heartbreak —
and the heaviest lessons about what we can and cannot control.
Loving emergency medicine means loving the highest highs…
and accepting the lowest lows.
🩺 Lesson 2: Emergencies Are Not Always Obvious — But Fear Always Is
Over the years, I’ve learned that when a client says,
“I think something is wrong,”
what they’re really saying is:
“I’m scared.”
Fear is always valid.
Fear means love.
So here is a guide — not a diagnosis — on what a true emergency looks like.
🚨 TRUE PET EMERGENCIES (Act Immediately)
- Trouble breathing
- Collapse
- Uncontrolled seizures
- Continuously trying to vomit or retching with nothing produced (GDV/bloat)
- Major trauma
- Toxin ingestion
- Heatstroke
- Heavy bleeding
- Male cat unable to urinate (life-threatening)
These cannot wait. There are many other life threatening emergencies but these are the most common ones we get in our office. ALWAYS call your veterinarian if your pet is sick in anyway.
⏳ URGENT BUT NOT IMMEDIATELY LIFE-THREATENING
- Ear infections
- Mild limp
- Hot spots on skin
- Eye discharge
- Mild vomiting or diarrhea
- Minor allergic reactions
These still matter — just with different urgency.
👥 Lesson 3: Emergency Care Isn’t Just About Equipment — It Requires an Army
This is the part many people don’t know — and often, the part we get judged for.
So I want to be completely transparent.
It’s Not Just About Equipment — It’s About People
To safely treat a true emergency, we need multiple trained team members, not just a veterinarian.
Most people imagine that an emergency looks like this:
- A vet
- A syringe
- Some fast thinking
In reality, a true emergency requires four to eight trained people working at the same time, including:
- A nurse placing an IV
- A tech restraining and stabilizing
- A technician running bloodwork
- A nurse preparing medications and fluids
- A CSR communicating with the family
- A tech monitoring vitals
- A doctor diagnosing, directing, and making rapid decisions
- A second assistant fetching supplies, oxygen, equipment
That is a coordinated emergency response team.
At a small clinic like ours, we staff enough people to safely manage:
✔️ a 10-hour day
✔️ surgeries
✔️ hospitalized patients
✔️ urgent visits
✔️ appointments
And even then, we are stretched incredibly thin — because we are a rural practice serving thousands of pets.
So when a life-threatening emergency arrives, the reality is simple:
We must have the staff to save the pet — or we must refer them to someone who does.
That’s not avoidance.
That’s responsibility.
That’s ethics.
That’s love.
🌡️ Lesson 4: Sometimes the Best Way to Save a Pet Is to Send Them Somewhere Else
This is one of the hardest lessons veterinary medicine taught me.
A Look Behind the Scenes: What Clients Don’t See
People sometimes assume we can “just squeeze in” an emergency.
But here’s the reality no one sees from the waiting room:
- We may already have a hospitalized patient crashing.
- We may have too many emergent/urgent cases in the hospital and not enough time left in the day.
- We may be in surgery and unable to safely step away.
- We may have four rooms full, all hospital kennels full and techs triaging another case.
- We may have only two nurses for the entire hospital that day.
Veterinary emergencies consume the whole building.
They stop everything.
They require every set of hands — trained hands — that we have.
Some emergencies require:
- ICU-level oxygen care
- Continuous monitoring
- Blood transfusions
- CT scans
- Emergency C-sections
- Surgical teams
- Anesthesia specialists
- 24-hour staffing
These are things small-town hospitals simply don’t have a lot of.
Referring is NOT giving up.
Referring is NOT “passing the buck.”
Referring is:
Doing what gives your pet the highest chance of survival.
I became a veterinarian to save lives.
And sometimes saving a life means knowing when someone else is better equipped.
❤️ Lesson 5: The Emotional Side You Don’t See
It weighs on me heavily every time I say:
“Your pet needs more help than we can provide here.”
Because I know:
- The cost may be higher
- The drive may be long
- The fear may be overwhelming
- You want your pet close to home
- You trust ME
And honestly?
I want all of that too.
I wish we could do every emergency right here at Tawas Animal Hospital.
I wish we could keep every pet close to home.
I wish we had unlimited staff, unlimited equipment, unlimited resources.
But the truth is:
Sometimes we are simply not the safest option.
But choosing what is safest — not what is easiest — is the promise I made when I became a veterinarian.
That is responsibility.
That is integrity.
That is my oath.
🐾 A Final Guiding Thought
You will NEVER hear me say:
“Don’t come in, it’s nothing.”
Why?
Because YOU know your pet better than anyone.
If your instincts say something is wrong, trust them.
If something feels “off,” call us.
If your heart says, “My pet needs help,” listen.
This blog is a guide, not a diagnosis —
a starting point, not a final answer.
In the end, no matter what:
✔️ We want your pet safe.
✔️ We want to act quickly when needed.
✔️ We want to make the best medical decisions together.
And on the days when we say your pet needs an emergency hospital, please know this:
We are not turning you away.
We are not abandoning you.
We are not choosing convenience.
We are choosing your pet’s best chance.
And that is one of the most important things I’ve learned as a veterinarian.
– Dr. Jason Harrison, DVM
Tawas Animal Hospital
