Tails of Truth: The Truth about Veterinary Medicine

The Human Side of Vet Med: We Need to Vent

• Dr. Angie Krause, DVM CVA CCRT • Episode 22

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✨ Episode Summary

In this refreshingly honest episode of Tails of Truth, Dr. Angie Krause and veterinary nurse JoJo let their guard down to talk about the messy side of veterinary life. From inbox overload to unsolicited advice in the clinic lobby, they share the frustrations and “icks” that pile up on tough days — and why kindness and patience mean so much in those moments.

The conversation touches on client expectations, judgment about younger staff, over-the-top treatments, and the mental load veterinarians carry both inside and outside the clinic. Through humor and candor, Dr. Angie and JoJo remind listeners that veterinarians are human too — and that empathy and understanding go a long way in strengthening the bond between pet parents and their care teams.

📌 Key Takeaways 

  • Don’t scream songs (or anything!) into your pet’s face — it’s stressful and unkind.
  • It’s okay for clients to follow up if they haven’t heard back — just “please be nice.”
  • Veterinarians are often juggling booked appointments, emergencies, callbacks, and emails all at once.
  • Inbox overload is real — “My inbox is stressing me out right now.”
  • Lunch breaks and after-hours often turn into time for urgent cases.
  • Newer, younger staff can look inexperienced — but every skilled vet or nurse started there.
  • Over-treatment (like unnecessary ultrasounds) can be frustrating when simpler solutions exist.
  • Unsolicited advice in the waiting room often makes pet parents feel worse, not better.

🗣️ Sound Bites

  • “We’re having a bad day. And we’re going to embrace this bad day.”                — Dr. Angie
  • “Somebody’s gonna get their face mauled. Deservedly. For a trend.” — JoJo
  • “My inbox is stressing me out right now.” — Dr. Angie
  • “I felt irritated, but then I felt old… Give the dog some metronidazole.”            — Dr. Angie
  • “I had to ask her to stop giving me advice about his collar. I was just like, leave me alone.” — JoJo
  • “Everything starts with kindness. Just please be kind.” — JoJo

Please subscribe and review! xoxo Dr. Angie & JoJo


Dr. Angie Krause (00:01.554)
Welcome back to Tails of Truth, where we tell the truth about veterinary medicine. I'm Dr. Angie, and this is my co-host and veterinary nurse extraordinaire JoJo. And we're having a bad day. And we're going to embrace this bad day. The vibes are wrong, but we're going to talk about things that are giving us the ick and things that are just irritating us. Cause right now we need a little vent sesh.

JoJo (00:14.638)
I'm such a day.

JoJo (00:31.062)
Yeah, in life, right? We tried to button up today and it just is like life is saying, haha, you don't get to.

Dr. Angie Krause (00:38.504)
Ha ha. Like we've, yeah, we've both had bad days. Like everyone does. And so we're just gonna talk about a few things that are irritating us. And I know Taylor Swift just announced her new album. What? You didn't even know that? That's a, what? Come on, Jojo. It's all over the internet. There's no excuse.

JoJo (00:43.778)
Yeah.

JoJo (00:55.534)
I don't even know this. I'm not a Swiftie. I know.

I have an ick around Taylor Swift, but not her specifically.

Dr. Angie Krause (01:08.36)
But not her, my god, we love Taylor, and I would cut this podcast off right now if you said anything bad about such a sweet.

JoJo (01:13.71)
Are you a Swifty because you have young girls? Do you think?

Dr. Angie Krause (01:18.706)
Well, I'm a Swifty for me and for them. I love her. I love her music. She's written every breakup song I've ever needed. And she makes me feel really good about being committed to being single. Yeah. my God. Jojo stop. No, she's not single. No, she's with him. I don't know that I support that.

JoJo (01:22.104)
Yeah.

JoJo (01:27.363)
Yeah.

JoJo (01:33.44)
Okay, there you go. Is she still single? I don't even know. Is she still with the football boyfriend? Wait, she is single? okay. I see. I don't know anything.

Dr. Angie Krause (01:46.578)
I don't know that I support their relationship, which is a hot take, has nothing to do with veterinary medicine. But, but she did release a new album. But you were telling me the other day, and this is not about her album release, that there is a trend on the internet where, where people are screaming Taylor Swift into their animals faces.

JoJo (01:51.938)
Yeah.

JoJo (02:01.178)
god, I hate it.

JoJo (02:07.638)
Yes, not screaming Taylor Swift, but her song, which if I could sing, I'd sing it for you.

Dr. Angie Krause (02:12.783)
And I know, that's a tough one.

JoJo (02:14.894)
which I love that line from the song after seeing all these TikTok trends. It's a, you don't want me to do it. Into the night or something like that, the things we do. Yeah, yeah. But it's so sad to see what people are doing.

Dr. Angie Krause (02:19.898)
which line.

Dr. Angie Krause (02:25.406)
Okay. In the middle of the night, in my dreams.

Dr. Angie Krause (02:35.249)
Yet stop doing that. Everybody stop getting in. they already have. I've already seen it. Yes. Do please do not scream into your animal's face. Do not do that. Do not do that. Yeah. No. Don't do it. Don't be it. Don't be mean. And it's mean. It's rude.

JoJo (02:37.922)
Somebody's gonna get their face mauled. Deservedly.

JoJo (02:47.886)
for a trend.

Ick.

JoJo (02:55.338)
Yeah, it's so sad. feel so sad. All those animals just seem so stressed out by what's happening.

Dr. Angie Krause (03:00.593)
Yeah. Yeah. Most people really don't get it. Okay. So we're, we're irritated by that.

JoJo (03:07.084)
Yeah. Well, I'm already feeling better that we can be irritated. Like we already seem more relaxed in our bodies than we've been. Yeah.

Dr. Angie Krause (03:11.709)
I know, doesn't it feel? We are. It's hard when you're irritated to pretend that you're not. It's hard to put on that happy face, but there are a lot of things in veterinary medicine that irritate me right now. I have had some, some clients be really irritated and short with me when I don't get back to them right away.

JoJo (03:20.14)
Yeah.

I

JoJo (03:26.85)
Ooh, you start.

Dr. Angie Krause (03:41.521)
And I, I just want to say on behalf of every veterinarian, like if your veterinarian is not getting back to you right away, it's totally fine to call again. Like we don't, we don't get upset by that, but on days, which are most days when I'm in the clinic, I, every appointment time is booked and I do that because I'm trying to get every pet in and at boulders natural, they're so nice. They put in like ER slots. They put in a phone slot for me.

but I always book in over them because if someone calls and wants to get in, I want to get them in. And so if I haven't emailed someone back or called someone back that day, it's really hard because at the end of the day, I am all these records behind, I'm all these callbacks behind, and then I'm all these emails behind. when people are like, I've had a few cases where I was like, okay, let me reach out to a specialist, which most veterinarians won't do.

But I am so happy to consult specialists on my unpaid time to make it easier for them. Because sometimes it's hard to get into the specialist or it's going to cost them more money. And so I will reach out to them. And sometimes it takes the specialist a week to get back to me. And I have had some people get really upset with it taking like a couple of days to hear back from me. Or they sent me an email and I think I should send them an email back right away.

Man, from this overwhelmed single mom, like I just have days where I'm like, what do you think I am? Like just venting from the veterinarian standpoint. It's hard. Cause all I want to do is make everyone happy. But when I'm at the clinic, my number one priority is the animal in front of me. My number two priority is calling back like emergency cases, you know, and then I get to my phone calls and then I get to my emails and

JoJo (05:14.446)
Bye.

JoJo (05:19.874)
Right?

JoJo (05:24.213)
Mm-hmm.

JoJo (05:33.624)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Angie Krause (05:38.366)
At the end of day, have to go pick up my kids and parent.

JoJo (05:41.838)
right, and you called me yesterday. I don't know, was yesterday the first day of school?

Dr. Angie Krause (05:47.23)
No, it wasn't even the first day of school.

JoJo (05:48.96)
okay. I just didn't know if you were running late on your first day of school and how just bad that feels when, you know.

Dr. Angie Krause (05:55.581)
Yeah, I'm like, I'm trying to get my kids and it's, it's hard because there's so much we're trying to do. And I, I wish that people would have more patience. Now, I just want to say, you can always call and follow up. There's nothing wrong with that. But when you're snippy or irritable with the staff or with me, I'm just like, my God, I'm trying so hard. Please give me some grace.

JoJo (06:10.126)
Mm-hmm.

JoJo (06:19.63)
Hmm.

I'm sorry. I can see that. Does it stress you out when you see your inbox and know that those are all responses you have to get to? Yeah.

Dr. Angie Krause (06:31.186)
Yes, my inbox is stressing me out right now. Yes. And I want people, I want to be accessible to people and I'm only in the clinic a few days a week. And right now, if you were to call and say, Hey, I want to get in with Angie, it's three weeks out. And I feel really guilty about that, but I also don't know what to do. Like I, I'm trying my best. And so I want to get back to everyone's emails, but gosh, yeah. Jojo's in my inbox. It's a mess.

JoJo (06:34.76)
It is a beast. It's a beast.

JoJo (06:48.942)
Mm-hmm.

JoJo (06:59.032)
Well, that's the, yeah, I am. I'm in the inbox, but I can't manage the doctory things, right? I want to, sometimes I feel like I know the answer and I just want to. But no, those answers will come from Andy, yeah.

Dr. Angie Krause (07:06.875)
No.

Dr. Angie Krause (07:10.334)
I know.

Yeah, and then my kids, yeah, my kid just went back to school. So it's like, then to the day, I'm dealing with all of their, you know, needs and getting everything ready. And I have a high conflict co-parent and there's just always something going on. I'm running a house by myself. And so that is like my vent for this week. It's like, well, you just, it's fine if you need to call back and be like, Hey, we really need an answer, but can you be nice?

JoJo (07:21.88)
Mm-hmm.

JoJo (07:33.006)
Mm.

JoJo (07:40.451)
goes back to that mental health one, I think it was the mental health episode that we did. Everything starts with kindness. Just please be kind. Like even if you're frustrated, be kind. That's that's my ask. It's just a lot easier to swallow. You know, because because we know we get behind.

Dr. Angie Krause (07:49.084)
Yes.

Please be nice. Yes.

Dr. Angie Krause (08:02.846)
Oh, we know. We know.

JoJo (08:04.192)
Mm-hmm. It's because lunch breaks become drop-off appointments. You know when you drop your dog off at 10 a.m. for that urgent need or something that's being taken care of on a lunch break? Yeah, that that or after hours Sometimes yeah, so it's that's hard It's not like those are getting fit in between the appointments very often Just every minute is consumed when you're in a clinic

Dr. Angie Krause (08:08.776)
Yes.

Dr. Angie Krause (08:16.157)
yeah. Exactly.

or after hours. Yeah.

Dr. Angie Krause (08:29.222)
No.

my gosh, I am busy all the time. Like sometimes I'm not eating enough, I'm not drinking enough, but I really, I'm really trying and I'm really trying to come into every appointment with a fresh face, giving this person everything I have and we're doing it, you know, half hour after half hour after, you know, and it's just, and I know all the things that I'm not getting to and it's hard.

JoJo (08:34.754)
Mm-hmm.

JoJo (08:38.627)
Yeah

JoJo (08:52.13)
Yeah.

Dr. Angie Krause (08:58.726)
Yep, so be kind, be nice to your veterinarian and their staff.

JoJo (08:59.0)
Yeah.

JoJo (09:04.056)
Well, I noticed, okay, I'm gonna move into one that I've noticed about myself. I have noticed that I'm getting more judgy, which I don't like being judgy, but I'm getting more judgy about how young my nurses are when I go to a clinic.

Dr. Angie Krause (09:20.275)
you are?

JoJo (09:21.538)
Totally. I'm just like, what could she know?

Dr. Angie Krause (09:25.266)
You

JoJo (09:26.86)
And then I realized I was her and I was a damn good nurse right out of school. So it's just kind of funny because they look so young to me and I just think, my God, I'm handing off my dog to a baby. And I think, is this me getting older? Is this what happens?

Dr. Angie Krause (09:29.404)
Right.

Yeah.

Dr. Angie Krause (09:40.274)
Well...

Dr. Angie Krause (09:44.211)
I think this is what happens. I had an ER, I had a couple ER medical records come to me for my patients. So I had a dog that had diarrhea and they went to the ER clinic because they were sick. And then I guess they couldn't get to me. I couldn't get medication to them. So anyways, we couldn't make anything happen. So they went to the ER clinic over the weekend. And I had such judgment about the ER workup.

because they did, this dog had diarrhea, okay? I mean, run of the mill, probably diarrhea. But instead of giving the dog what I think they should have done, which is metronidazole, they did an abdominal ultrasound and they put a catheter in to catch the diarrhea, okay? Hospitalized the dog.

JoJo (10:13.944)
Bye.

JoJo (10:29.912)
for diarrhea.

JoJo (10:37.358)
What?

my gosh.

Dr. Angie Krause (10:41.072)
and never, and then did an abdominal ultrasound. And if you're not in veterinary medicine, that might seem like, okay, they did an ultrasound, but it's a little bit like overkill and inappropriate unless you think there's a foreign body. It's inappropriate in an ER setting, because like, what are you supposed to find? But what they found was ileus, basically where the intestines weren't moving along like they should, but of course that's what you would find. And then they never,

JoJo (10:46.094)
Come on.

Dr. Angie Krause (11:10.6)
gave my patient metronidazole. So not only did I feel irritated, but then I felt old because I'm like, are you kidding me? Give the dog some metronidazole, which is an antibiotic and I know we're not trying to use that, but if your dog is pooping out their guts, it's fine. It's fine, use the metronidazole. So anyways, like I was so irritated by that this week.

JoJo (11:37.098)
yeah. So that's, that's when I start to go, is that what I'm really irritated about? Am I really irritated that my nurse is young? Are you really irritated or is it the compilation of irritabilities, right? That are like oozing out.

Dr. Angie Krause (11:53.826)
Maybe, but I also felt irritated for my client because I thought, my God, I could have taken care of this with a $20 prescription.

JoJo (12:00.398)
All

Right, metronidazole is such a great first aid.

Dr. Angie Krause (12:05.374)
Yeah, and here's what really irritated me. my gosh, we're just we're getting into it Jojo. The other dog in the house had diarrhea and they did an abdominal ultrasound and I'm like

JoJo (12:12.205)
Okay.

JoJo (12:16.236)
no.

JoJo (12:21.292)
Dr. Angie Krause (12:23.154)
I just, I, and then I thought, okay, and this is comes back to your comment. I was like, how young was this veterinarian? What are we, what kind of ivory tower? I won't say the word cause I don't know if we know how to bleep stuff out. Yeah, I won't do it. What kind of ivory tower situation are we in that instead of being like the whole house has diarrhea, let's treat for something infectious.

JoJo (12:32.258)
Where, right?

JoJo (12:38.156)
No, I don't, please. Well, I do.

JoJo (12:49.73)
Yeah.

Dr. Angie Krause (12:53.35)
Why would we do an abdominal ultrasound like you know on an emergency basis that had to been like $700?

JoJo (12:58.158)
so expensive. My mind was thinking in dollar signs. But the dog did get relief, right? They gave the dog something.

Dr. Angie Krause (13:05.5)
They never gave the dog metronidazole.

JoJo (13:08.174)
So the dog went home with the shits.

Dr. Angie Krause (13:10.206)
No, they hospitalized it with the shits. Which can we say that on here? They hospitalized it and put a Foley catheter in to just catch. And I'm just like, I don't know. I, I know. And I know we're trying to use antibiotics. I know, I know we are. I think this is an appropriate time to use them.

JoJo (13:13.024)
that's right, they hotspies. Okay.

I don't

JoJo (13:25.618)
my gosh.

JoJo (13:31.758)
you

JoJo (13:39.023)
I imagine night is all it doesn't get used for long. I mean, sometimes I don't know. Let's not get into it. I know I read the article today. Like let's stay in my medicine cabinet. It works. Sleep. That's the first thing I think about. And the dog relief.

Dr. Angie Krause (13:44.454)
Well, all the new grads are really trying not to use it. But anyways, God.

yeah, because it works. It gets my client sleep and it that's right. And so yes, and so this whole idea that we're always going, we'll send everyone home with probiotics. And I get it. Sometimes we do. And if we can, we do that.

JoJo (14:08.288)
I kind of love that we are trending that way.

Dr. Angie Krause (14:11.386)
It's probably good, I guess, but like, I now I'm, I'm just old. I'm just old. Like months. Yeah. It's not fantastic.

JoJo (14:15.496)
Probiotics typically take time to work. Yeah, so that's not fantastic. But I mean, I love that it's in the queue.

Dr. Angie Krause (14:26.012)
I love that it's in the queue too, but I'm old and I'm crotchety now.

JoJo (14:29.656)
I asked, that what's happening? I don't know. Because I also felt so mad. I felt, I just said that in a Valley Girl voice. I was so mad that I took Bodhi in. I hope I didn't tell this story already. That's another thing. I can't remember what stories I've told and to whom, but he's got this tiny E-collar. I know I told you he's got a tiny E-collar on because he keeps chewing his leg from his mass, which was not a mast cell tumor, everybody, but okay.

Dr. Angie Krause (14:47.038)
You

Dr. Angie Krause (14:59.186)
Yay.

JoJo (14:59.328)
It's a lit granuloma, but he keeps opening it back up. He's had this E. color on for like two weeks now. No, we're probably three weeks. I go into the clinic and there's a customer there that's waiting for her animal. And she just kept giving me unsolicited advice about, know, he may not chew that if you put a collar on in that fit. And I he didn't chew it with the collar on. He's very good with the collar on. He has a small collar intentionally. Yeah, but you know that

you should put that on with the, like his collar should go through it to keep it on. said, but he doesn't get it off. So I don't need to put that on. Yeah, but they make ones that are deeper and bigger. And I'm like, I hear you. And I got to the point that I had to ask her to stop giving me advice about his collar. I was just like, leave me alone.

Dr. Angie Krause (15:48.688)
Yeah. Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, you're like, you don't understand.

JoJo (15:57.839)
I know what's happening. He chewed it because my husband Now if you have advice about that, let's talk The husband didn't put the collar back on That's what happened. Anyhow, it just annoyed the heck out of me

Dr. Angie Krause (16:04.094)
then put the

Yeah. Well, that's a whole nother episode.

I it did. I bet it did. She's already having a hard time.

JoJo (16:18.476)
Do people sit in our lobbies getting advice from other?

Dr. Angie Krause (16:23.174)
No, I hope not. I think she just, it feels really bad. Yeah. That was uncalled for. Yeah.

JoJo (16:23.554)
people, because it feels really bad.

JoJo (16:32.852)
Yeah, anyhow, that was one of my annoyances. And I'm annoyed that I have a really big ick that I can't even remember because menopause brain. Like it felt really, really important this morning. Yeah, yep. I don't know. Okay.

Dr. Angie Krause (16:37.959)
Okay.

Dr. Angie Krause (16:42.184)
I know.

Dr. Angie Krause (16:48.35)
You have a low estrogen annoyance.

Well, I have to go pick up my kids from school now. You know what? It was really good to just get that out there. And now everyone's going to know how I was annoyed and how you were annoyed. But we'd like to hear what you're annoyed with because I bet. Yeah. are you annoyed with our episode? And then what would be kind of fun is what are the most annoying things that your veterinarian or veterinary staff do?

JoJo (17:02.817)
Yeah.

JoJo (17:11.63)
Are you annoyed with our episode?

JoJo (17:21.762)
What if they come back and say they don't call me back or text me back within a certain amount of time?

Dr. Angie Krause (17:28.168)
then we'll have so much understanding, won't we?

JoJo (17:30.562)
Yeah. That's okay. It's probably annoying.

Dr. Angie Krause (17:34.983)
I'm annoyed with me too, I'm just doing my best. Yes, okay. Leave us a comment. Yeah, we wanna know what annoys you about veterinary medicine and then we'll talk to you next time when we won't be so annoyed. Okay, bye.

JoJo (17:38.286)
We're all doing our best. Okay.

JoJo (17:49.857)
Okay. Yeah, totally. Okay. Until next time. Bye.