The Lighter Side of Veterinary Medicine

Veterinary medicine can be intense… but sometimes it’s just straight up ridiculous.

In this episode of Behind the Stethoscope, I’m sharing the lighter side of vet med—from the funniest things pet owners say to ER cases that sound completely made up (but aren’t). If you work in a vet clinic, you already know… you truly can’t make this stuff up.

This episode is all about the moments that make us laugh, keep us going, and remind us why we love this field—even on the craziest days.

🎧 Whether you're in vet med or just love animals, this one is for you.

✨ Topics in this episode:

• Funny ER vet stories
• Things pet owners say (that we’ll never forget)
• Chaos in the clinic that feels like April Fools
• Why humor matters in veterinary medicine

💬 If you have a funny vet med story, drop it in the comments—I want to hear it!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi friends and welcome back to Behind the Seth Scope. My name is Dr. Elizabeth Brand. I'm just a new ER grad veterinarian, just trying to figure everything out like the rest of us. I just kind of want to take a moment and thank everybody for making this what it is. For the people who have been here since the beginning, thank you guys so much for your support. I really appreciate it. For the people that are new here, welcome. We are absolutely happy to have you. A lot of the feedback that I've been getting over the past couple weeks have been honestly way more than I ever expected it to be. People are texting me on the side talking about this, or people are talking about it at work, or people are messaging me on social media asking about the episodes or advice or everything like that. And I want to thank you guys so much. I started this podcast because I felt like I had something to say. I felt like I had something to add to the vetmed community. And what's happening right now is like way more than even what I thought it would be, let alone what it could be. So I want to thank you guys so much. Telling your friends, spreading the news, sending it to people. You guys are the best. And I want to thank every single one of you guys because truly it would not be what it is without you guys. So thank you guys so much. I just wanted to spend a second because it just warms my heart. So thank you guys so much. On this episode today, it is gonna be in the theme of what today is. Today's April Fools. And so we are gonna talk about a little bit of the lighter side of veterinary medicine. Veterinary medicine can be hard, it can be rough, you can have rough days, and I've talked about that quite a bit on this podcast. But the lighter side of vetmed is something that I enjoy so much, and I think why I stick around veterinary medicine. Dogs do stupid things, people do stupid things. Us as veterinarians and support staff, we do stupid things. And I think keeping that light, I think helps make this job just a little bit easier. It is, again, one of my favorite things. I love to laugh, I love to have fun, I love to, again, joke about the different things. So we're gonna talk about that on this episode. So let's get into it. Okay, so let's talk about things that owners say sometimes that feel like a joke. So the first case that I have that was like, you're joking, right? We get a call saying, Hey, my cat has an arrow stuck in it. And I was like, What? And she was like, Yeah, I saw him walking up and he has an arrow through him. And I'm like, You should definitely come in. Cat comes in and kid you not, had an arrow literally through his arm. And I was like, Oh, we took x-rays, all is well. I literally thought it was a joke when she called me. I was like, There's no way this cat is moving and has an arrow through him. That's wild. The arrow missed everything, it went basically through his arm, missed his chest, missed all the important vessels and nerves. And the cat was sitting there like making biscuits, as we're like putting an Ivy catheter, giving some pain meds, etc. etc. We were able to remove the arrow, no complications, but again, when the we got the call saying the cat has an arrow through him, I thought it was a joke. Like I thought it was a prank. I was like, okay. Second is when an owner says he has not been eating at all. And you're like, oh, okay, how long has he not been eating for? And you're like, he has not been eating for a week to almost two weeks. And I'm like, oh, that's a lot. That's a pretty significant time. If we haven't eaten in a week or two, like that's an issue. And so I was like, okay, so what do you normally feed him? And we go through the history of it all, and they're like, Yep, hasn't been eating, or whatever. And my favorite part about it is sometimes like my technician will walk by with food that they're feeding like a hospitalized patient. And so they'll walk by with like chicken behind me, and the dog like starts sniffing, oh, what is that? And we'll be like, someone interested. And I'll be like, Oh, and then I'll be like, Hey, can you come over here? And I'll be like, Can you feed this chicken and like a piece of chicken? And then the dog will eat the chicken. And I'm like, Oh, that's great news. And they're like, Oh, he just hasn't been eating his kibble, but I have been giving him chicken and steak and McDonald's and Wendy's and a Big Mac. And I'm like, so respectfully, I would also not want to eat my kibble if I was getting a Big Mac on the side. Those are my favorite cases where the dog is just being a diva and doesn't want to eat its dry food because it's getting like all the treats on the side. And again, like you're like, this is a joke. Because I like something could be seriously wrong with this dog if the dog has not eaten in like genuinely a week or two. And then we turn around and it's eating, just not the dry kibble food. So I usually talk to them at the time and say, hey, like maybe back off on the treats and make them eat the dry food and stuff like that. And you guys would be so surprised how much that happens. People will come in. I've probably had two or three in this last month where that's happened. It happens so often. The dogs just get used to eating treats, and I'm not gonna eat my boring dry food if I can get the fun big back on the side. So that's some of the things that owners say that you're like, is this a joke? Are you pranking me right now? There's so many more of them, but that's just again some fun stories on the side that we usually get. Kind of the next thing, things that kind of like the next part below is like things that we find in dogs. I've talked about a couple times of like crazy things that I've pulled out of dogs, but I think in particular, my favorite or stuff that like this is a joke, like this is a prank, is when we take an x-ray. So the dog's been vomiting for a couple days. We take an x-ray, and what we see inside the dog via the x-ray. So for clear for clarification, for the people who don't really know how to read x-rays, totally okay. So for x-rays, it like you can see air is black, you can see soft tissue, you can see stomach, socks, sometimes like foreign material will look very similar. So it looks like the stomach or it looks like the intestines. We can just see they're a little bit bigger than normal. Sometimes on a sock we get lucky and we can see the striations of the sock. But sometimes, like, we can't tell what's in there. We can just say something's in there. I always love the foreign bodies that we can see. Oh, look, there is blank. So there has been so many times I have had a pacifier in a dog, and you're just like, we take the x-ray and it's plop right there. Like you're like, oh, that's pacifier. I've had earring ingestion. That one was like a really good one where we were like, so we took a picture of the dog, and there was an earring in the stomach. And you're like, okay, technically it's not obstructed. Like maybe we can repeat, like hospitalize on IV fluids, increase the size of the intestines, and hopefully get it moving through. Feed it, bulk feed it, etc. And they were like, yes, all in. We don't want to go to surgery, like anything that we can do. So, okay, great. So we hospitalized the dog on IV fluids for 12 hours and repeated rads in 12 hours. And you literally could see the earring in the stomach, and then 12 hours later, it's like moving through the intestine. Those are like such a fun one because you're just like, you're like cheering the dog on almost to move this earring through. AirPods have popped up so many different things that have just been like, Are you serious? Literally nuts. So I like the ones that you're like, how did you even get that down your throat? Like it is like a ball, like a tennis ball. They like swallow the tennis ball whole. And you're like, How did you get this size item like in your mouth is like this big? And you're like, How did you, how does that even happen? So it's just so funny. And again, you just stop and laugh because you're just like, How, like, how did we get here? Like, how did you do this? But I think dogs and cats all the time just amaze me. What they eat, how they can eat it, and everything like that. So always laugh about the stuff that like pop up. You're just like, oh, is something missing in your house? And you're like, oh, I haven't seen my AirPods in two days. And you're like, oh, I found them. Actually, they're in your dog's stomach. Imagine getting that news about how your dog ate your AirPods. I've had to say that before. Okay. Now talking about my side of work and like what we do behind the scenes. Vet bed, again, can be hard, can be a lot. Honestly, I try to entertain myself and entertain my staff. And like last night in particular, like it was a little bit busy. Like we were moving a lot, we were doing all this stuff, and just joking around with them, and especially my technicians. I love my technicians, they are so great, they have such a great sense of humor. They get my sense of humor, and it is so fun. It is like 3 a.m., 4 a.m., and we're like delusional at this point. Okay, so like talking about like my side and like behind the scenes and what goes on behind the scenes, and vetmed can be like I've said before, like I've said a hundred times, like vetmed can be so hard, and I keep bringing it up because it is such like it's talked about, but not super talked about. Slash, everyone feels it. Anybody who's in vetmed can relate to how hard this career path is, whether you're a technician, receptionist, veterinarian, owner of a practice, like whatever the case is. I think everybody can relate to how hard our job is as a as overall. We care a lot and want things to happen. We want the best outcome for your pet, everything like that. And it is hard sometimes to see the lighter side of things, see the joke when you get pooped on by a dog, like you're cleaning up a dog's poop, or they're in the kennel in the ICU, and then they poop on you, or you're carrying a dog and then they pee all over you. Speaking from experience, sometimes you have those days so you're just like, I'm done. I'm done. I quit, I'm leaving, I'm over it. Some days it's funny. You're like, of course, this happened. Of course it did. And I think as a vet, as an overnight doctor, I tried to keep it light. If that happens, we joke around as an overnight staff, like, huh, that's so funny, or of course Kate did that. And I bring up Kate. Kate was a golden retriever who was there for vomiting and diarrhea. And one of my technicians actually got diarrhea on her face. I don't even know how she did that. She didn't even know that it happened. And she walked over and sat down after she did her treatments. Kate was literally the princess of the hospital. She could do no wrong. And so she got the poop on her face. She sat down. She was talking to me about parvitals and everything like that. And I was like, You have something on your face. And we as a night teen just busted out laughing. We were like, no freaking way that you have diarrhea on your face. That sounds disgusting, and it definitely was disgusting. And she was like, I'm gonna go bleach my face because she was so mortified that she had poop on her face. But it was just like so funny, such a funny moment. We again try to keep things light in the ER as much as possible. And I love my staff. I love my doctor team. They're so fun to where I can joke with them, they don't take it too seriously. Things get a little bit crazy, but then I'll still throw a joke out there and try to keep things light. That's I think that's my job. And it's funny because all of my vet school friends, we all joke that we're like personality hires. Yes, I'm good at my job. Yes, I got through vet school. Yes, I work very hard, all this stuff. But at the end of the day, I love the idea of being a personality hire. Like I am a part of this team, I'm a part of this staff to crack the jokes, to make people laugh, to keep it light. Yes, I do the best job that I can in the 12 hours that I'm there and I work my butt off. But what about the joke on the side? What about laughing about, again, a joke that somebody made or laugh about that dog or whatever the case is, just to keep it light because life is too serious sometimes to not crack a joke every once in a while. So I feel like that's like my place in this world. That's my place in like the med career is like being a personality hire. Might as well make the joke. Sometimes my jokes are not funny, sometimes they don't land, especially to owners, sometimes to technicians too. That was like the funny joke that was spread through the new hospital that I just moved to. I was so funny at my last hospital. At least I thought I was. People were laughing at my jokes. Maybe they were pity laughs. I don't really know. But they were all laughing, and everyone always thought I was so funny. And I come here and I'm like cracking the same jokes. I'm doing all the same things. And the technicians were like, You're not funny. And they're joking. But they were like, You're not funny. Aha, do you want me to like pity laugh at your jokes? And I was like, I think I'm so funny, whether you like it or not, I'm gonna still make my jokes. And they're like, You can still make your jokes, but like no one's laughing at them. And I was like, Okay, like they're not being mean, they're being like, again, they're joking back to me. But again, I think that just lightens up the mood, and we make jokes on the board and do all this stuff. And I think again, that's the whole point is like working with your friends and like joking around with them, and it just makes things just a little bit lighter, helps prevent the burnout that we just see so prevalent within vetmed. And if that's what I can bring to this career, lightening the mood and helping the support staff like through the day. And again, whether that's just keeping it light, whether that's filling medications, I'm happy to do that. Like, I'm happy to fall on the sword. And talk speaking of talking about falling on the sword. I again, overnights, I love to make jokes and laugh and again have a sense of humor and it all. So the one story I will tell that the joke that did not land, I had an owner come at 2 or 3 a.m. and they're freaking out that the dog is bleeding from its mouth. They're like Frank blood coming from its mouth. They're freaking out. Obviously, as anyone would. It's a Maltese, small white dog, 12, 13 years old. So I look at the gums, and the teeth have a severe dental disease. And so the actually she lost a tooth, and that's where the bleeding was coming from, like coming from like the root of the tooth. And I was like, okay, actually, this is like really good news out of all the emergencies that it could be. It's actually coming from a kind of an area where she lost her tooth. She has pretty severe dental disease, and sometimes the tooth just rots and falls out. Sounds really gross. It is. And we could run blood work, we can make sure it's not X, Y, and Z, or I recommend that you follow up with your primary vet to do a dental. We don't do dentals in the emergency room. Clean those teeth, pull the teeth that they need to get pulled. But this, like I said, best case scenario. And they're like sighed of relief, and they're like, okay, like this is, like you said, the best case scenario. And I, again, 3 a.m., the clinic is dead. And I was like, okay, let me just go make a treatment plan. We can start some with some antibiotics, potentially just run some blood work, make sure there's no clotting issues, like bleeding issues, but I think we're gonna be okay, maybe some penny meds, some antibiotics, and move on. I was like, let me just go make that plan really quick and I'll be right back. And they're like, okay, great. And so they're standing at the table with me. And I work in a like an open concept floor plan. And so basically owners stay with their dogs 100% of the time. And so I was like, Y'all can have a seat. I'll make that plan really quick and I'll come back. And they're like, okay. And I was like, the place is easy, so squeeze in wherever you can find a place. Like I said, the place is absolutely dead. They look at me like I had five heads, and one of them goes, That's a joke, right? I'm like, Yes, obviously it's a joke. There's nobody here. Yes. I was like, haha, yeah, like it was a joke. Yes, sit down wherever you like. And all of my technician team heard it because it's dead, and they all busted out laughing at me. And I was like, I'm never making another joke to an owner again. Like that, I thought it was a good timing moment because they were so stressed. We found a pretty easy solution to the problem, and it did not hit. And that was probably one of the moments, and it was like right when I moved to my new clinic, and I was like, Okay, never making a joke again. Got it. So just a funny story about making jokes that don't land. But like I said, we are here for a short time. We're not here for we're here for a short time. But like I tell owners sometimes, especially like with their dogs or their cats, and they ask me about advice and stuff, and I'm like, we are not here for a long time, we are here for a good time, so let's like make the best of it. And that's the advice I have for the owners, but that's also advice for me too, and how I live my life is let's have fun while we can. Yes, things are serious. Yes, like I have emergencies come in, but there's also a lighter side of veterinary medicine, and I don't feel like that's talked about enough. All jokes aside, like I think all of the things that I've talked about so far, these moments matter. Veterinary medicine is so hard, and again, I keep bringing it up, but these are the moments that get the whole team laughing and treatment. These are the moments that stick with you and remember why you did vetmed in the first place. These are the moments that like make the shift feel shorter because things are going by so fast. You're enjoying your time. So if you're in vetmed, I hope this episode reminds you of the moments that you have of the weird animals that did something crazy and you're like, that was funny, or reminds you that it is okay to laugh, it is okay to make jokes. I'm sure you have someone at your clinic that you can think of during this episode that is the jokester that keeps things like those people, in my opinion, unbiased opinion, those people are what makes a clinic so great. And if you're a pet owner, we probably have a story about your pet. And I say that with absolute love. And if you have a funny story of your own, I absolutely want to hear it. Whether you're a pet owner or you're within vetmed or whatever the case is, you're just in vet school and you want to hear, tell me about a funny story, I absolutely want to hear it. I love when people talk about having fun in veterinary medicine because this career is such a fun career. So that is all I have for this episode. Happy April Fool's Day. If you guys want to see what real life case is, I post them on my social media. It is Dr. Elizabeth Brand. I am on Instagram. Again, I post cases about my daily life. So if you are interested in that, give us a follow. I will see you guys next week on Behind the Stethoscope. Thank you guys so much. Okay, I just have to put a disclaimer in here. This content shared behind the stethoscope is for educational and informational purposes only. This podcast does not provide medical advice, establish a veterinary client patient relationship. Any cases that I discuss throughout this episode are generalized and anonymous. Pet owners should always consult their veterinarian for medical decisions regarding their pet. And opinions expressed are my own and does not represent my employer or organization. Thank you guys so much.