Introduction

The human-animal bond, the family-pet-veterinarian bond or just simply, the bond is defined as the unique relationship between people and animals and is described using many terms such as companionship, unconditional love and affection, protection and nurturance. It is present in some form between each and every caregiver and their pet and is the very essence of the best of the veterinary profession. It elevates the value of the companion animal in most households to one far beyond a possession to the realm of family member. The bond in some form has always been the single most important, defining and unifying force in every aspect of veterinary medicine. Sadly, it has only been recently that the bond has been recognized and openly celebrated for its importance within the very profession it defines. While this remarkable force permeates virtually every aspect of the veterinary profession, it is most palpable within companion animal practice. It is the very core and essence of all that we are as veterinarians and is central to the very best our profession has to offer, yet it is often overlooked as the very reason quality and advanced veterinary care is possible. If the veterinary profession, and especially specialty medicine were to grasp or reaffirm this truth, anchor ourselves in the bond, and respond to clients through an understanding of the bond, the potential for the growth of compassionate quality care is limitless. For any individual member of the veterinary profession, allowing the bond to be incorporated into every aspect of practice is the link to personal, financial and professional success. Below we outline how the bond in some way touches, defines and inspires the veterinary health care team, clients, and finally specialty practice.

The Bond: The Foundation-Caring for Pets and People

Most, if not all members of the veterinary health care team (e.g.: veterinarians, technicians, animal health care assistants, receptionists, pet loss and decision making counselors) at some time in their lives were profoundly touched by the bond. They therefore made a conscious or unconscious decision to celebrate and nurture this wonderful relationship. At a defining moment or series of moments in time, most members of the veterinary health care team realized the importance of the bond between animals and people and recognized it as something of value, something worth caring for, protecting, and nurturing. They then made a decision to devote considerable time and expense in order to educate themselves in various aspects of the veterinary health profession such that they would be able to preserve this wondrous relationship. This decision is viewed by many as a “call” to the profession through the bond and thus, these individuals devoted their lives to protecting and maintaining this relationship through the veterinary profession.

The bond, in one way or another, gave each of us our beginning, gives us purpose and is the source of the very essence of the best of the veterinary profession, including specialty veterinary medicine and surgery. Some went to school to become an AHT, others went to veterinary school, some then into practice while others chose to specialize, yet it was the bond that helped bring each of us to our present position. Most if not all of us began essentially with the same sense or feeling and appreciation. The beauty or wonder of the bond is that because we each feel it and have understood it as an individual, it allows us each an opportunity for personal expression through our professional position and role. No two veterinarians or AHT's need outwardly manifest their understanding and appreciation for the bond in the same way, yet as different as we all may appear on the surface, at our core, we are all united as “nurturers” and protectors of the bond. Unfortunately in many individual cases somewhere along the way, either through our education or through the flurries of business and life, the quest to become a first rate AHT, diagnostician or clinician, we may have forgotten or lost touch with the very essence of what brought us here. For those of us who have forgotten where we began, the importance of the bond must be recaptured in our hearts and minds. For those of us who are still “connected” to the bond we must realign ourselves with the reality and potential of the bond. If we as veterinary professionals all allow the bond to be incorporated into every aspect of practice, we will in effect guarantee a link to personal, financial and professional success.

The Bond: The Foundation & The Caregiver

Just as the bond is of paramount value to the veterinary profession, it is of immeasurable value to our clients and their beloved pets. As with veterinary professionals, the bond is expressed on an individual basis within each caregiver/animal relationship. Pet owners make a conscious decision to place an emotional “value” upon the relationship they share with their pets. When they place that value there, they begin to seek out mechanisms by which to preserve it and to ensure that it lasts as long as is possible. They do this within their home by loving, caring for, protecting, and feeding their pet. But they make a step outside of their home to the veterinary hospital to obtain additional care for their pet. For some, this is very basic veterinary care, but for more and more of the “bonded” public, they demand the very highest quality, comprehensive veterinary care. This demand by the public for care of their beloved pets has resulted in a push for higher quality advanced veterinary care. The presence of referral centers with specialists must be seen as possible only because caregivers are seeking out and demanding that level of care as a response to the bond.

The Bond: The Foundation & The Veterinary Health Care Team

Optimum care of today's beloved cat and/or dog and their caregiver requires the dedication of a compassionate, informed, and cohesive health care team and must always be viewed as a team effort. Within an individual veterinary hospital, this team is comprised of the receptionist, animal health technicians or veterinary nurses/AHT's, animal care personnel and the veterinarian. In other words, each and every staff member and veterinarian within a given hospital must be considered a part of the team. Seamless veterinary care as a response to the bond requires the attention of the entire staff. The team must first form and unite in philosophy, understanding and appreciation for the bond and must be equipped at each level with responsibilities in the care of pets and their families. This requires preparation and education and then ongoing feedback and support to continue the level of teamwork and compassionate care. As an example, some facilities have a clinic wide meeting at least once weekly to discuss triumphs, disasters, philosophy and vision for the future in an environment of equality and respect for one another.

The role of the caregiver in the veterinary health care team is often overlooked. The team must remember that in order for care to be comprehensive and ongoing it must continue beyond the doors of the veterinary facility into the home. The only one that can accomplish this care on an hour by hour basis is the caregiver. Therefore, the caregiver must be educated about the medical situation, must be given tools to assess the patient's progress and then must be empowered with the knowledge and support that they are the essential extension of the team at home. They are the best and ultimate judge of quality of life issues and must have adequate information to guide the remainder of the health care team through decisions regarding the health and treatment of their beloved pet. With the caregiver as an active member of the team, the goals of therapy may be established and defined. These include quality of life assessments as well as expectations. In addition open and honest dialogue regarding quantity of life and prognostic variables may occur.

Specialists and referral centers either within a community or at a long distance are essential members of the health care team as well. As clients/caregivers request expanded treatment of disease, specialists must be consulted. Their time, input, advice as well as care, diagnostics etc., are essential to provide the highest possible care for the beloved pet in any situation. An open line of communication must be available and the health care team, especially the veterinarian in private practice must understand what is available beyond his/her doors. This requires ongoing education and dialogue.

The Bond: The Foundation & Compassionate Care

Once a veterinarian and the rest of the team re-grounds themselves in the bond, begins to respond to their patients/caregivers through the bond, and establishes the team concept the ground work is laid for enacting the single most important goal of veterinary medicine: compassionate care. Compassionate care is a reaction to the bond we individually experience within ourselves as veterinary professionals and is a unique response we execute as a direct result of our understanding and appreciation for the bond that exists between each caregiver and their beloved animal. It is a response to the non-medical needs for education, validation and emotional support during the lifetime of an animal. It is a guarantee that the concerns, wants and needs of the individual caregiver are heard and addressed with a nurturing spirit. In addition, it is the mobilization of the entire veterinary health care team to provide medical attention to that individual pet throughout its lifetime, and especially during crisis moments requiring advanced care. The underlying point is that we must redefine the way we all think about medicine/surgery as not just treating a patient, but responding to the bond and utilizing all of our resources (personal and those beyond ourselves, medical and non-medical etc.) to provide caregivers with what they truly need, quality moments of time with their beloved animals, we then affect not just “cures” but comprehensive, high quality diagnostics, therapeutics and client education. Success is defined not in the number of days a pet is alive, but rather through maintaining and enhancing the relationship between pet and caregiver. In so doing, we utilize more of who we are and more of what is available to us. We expand ourselves at whatever level, drive the demand for higher quality medicine/surgery, assure our growth as a profession and reap a financial reward. Most importantly, we restore within ourselves that connection to what “called” us to become a veterinary professional at the very beginning…. the bond.