Only one of these dogs is real

I'm still working on a post detailing all the cats who live in our house but I need to take some new photos. Sadly some of the longer-term residents don't get as many aww-thass-so-cute photos taken on the reg. But here's something interesting and animal-related.

I spend a lot of time at vet offices. For whatever reason, the cats in our keep have a variety of ailments that force me to take them in with increasing frequency. My vet office houses several doctors, whom I know so well now I can choose which one to see for a given issue (and who to avoid). The veterinarian is an odd job to hold. Animal lovers hold them in high esteem as noble souls who devote their lives to helping pets. In the same breath, they curse them for charging an arm and a leg for a 2-minute exam and some banana-flavored antibiotics.

Recently the vet-penned blog, Vets Behaving Badly, had its stock of vets answer a would-be vet student's questions about their line of work. The average response: "If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't have become a vet." That kind of messes with our collective image of vets as selfless do-gooders, driven since birth to aid helpless animals. For many, it is really just a job. And like most of us, they hate their job.

I guess I feel bad for the ones that find themselves in careers they are unhappy with, especially after the enormous dedication (and money) it takes to get there. But I also think I know which vets I see who really care and those who don't, and I select them accordingly. I guess there's no reason to assume just because a vet doesn't have passion for the job that they aren't good at it, but given a choice I gotta go with the vet who still seems into it.