Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning. Thank you for listening to Community Access. My
guest today is doctor Leah as a Wiki. She is
a veterinarian. Last Wednesday was Veterinary Appreciation Day. Good morning,
Hi Allison, how are you today. I'm great. I'm so
happy you're here.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Veterinary medicine is not easy. I had a friend whose
daughter could not get into veterinarian school in the United States.
She had to go out of the country. Tell me,
how did you decide to do this?
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Well?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
I wanted to be a veterinarian ever since I was
a little girl and understood what it was, you know,
the fact that you could be a doctor for animals
and help them and make their lives better. I was
in and as the youngest of four kids, I spent
a lot of time alone with my dogs, and then
my family had moved to a dairy farm that had
been in our family for a long time. And yeah,
(00:53):
so I just kind of bonded with animals a lot
as a child and knew from a young age that
this was the path I was meant to be on. Unfortunately,
after twenty five years in veterinary medicine, my first job
in the field was when I was eighteen after graduating
high school at a clinic in Marbledale, Connecticut. It's now
(01:13):
been twenty five years that I've worked and have been
employed in the field, and I've seen a lot of changes, unfortunately,
not for the best when it comes to the state
of veterinary medicine. In my opinion, just like you're describing
the friend whose daughter had to go outside of the
country for education, being accepted to veterinary school is incredibly challenging.
(01:35):
You have to have the best of the best grades,
lots of work experience. A lot of people wanted to
go into the field of veterinary medicine, but I've unfortunately
witnessed this shift in the opinion as far as the
general public goes on the state of veterinary medicine. There's
a lot of people who are really frustrated and angry
when they can't get into a veterinarian right away or
(01:57):
when they are able to get in if things are
really extreme, then unfortunately it creates a cost or financial
stress for the pet parents to be able to afford
that care. And now we have access to information at
our fingertips. People can get on social media and on Yelp.
Then that displeasure is being you know, made rather public,
(02:20):
and it's having a negative effect on the veterinary field
as a whole.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Well, nobody should ever trust doctor Google.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Correct. Yeah, that's kind of that blessing and a curse.
You know, I do believe in people being well informed,
but the problem is when they're misinformed or you know,
they're not having somebody who has any sort of medical
background putting hands and eyes on a patient and then
offering advice which can be incredibly dangerous and then kind
(02:47):
of perpetuate these old wives tales or you know, you know,
try this and try that and not realizing that it
can be a very severe negative impact. Or more importantly,
what I witness is that there is a delay and
appropriate treatment. People wait until it's pretty much a crisis scenario.
And yeah, doctor Google, I want people to be informed,
(03:09):
but what I don't want is for people to be
running with bad information.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Right or panic. That's why it's so important to have
a good veterinarian that you can trust, who you know
has accurate information. When you did graduate, what did you
decide to do with your career?
Speaker 2 (03:24):
So I actually tracked and trained as a large animal veterinarian.
I was planning on working on cows, goat, sheet horses,
lamas alvacas, and I actually did work as a mixed
animal practitioner for a few years, but then I found
this love of integrative practice, which means we're taking information
from traditional medicine, Eastern and Western medicine. So I do
(03:48):
believe in erbalism. All modern pharmacology is derived from herbalism.
And then trying alternative therapies like acupuncture, chiropractic medicine, in
massage therapy, and then kind of throwing the kitchen sink
approach at caring for anybody that goes for human and
animal medicine. So after working for a few years and
(04:10):
mixed animal practice, I started getting more involved with doing
acupuncture and chiropractic care, and I did that in people's
homes primarily. So once I established this relationship with the
pet as well as a family, and they approached end
of life, it made sense that I was the person
to help them transition when it was time to say goodbye.
So now I pretty much only work as a hospice
(04:34):
veterinarian in people's homes, and the pandemic forced that issue
a little bit. I was still working in small animal
clinics doing relief work, and once the pandemic hit and
people didn't really know how to approach handling it, being
one on one with clients, potential spread of illness, that
could what that could mean for the health and wellness
(04:56):
of an entire clinic if somebody on staff got sick.
There was really strict restrictions put in place about people
being with their pets in the clinical setting and final moments.
And as somebody, I don't have any human children, I
just have my fur kids. They're my whole world. And
the thought of handing over a crate with my cat
in it or my dog's leash and saying goodbye and
(05:18):
not being present for those moments, that was a deal
breaker for me. So I decided that I needed to
go full full into this hospice world. And the need
was there, loss of demand, and so now I only
do in home euthanasia services and phone consultations for families
who are navigating end of life.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
During COVID, I was gowned up and I was in
the hospital administering last rites to people and their families
would be on the phone. So I can't imagine you
performing euthanasia for this beautiful animal and their family is
either looking out through the window or you're on the
phone on speaker. My heart goes out to you because
I know what I went through, but it was nothing
(05:58):
compared to what you had to do and what you
continued to do.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Yeah, I was very fortunate because I don't have a
big family and people who were considered high risk. I decide.
I was like, well, I'm just gonna mask up were
my gloves. We have follow as much biosecurity protocol as
we could, so if families had garages, we would meet
there with the door open to make sure that we
were well ventilated. But I had families who were senior citizens,
(06:24):
people who had mobility issues, dogs who had collapsed inside
the home, that were too large to comfortably or safely
remove from the home. So I said, you know what,
I'm just I'm just going to do this. And I
made it through the whole pandemic, working pretty much every
single day without contracting COVID until we actually started to
loosen our restrictions and people started taking the masks off,
(06:44):
and then I'm sure enough I finally got it. But
it was a few years into it before I was
actually got sick, and so the PPE, the personal protective
equipment was working. And I'm very grateful for the families
that you know, under stood the risks I was taking
and they were so supportive and appreciative, and you know,
it's a weird way of finding my calling, but I did,
(07:07):
and so Hanbus is what I was meant to do.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
I'm speaking with doctor Leah Azawiki. I met her in
November because she came highly recommended to me. My fifteen
year old Maltice, Yorky had lymphoma, full blown lymphoma. Somebody mentioned, hey,
you could do this right in the house, and I
know this amazing woman who will do it. She'll come here.
You were, I mean, ough, just amazing, gosh for anybody
(07:36):
who's ever had to go through something like this. I
ended up writing a social media post about it, and
everyone was like, I wish I did that. I will
do that next time if I have to. But Leah,
you were so calm, so kind, so compassionate, not only
with me and my two daughters, but with our Romeo.
(07:56):
And it was he trusted me, he did, and we
trusted you, and it was and I say this as
a minister because people who have never been around when
somebody passes away, they think it's horrific. But death can
be beautiful.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Absolutely, and it was Asia means good death and Greek
and a lot of people don't know that, and when
they hear that, it gives them a sense of peace
and relief to know that it means good death. It's
not a scary or bad thing.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
My dog was suffering tremendously and I should have probably
even done it sooner. But you know, when families involved,
they have a say, and it's hard. So but I
just can't say enough about you. Tell me what are
some of the challenges you're facing in the field of
veterinary medicine.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
So you actually just described the biggest issue that I
tend to encounter, and it's family members are so nervous,
so scared. There's a lot of negative connotations or interpretations
of euthanasia. Culturally, I think we're pretty terrified of death
and dying, which is unfortunate because we're all dying at
different rates and for different reasons, and there's really nothing
(09:04):
any of us can do about it other than provide
palliative care or comfort measures. When somebody is transitioning. But
what I found with my job, my biggest obstacle is
making sure that people feel that what they're doing is
a good thing and not a bad thing to end
and prevent suffering. And that is a huge emotional hurdle
(09:28):
for people to get over. It's a philosophical or perspective
approach that needs to be changed. And I have colleagues
who really struggle with euthanasia. They feel almost as if
they're doing they failed, they couldn't make things better, especially
if the family is not emotionally prepared. Where I look
at it from a different perspective and I'm like, this
is happening ready or not. And if we can be
(09:51):
proactive enough and get ahead of mother nature, we have
this opportunity to give our pets permission to not have
to suffer in order to just to fy this decision
to let go. And that's often what people are doing.
They know their pets are elder or they're sick and
struggling with a terminal condition, and then we just stare
at them and we wait for it to get so
(10:12):
bad that we have to say, and that moment when
we recognize it, okay, I have to move forward with euphanasia.
There's nothing else I can do. We can't wait any longer.
My friend's in trouble, and that's an emergency. You're not
going to call a veterinarian or a house call practice
like mine and say, hey, what's your schedule look like
in the next three to five days. You're going to
(10:33):
want help immediately because you know that your friend is struggling.
Getting everybody on board and accepting that, hey, being a
day too soon is so much better than being a
minute too late is difficult.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Listen, it still sucks. It's your bestie for fifteen years.
You love them to death and to let go is very,
very difficult. But I felt I didn't want to be selfish.
I didn't want him to suffer anymore. And when it's
so yeah, there's lots of tears. I had him cremated,
and you know, we had all this special urn and
(11:06):
the little jewelry with his ashes in it for the kids,
and I remember going to the place to pick it
up and it was so quiet in there, you know,
like a funeral home would be. And the woman came
out and she was just so calm. I was just like,
what is this vibe, you know, like I couldn't understand it.
And when she pulled out his urn, girl ugly cry
(11:28):
and I was.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Like, that's why she's so calm and so nice, because
she knows what's coming. So again, you know, there isn't
anything fun about it, But I choose this over his suffering.
And instead of going to the vet, where it seems
very sterile in that environment, I'm in my own home
where he lived for fifteen years. So I would encourage
(11:51):
anybody what you're saying to please, you know, try not
to go so much with emotion, but with logic. Don't
allow your pet to say and definitely reach out to
a hospice vet.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yeah, And I mean I know that we had some
consultations prior to meeting Romeo, and you know the emotional
struggle and it is real. And even though I'm a
hospice vet and I've had my own practice for about
eleven years now, when one of my own babies is
at end of life and dying, I need one of
my colleagues to put their hand on my shoulder and
(12:25):
give me permission. I need my friends and family who
knew him, you know, or him or her who know
my pet and know me to say yes, like this
is the right thing, because all my years of experience
and training go out the window when my heart is involved.
And that's a really scary decision to make, is to
decide that your friend needs to needs to pass on
(12:46):
and feel responsible for that decision. And that's where I
always reiterate, like we are not in control here, mother
nature is. But if we can accept that this is happening,
that our friends are getting ready to leave us and
get head of mother nature, because she can be pretty cruel.
And I always tell clients who are struggling with feeling
(13:07):
like they're doing it potentially a day too soon, that
the worst emergencies that I've ever witnessed in my practice
are people who start out the frantic phone call conversation
with I was hoping they would die on their own,
and then all the horrible things that start happening to
a body that's shutting down. They can start screaming, crying, vocalizing, seizing, gasping, writhing,
(13:33):
It is, it is horrible, And then that is what
you have to remember of your companion's final moments is
a lot of suffering and then the grief that was
that that was completely inevitable, that you had to experience
because they were going to leave us ready or not,
is now being compounded with guilt, the guilt of feeling
like you waited too long and you forced your friend
(13:55):
to suffer, and that is devastating. And so I spend
every single day of my life talking with clients, trying
so hard to spare them that after death guilt and
compounding that with their grief that they're navigating, and that
is not easy. You know, not everybody has had a
positive encounter to me with me, because I can be
(14:17):
a little tough Levey, but I have to my job.
When I became a veterinarian, I took an oath to
be an animal's voice, to be their advocate, And so
when somebody calls me and describes, you know, their pets
diagnosis or what's going on with them, I know how
badly they're suffering, even if it's not really obvious to
a pet pairent. I'm trained to recognize the subtle signs,
(14:40):
and I absolutely sometimes I'm almost fighting with people, begging
them to see reason and to let me come and
one thing that I can promise, And there's certainly some
clients out there who might be listening, who can confirm this.
I never perform a euthanasia that I do not think
is appropriate. And sometimes the clinic picture that's painted in
(15:01):
my head is really ugly, and I'm like, yes, I
need to get there right away, and there might have
been a miscommunication or a misunderstanding. These are often urgent cases,
and then I get there and the pet.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Is okay, yeah, or there.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Was something that's going on that is treatable, or you know,
they just needed some pain meds to navigate end of life,
just like we all do when we start getting arthritis
and have some joint problems. It's okay to require some
comfort measures and quality of life can still be achieved.
So I will never perform a euthanasia that's based out
(15:36):
of convenience or is ill timed, and I always will
give that family that peace of mind when I get there.
The goal is always to do right by the pet,
and sometimes that does take into account a family's living situation,
their finances. You know, there's always external factors. But my
job is to make sure that we're going to do
(15:57):
right by that pet, and oftentimes a gentle, peaceful to
buy is the best solution for them.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
And I was going to say that that you weren't
just like, hey, put him down, put them down, put
them down if it doesn't warrant it. This is what
hospice medicine is all about, is to make them comfortable. See,
some people don't realize that while your animal is suffering,
you could take these hospice measures until it is time.
So I think people just don't even think about that part.
They just think, oh, they're sick. No, in the meantime,
(16:24):
you could make them comfortable, so it doesn't have to
be like this. Absolutely, I noticed that every time I
went to the vet, he was on his best behavior.
The doctor's like this dog, spry, this dog's great. And
you said to me, well, Ellison, he's adrenaline a sky
high because he's going to the vet. And then he'd
come home and he'd be dying. But you explained it
(16:47):
to me, this is why it is the way that
it was.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Yeah. Absolutely, so, adrenaline override is a real thing. And
it's really unfortunate because a lot of my colleagues, who
are absolutely amaze veterinarians, but they've only ever worked in
the clinical setting, haven't experiences the way I have one
of my last clinic jobs, I saw this beautiful Golden
retriever walking down the tile hallway at the clinic I
(17:13):
worked at. And when when my colleague actually saw the
dog and put him on pain management and sent him home,
the image I had was this dog that was, you know,
had good decent mobility, especially on a slick surface, obviously
was limping a little bit, and was struggling with obesity
and definitely had a lot of orthopedic disease. I got
(17:34):
a frantic phone call from that family just a couple
of days later, and of course it was a holiday weekend,
and they said, please come, he's suffering, and I was like,
wait a minute. I saw him with my own eyes
walking down the hall They're like, he's in so much pain,
he can't move. And I talked through the medications that
were dispensed when he was at that last appointment and said,
(17:56):
all right, we're going to max everything out. Let's see
how he does overnight. If you still need me tomorrow,
I'll come. And sure enough I went, and this dog
was absolutely suffering. He was in so much pain. He
couldn't lie down and he would just stand and he
was falling asleep with us while he was upright, and
you just saw his eyes and his head dropping, and
then as soon as he would start to go down,
(18:16):
the pain would wake him back up and he would
kind of mid collapse jump back up to his feet.
It was so horrible to witness that. And my own
colleague didn't see that. He didn't know how bad it
was at home because he saw this dog who was
under an incredible amount of stress, and therefore this adrenaline override,
(18:37):
this phenomenon that helps women lift the car off their
child taking place. And I do see that a lot
with animals, and I remind people that a snapshot in time,
you know, when your dog, who's you know, is that
end of life, wags his tail a little bit. There's
twenty four hours in a day, and if normally when
(18:57):
you'd walk in the door, they'd jump up and they'd
run in greet you, and that tale would be wagging
for minutes. Now it wags for ten to fifteen seconds
before it stops. Trying to explain to people like, yeah,
they're just putting their best path forward. This is what
they're going to do, and a lot of stress and
excitement can temporarily mask a lot of pain and suffering
(19:17):
that's associated with end of life.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Tell me what can people do to help address the
crisis in veterinary medicine.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Oh, so the biggest thing is along like with what
you said with doctor Google, I think that the biggest
problem that we're facing in veterinary medicine is cyberbullying, and
nobody's really talking about it or addressing it. So at
the start of the pandemic pandemic there were over twenty
three million pets purchased and adopted because people were at home,
(19:49):
they're kind of like, well, what do we do now,
Let's get a dog, Let's get a cat. A lot
of people who had never previously owned a pet, or
it had been a little while, or they're just adding
to their family, not a little bit. But the problem
was this influx of pet ownership did not correlate with
the decline of the numbers of veterinarians and very important
(20:12):
to support staff. So to make a hospital or a
clinic or a practice run, you need veterinary technicians, assistants, receptionists,
which I believe is the worst job in veterinary medicine
because they get the brunt of all of everybody's frustration
and stress managers, the caregivers that are feeding and medicating
these animals after hours. We are in a significant worldwide
(20:36):
shortage of all veterinary practitioners and staff. And it's real.
And when the pandemic started, anybody who was kind of
on the fence about whether or not they were ready
to leave the field, they left. There was a mass exodus.
It was too risky, it was too frustrating. I was
seeing over and over news articles that were written on
(20:56):
behalf of the client's perspective that were anger and frustration
that they got this animal, they can't get into a vet.
Appointments are booking weeks, if not months in advance, and
then when it comes down to a more urgent or
emergent situation, it was very expensive because now we have
an animal who had been denied or unable to get
(21:19):
care for far too long, and then they're sicker. And
then unfortunately, the cost of medicine has skyrocketed along with
everything in life across the board. But as I was
seeing all these articles about there's not enough veterinarians, we
can't get our pet scene, none of those articles were
addressing why why don't we have enough veterinarians and support staff.
(21:42):
And the truth is is because it is a very
difficult field to work in. It is emotionally charged. Most
people who go into veterinary medicine are people who have
this really strong, special human animal bond with animals, and
it is real and it is powerful. And that's what
a lot of pet parents feel. And when those emotional
(22:04):
heartstrings are tugged on when somebody that they love this
little furry being, or I mean even birds, reptiles, you
name it. Love doesn't have to be in furry pause.
It can be in anything. They were frustrated and angry
and scared, and the blame was being lashed out at
the veterinary community. And so veterinary medicine is very expensive
(22:27):
when you go through your training. It was over a
decade for me because I did some graduate research and
I have a significant amount of student loan debt that
is now being the interest is over six point eight percent.
It's very difficult to keep up financially, especially with all
the rising costs. I was navigating a divorce in the
(22:49):
middle of the pandemic, just to add fuel to the
huge fire that was already burning. I was struggling finding housing,
trying to make ends meet as a doctor. But the
debt that I incurred in order to be a veterinarian
is real, and it's significant, and it's crippling. And although
I do make a good living, I also struggle with
(23:09):
work life balance, which a lot of my colleagues do
as well. And so unfortunately, in my twenty five years
in veterinary medicine, I am now witnessing this crisis where
we don't have enough people. Ers are turning people away
in emergency situations, as well as teaching institutions, which is unprecedented,
(23:30):
never witnessed that before, and we are suffering. We now
have one of the highest suicide rates of any other profession.
Female veterinarians are three point five times more likely than
the average American citizen, or I guess it's worldwide to
commit suicide, male veterinarians being two point one times more likely.
(23:51):
That's a really scary statistic, and I fully admit when
I was navigating rock bottom and going through tough times
in the pandemic, I struggled with suicide ideation as well,
and it was really scary, and every time I turned
I opened up Facebook or social media, and I saw
a news article that people were being angry lashing out
(24:13):
at vets. There was kind of this, it's all about money,
it's all about greed, there's no compassion, they don't care
about your animal, and it was it was gut wrenching,
and I find myself playing a lot of professional defense.
So the most important piece of advice that I can
give anybody who is you know, has an animal or
is going to get a pet, understand that the people
(24:35):
who take care of this beloved pet of yours were
suffering too. And we're having a really hard time navigating
life in general, just like everyone is. Everything is expensive,
and unfortunately the cost of doing medicine is very expensive,
especially quality medicine, and we don't like it. We hate it.
I loved back in the day when it was, you know,
(24:57):
twenty five thirty bucks to get a rabies vaccine, that
when you're pet with sick, you can call and somebody
would probably see you right away, if not in a
day or two. There weren't these long waiting periods. But
this shortage of veterinary practitioners and support staff is a
direct consequence to how brutal it is being in the
field and cyberbullying when somebody is upset or frustrated or angry,
(25:20):
especially when a veterinarian or a tech isn't able to
take the time to explain the value behind procedures that
are being recommended or performed, and they're just seeing the
price tag without understanding that value. People become keyboard cowboys,
jump on social media, have no problem thinking twice about
writing a terrible Yelp review or going on Facebook. And
(25:42):
there's a very terrible mob mentality when somebody hears about
a furry animal that may have been neglected, and blame
is wanting to be placed. And I mean every single
day I see hatred and people lashing out against the
veterinary community and it breaks my heart.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
I'm so sorry.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
So as far as what the general public can do
to implement some changes to address the veterinary medicine crisis,
education is key, and that's something that I've always been
very passionate about. I've done a lot of guest lecturing
working with four H clubs, and I take a lot
of time with my clients, whether it's just doing the
free phone consultations or when I go to somebody's home
(26:24):
and I'm working directly with the family. I've always been
kind of playing some professional defense addressing any sort of
concerns or negative experience as clients have had in the past.
So I can't stress this enough. Education is key and
making sure that the resources that you're using and the
information that you're hearing are safe and accurate and qualified.
(26:47):
Oh gosh, that's such an important word. We live in
a time now where people will take advice from somebody
that they find on social media that has zero credentials,
but they do a really good job presenting what they're
talking about. This is why before you do anything with
your pet, you really should have an established veterinary client
(27:09):
relationship always and if you have a question about if
your animal is sick or uncomfortable, if something needs to
be done. You know, a lot of people take to
social media or they reach out to their friends and
family like, hey, Spotty is not doing so well, Like
what do you think? And so when people reach out
to me on my personal and professional social media sites
(27:30):
and I'm like, hey, doc, we went to high school
together and my dog hasn't eaten for four days. What
do you think? My favorite response now to people is
if you are concerned enough about your pet that you're
reaching out to other people to ask for advice, then
you need to take action and contact a veterinary professional.
Social Media is not an appropriate means unless that social
(27:52):
media site that you're going to is a practitioner, someone
like me. So I do have my own personal and
professional social media and I'm definitely diving into community education
and outreach now in addition to my hospice practice. People
do want to be informed and they just don't know
where to go for it. Thankfully, I'm in a really
(28:14):
unique position that because of this level of distrust in
the veterinary community, you know, I see a lot of
accusations about vets are just pushing product, They're in bed
with big Pharma or big kibble. So I'm in a
really unique position because I haven't even worked in the
clinic for over five years now since the start of
the pandemic, and in my own practice, I don't sell
(28:36):
or promote any products whatsoever. I'm in a really good
position hopefully that the community of people who are animal
lovers can trust me and know that any advice that
I give, or if there were ever a product recommendation
it's because I actually give it to my own animals
or utilize it for my own pets.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
How can people get in touch with you?
Speaker 2 (28:57):
So I have my own social media pages, doctor Leah
as Awiki long Polish name, it's OsO w i e
c Ki and my own practice is called Holistic Home
Veterinary Services, and so people can head to those pages.
And then as far as me getting more involved in
education and outreach, will be information on my personal pages regarding.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
That beautiful I'm speaking with doctor Leah as a wiki.
Thank you so much for being here today and for
serving the community.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Thank you so much for having me and I really
appreciate you and in your feedback, especially regarding your experiences
with me and your beloved Romeo