- they can self-prescribe
- they commonly use, unlike human doctors, euthanasia to end suffering
- they became vets because they really like animals, but many owners seem more concerned with their pocketbooks
Lagniappe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JChwFoCxVC8
It's literally a medical science degree with a speciality. The same degree that can get you a very highly paid jobs elsewhere yet it doesn't pay that well. You'll likely end up in a poorly paid 24hour live-in clinic with horrible pay and hours surrounded by euthanasia and the associated grief non-stop all the while with those same drugs sitting there. The mortality rate is so horrific that news of another suicide from the graduating year becomes a 'we've lost yet another one' type of statistic.
It's not often you ask someone to give a late teen thoughts on their upcoming career choice and have them rightfully say 'Don't! It's not worth it!' but this literally happened with vet science in my family.
You never really been Karened until you’ve been crazy cat lady Karened.
I know of a number of large animal vets that retired and enjoyed many years of retirement. Perhaps being in the large animal practice where decisions are made on economics and not emotions helps them survive. Those vets also did small animals but it was probably more of a sideline for them.
In general though large animal rural vet work is smoother sailing than the small stuff (from conversations I've had thanks to a farm background and to having developed a bit of animal history recording software for agistment | stud records some decades back).
Social isolation + a business where the business often runs counter to your moral preferences = a tough life for both
The "maybe next year" line gets me every time: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRDaPEaDJ7E
Perhaps the difference is that vets can both prescribe and dispense drugs, while human doctors often need to have a pharmacist dispense the drugs.