What it means to be a veterinary doctor

When I tell people I am a doctor who treats animals, some of them brush me off, saying they thought I was a “real doctor”.
It is sad that even in this day and era, some people still do not consider veterinary medicine a serious thing.

Perceptions
Most people associate being around animals all the time to being dirty. The working conditions, especially having to work in the rural areas and risks of being injured by some violent animals, also scares most people from the profession.
So, just like any other job, it has occupational hazards. Sometimes, “our clients” are not so friendly and it is hard to infer mood.

That aside, the clients do not talk which poses a big challenge. However, it is a well paying job where you are your own manager and supervisor.
Here, I can keep on earning even when I retire.
I normally start my day at 7am with meat inspection at Kichwamba abattoir. But during market days, I collect samples from the various carcasses which I take back to the laboratory to test for zoonotic diseases (those which can also affect humans) like tuberculosis, brucellosis and nagana.
I also take organ samples to check for worms like liver flukes, and tape worms so as to ensure that the meat is good for human consumption.

The exercise usually takes about two hours and that is when I take on other activities. Sometimes, I carry out vaccinations, artificial insemination, deworming or giving prophylactic treatment to their animals against diseases like East Coast fever, Mastitis and Nagana.
Other than that, most of the day’s activities are done by 5pm. However, there are times when I am called upon for emergency cases. These include difficult deliveries, animal fractures and other things. When these stretch past working hours, I work through the night.
I have only dealt with domestic animals which are easy to deal with.

Challenges
These usually stem around human resource. We are only six government extension officers in Kabarole District.
This makes us thin on the ground . Therefore, we are overworked and can hardly satisfy the farmers’ demands because the workload is enormous. Even the private practitioners are few and most of them are too expensive for farmers.
As I look to retirement, there are few people being recruited so I keep wondering how that gap will be bridged.

Then there is a breakdown in the chain link. For example, although we have a laboratory, there is no qualified personnel to run it. This has affected us in such a way that specimen testing is not done thoroughly and as such we rely on tentative diagnoses.
We rarely do confirmatory tests. Some farmers have also decided to treat their own animals. This has caused increased drug resistance. Some of these people only reach out to us when everything else has failed which should not be the case.
I blame this on the fact that animal vaccines and drugs are not controlled on the market.
We also lack facilitation yet the road terrain is bad and some of the farmers are in hard-to -reach areas. This however, has made us creative. Most times we use motorcycles to reach out to as many farmers as possible.
This, usually, means we use our resources since most Sub-counties are cash-strapped. Sometimes, the farmers facilitate this.

The benefits
Unlike in most professions, in veterinary medicine, you can never lack employment and the demand for our services is increasing as more people embrace farming.
I am grateful that as a result, I have been able to construct a home in Fort Portal Town. I have also set up a farm as well, comprising a piggery, with about 10 pigs. I had more but I sold off some. I have six crossbreed cows, and a poultry unit with about 50 birds for my family’s consumption. I also own a two-acre matooke plantation but I also grow Irish and sweet potatoes, maize and cassava.

I am married and we have five daughters who we have managed to educate from our investments. Four of them are through with university, it is the last born who is still at university.
Sadly, none of them has followed my career path. I respect their decisions all the same.
I actually feel satisfied that I have managed to do all this from the money I get as a veterinary officer.

Why is a veterinarian important?

Traditionally, human medicine and veterinary medicine tend to be viewed separately.
Doctors treat people, and vets look after animals. Of course, differences exist between the two types of patients and options for treatment. Euthanasia, for example, tends not to be looked on favourably in humans, whereas in veterinary medicine it might be the best approach.

Similarly, culling infected individuals or those suspected of being infected is not an option for controlling an outbreak of infectious disease in humans but may well be so in animals.
Veterinarians are important for several reasons. They help to protect animal health by examining, diagnosing and treating many diseases and conditions of domesticated animals. This ranges from preventing parvovirus in puppies through vaccination to removing bladder stones in rabbits to floating teeth in horses to allow them to eat properly.

Veterinarians help protect human health. One of the main ways veterinarians do this is by vaccinating domesticated animals (particularly dogs, but also cats, horses and cattle) against rabies. Veterinarians are also involved in many aspects of public health, ranging from inspecting meat and poultry products to improving sanitation in communities to prevent contamination of drinking water.

They also help improve the lives of both animals and humans through everything from investigating disease outbreaks to helping develop new drugs and medical technologies to educating both veterinarians and non-veterinarians.
With increasing urbanisation, we can easily forget the extent to which people depend on animals for food and transport - and the health of those animals can mean the difference between life and death.
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