You have probably read the little bio about Katie on our website, but here is a little insight on how she is in real life. I mean, you never truly know someone until you work for them! ;)
I have done one blog post on how I made the decision to become a vet assistant. This one is going to be a little different, but have the same premise.
As I said in my first post-I love people who love their animals. That is why I decided on a career where I get to deal with both. Originally, I was planning to be the face you see when you walk into a clinic. Someone you can ask questions to, and chat with while waiting for your appointment time. I loved the idea of this. Therefore, when I saw an ad on indeed.com in November of 2016 for an assistant at an IN HOUSE TRAVELING VETERINARY SERVICE-my heart skipped a beat.
I applied for this job so fast I thought my fingers would break over the keyboard. I could not imagine that this could possibly be a real job! I would get everything I wanted and more-I would get to spend genuine time with people in their homes. I would get to limit stress on owners and pets by coming to them instead of them coming in to us. I got a reply back from Dr. Bell, and my interview process began not too long after. I drove to Saint John for my first interview, which I ended up being ONE AND A HALF HOURS EARLY FOR. I guess you could say I was a little bit excited. Katie got back to me about a week after that to tell me I should come back for a working interview!
I came back through a snowstorm which she had no idea was happening (Saint John has its own separate weather system I swear) and did a working interview for a day and it was incredible! I knew that I wanted this job but working for a day with Katie convinced me that I not only wanted to be a part of this business, but I wanted to be associated with HER business. For those of you reading this who haven’t met Katie- imagine someone who cares more about animals and their people than anyone I’ve ever met. She is dedicating her life to coming to people and their pets to reduce their stress level and increase their convenience.
Meanwhile she never stops stressing. “Did we spend enough time there? So and so was so stressed when we left, make sure we give them a call next week to make sure *insert name here* is improving. I am going to look into this for them and send them an email with the research I find helpful. Let’s look into alternatives better suited to them. Can we get this drug in a liquid for them so they don’t have to pill their fractious cat? Let’s make sheets to explain all types of vaccines with literature attached, because people deserve to know EVERYTHING about the vaccines they are giving their animals.”
Katie takes care of people and animals, and never stops thinking of ways to make their lives better. She is compassionate to a fault and never fails to see EVERY point of view. Working for someone who believes the same things I do, cares the same way I do, and is so passionate about what she does is the biggest reward. Katie never thinks of the cost to herself, she would run herself ragged for her patients and clients. She used to do this by herself part time before she hired me and I have no idea how she kept her head on. I mean I don’t do THAT much, but I do enough to make me wonder how she used to do it all herself.
She’s going to read this and get all embarrassed, but I think she deserves some recognition from the behind the scenes crew. Thank you for everything you do Dr. Katie!