‘People have unrealistic expectations’: Disturbing reality pushes vets to distress

A romanticised image of veterinary work as “all puppies and kittens” masks the disturbing reality that vets are four times more likely to die by suicide than the Australian general population, and twice as likely to do so as other health workers.

A key cause of the distress is not dealing with sick or even dying animals, but the way vets are treated by loving pet owners.

Vet Abby Main loves making a difference in the lives of animals and the people they live with, but says there are many ways in which the wellbeing of vets should be better supported.Credit: Justin McManus

Two studies, including one by the Australian Veterinary Association, have revealed the dire effects on the mental health of vets and veterinary nurses — especially those who are young women — of owners who are kind to their pets but not always to their vets.

The association’s study of 2540 people working in the veterinary industry (72.2 per cent of whom identified as female) showed that 66.7 per cent reported having experienced a mental health condition linked with their work, including 41.6 per cent in the previous 12 months.

Women, students, veterinary nurses and 25 to 29-year-olds were the most likely to rate their mental health as poor or very poor.

A smaller study by Dr Nadine Hamilton, a psychologist who treats only vet workers and did her PhD research into why poor mental health and suicide were prominent in the field, found 70 per cent of vets said they knew a veterinary colleague who had died by suicide and that the public was largely unaware of this.

She found snide remarks about the cost of care (including from those who can well afford it), expectations that vets can find and solve the problem immediately, and conflict with owners who can become aggressive, were among the key causes of mental distress. People also believed vets earned far more than they did.

“People have unrealistic expectations,” said Hamilton, who surveyed 119 vets and 526 pet owners about experience and attitudes to veterinary care to try to better understand causes of poor wellbeing among many vets.

“Clients, friends and loved ones put expectations on vets that you’re a miracle worker and you should be able to meet my pet, do a 20-minute consultation, diagnose my pet and give me a cure.”

Monash University research has previously identified the very high rate of suicide among vets compared with other professions. Dr Bronwyn Orr, president of the Australian Veterinary Association, said this research and the association’s own work had led to the launch of an initiative last month to address the veterinary mental health crisis.

Orr said Australians acquiring large numbers of pets during lockdowns and other stress around practising through the pandemic had exacerbated mental health issues for vets, but the suicide problem had been recognised “for a little while before it”.

While emphasising the many good aspects of the career, Orr said vets needed far greater support, including $3 million over five years to implement findings of the association’s wellbeing research. A round-table event later this year will also work on mental health solutions.

“It is a really stressful role. Obviously, we love it, we love animals — you wouldn’t go into this if you didn’t — and it’s a long period of study requiring very high grades,” she said.

“They’re high-achieving individuals who are at also incredibly empathetic, and really care about animals and owners; the problem with that is when you get out there and start receiving some pretty hard treatment from clients.”

The mental health strains were also behind a very high attrition rate among vets despite the minimum study required being four years. Young vets were particularly prone to falling out of the industry within three to five years due to mental health issues, Orr said.

Melbourne vet Abby Main said she had been attracted to the profession by her interest in science and medicine and her love for animals, and because “I feel that I make a real difference”.

“There are many great things about my job ... the purpose of making a difference to animals’ and people’s families binds us together,” she said.

But addressing issues such as making vet services economically sustainable and accessible to all animals would help the mental health of vets, Main said. Clients should also understand that vets “care very much about both animals and their families as they try to provide services they need, often in emergencies, with budget limitations and not always in ideal conditions”.

Hamilton, founder of the campaign Love Your Pet, Love Your Vet (whose latest research was sponsored by Royal Canin), said she had “lost count the number of times I’ve heard of a vet who has suicided”. During counselling, she had spoken with vets who had lost multiple colleagues to suicide.

“There are 36 human specialists and we expect vets to be all of this for multiple breeds and species. They are expected to be everything,” Hamilton said.

Crisis support is available from Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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