Compassion fatigue is actually a really hot topic in the veterinary community right now.
Our emergency clinic euthanizes so many animals, it sometimes amazes me that there are any pets left in our town. Especially on holidays – people love to put their pets down on holidays (nothing says “Merry Christmas” like killing things all day. That, in combination with being bitched at for having to wait even though we’re clearly insanely busy, having to pay to be seen, for apparently being somehow responsible for their pet being sick – it’s a really hard job.)
Euthanizing due to financial constraints is a sad fact of life. And sometimes it’s the only real choice. I talk to my staff a lot about the fact that we have to respect the choice of the pet owner, that we not only have to avoid trying to make that decision for them, we also can’t judge them for their decisions.
Yes, some pet owners don’t value their pets the way most of us in the veterinary community do. But I’ve also seen people put themselves into credit card debt, sell belongings, and even use home equity to treat an animal that will probably have only a few months, at best.
To survive, you have to find a balance between becoming too emotionally involved and being cold and uncaring. But no matter how well you think you handle it, some cases still cause you to slink off to the bathroom or the supply room to cry in private.