The vet's heart

By Yulissa Gonzalez

Pets are loyal companions who are there for the best and sometimes the harder days. They stay by our side excited to see us every day. They are very much like us, they do the same things we do from eating and playing to sleeping and many more. But because of that they also need day to day care like check ups and vet visits in order for them to be able to live a long and happy life. They are as important as us.

In order for our pets to stay healthy they see doctors who are called veterinarians who love and care for our pets. Someone who I know personally who works in this field is Breanna Hernandez who is the manager at VCA Orchard Plaza Animal Hospital. She grew up having pets all the time in her home but she didn't feel a passion for being more hands on with dogs until she and her boyfriend adopted their first big dog. 

As they took him to get checkups and vaccines and seeing all the receptionists and nurses she realized how much that was something she wanted to do.

Breanna: “I was a licensed aesthetician, which is something that I just do in my free time as a hobby. but before this I was in retail management for nine years. I liked it, but there was no growth and it wasn't something that I was happy doing. so that's when I moved into the veterinary industry therefore, you can now say that I'm happy with my career.”

By being able to have a conversation with a close friend she was able to do some research and find a hospital nearby and found a role that she would be perfect. After waiting for a couple of months Breanna was able to go through with the interview process. Then a month and a couple of weeks later she received an offer letter after she did a few more interviews with the doctors she would soon be working with and she was able to start working. 

Although some people think most animal hospitals only work with common pets, the VCA Orchard Plaza Animal Hospital is an exotic hospital so they can treat animals anywhere from cats and dogs to reptiles, some birds, and minimal sean animals like fishes. They mainly focus on the animals' health by keeping them up to date on their vaccines and do some spay and neuters for both female and male pets.

Breanna: “We focus on basically the health and the overall wellness of any pet. so we see a lot of dogs and cats on a day to day basis, but we're also an exotic hospital. So we pretty much see reptiles, any type of birds and then, we have like a very minimal like sea animals, so like fishes and stuff that will come inside of a portable tank.”

On average her hospital will treat anywhere from 20 dogs and around 15 cats and weekly will hopefully see three or four patients which are a bird or a reptile species.

Despite being able to do her dream job she does wish she was able to start this career earlier rather than going into her 30s. As she is the manager she does hope to be able to take care of all her employees as she is responsible but Breanna also wants to be able to create some long term relationships with her staff.

Breanna: “I think for me I would personally like to have started this career. I would say earlier rather than later going into my 30s.”

Breanna’s favorite part of her job is being able to see the animals and care for them. She especially enjoys when wiener dogs come in since those are her favorite breed she enjoys being around them and cares for them.

Breanna: “I like wiener dogs so anytime we get a patient that is a wiener dog those are probably like my best memories cause I get to hug them while they're back there getting vaccines, but I would say my most favorite memory is probably being able to bring my own pets to work with me.”

There are many joyful times but there are also some hard times Breanna has to go though. Seeing a sick or old pet is hard for anyone really but it's harder for her and her staff. Although they enjoy seeing the animals wagging their tails or having fun it also hurts them to see the family in pain as well as the pets.

Breanna: “I think one of the hardest things is having to see an owner or a long time client of ours, client being like the patient, so like the dog or the cat get put down. 
So whether they're sick or they're having behavior issues or if they're just really old in age, we do euthanizations and we probably do anywhere between one to three on a daily basis. So I think just seeing the families having to put down their pets is probably the hardest thing.”

She explains that when there are scheduled euthanizations her staff have a private room for the family that is mourning and when there is one unexpected they turn on a sensitive light so that the staff knows what is happening and know that they have to keep their voices low and give respect to the family and patient.

Breana: “So I think for me, my number one goal is just trying to retain the staff that I have and be able to grow the employees that are there.”

Although there are rough times Breanna’s priority is her staff and coworkers and she tries her best to keep the flow going and make sure that everything is always in place like the schedule and that whatever the employees need is available for them. Breanna strives for her and her coworkers so that everyday they can keep doing what they love. 

For the Warrior Times, this is Yulissa Gonzalez