Above and Beyond

by Dr. Elizabeth Holland

I feel like if you know us very well, none of what I have to say will surprise you. But today, I want to say it again anyway. We have an AMAZING team. These people love animals. They love people. And they WORK SO HARD!

What you may not know is that every member of our veterinary team is underpaid, overworked and at real risk for compassion fatigue. We face death, financial challenges and heartache daily… and this, of course, was before COVID 19.

Without a doubt, these individuals have a calling to serve. They are skilled in a way that could be far more lucrative in a whole host of ways, but they choose to help your pets.

The other piece I need to share is how AMAZING our clients are. I know we aren’t the cheapest vet clinic in the world. I struggle with this daily. It eats at my heart and gut that we must charge for our services when every member of our team would rather do it all for free.

What you may not know is that our team does everything in their power to keep the veterinarians at our clinic from being in charge of billing because they know we might not keep the lights on if we did. We talk regularly about what it costs to be a full-service outpatient clinic, surgery center, dental practice, pharmacy, radiology service, acupuncture clinic, laboratory and more. We share our human medical bills, knowing that we provide the same first-class service (possibly with more compassion) for just a mere fraction of what it would cost a human to receive. And thankfully, we have clients that recognize and value the level of expertise, technology, and personnel it takes to make that all happen. We feel confident in the value you receive, but it is certainly something we think about and critique constantly.

Our team is chock-full of kind, compassionate and giving people- making the world a better place by helping people and their pets live longer and healthier lives.

And our clients are AMAZING humans, that value our skills and our compassion and they fuel us beyond belief each and every day.


A team member shared these images with me today and it brought me to tears. She was teaching a client to give LIFE-SUSTAINING subcutaneous fluids to her pet through the window of our front door. And this AMAZING client was insistent upon sharing the images if it would possibly help someone else.

LOOK AT THIS! This is LOVE. We are facing unprecedented chaos every direction we turn, and yet, we can still choose to be “close”. We can help. We just have to think outside the box.
SO yes, this is amazing. Yes, this makes me cry. And yes, I am so grateful.

Grateful for my team and grateful for our amazing clients.

All of whom see the amazing potential in the human-animal bond to sustain us during these difficult times and beyond.


We are in this together. I am so blessed to be among the helpers in this world.

And so, to hold true to our pledge to this client. If your pet needs subcutaneous fluids to help them as they battle dehydration, kidney disease, or hospice care, we will be here for you.
We will help you. Please reach out if we can be a resource to help you at home.

And thank you. Thank you for sharing and thank you for putting your faith in us. We take our oath to preserve the bond and health of our human clients and animal patients so seriously, now and forever.