I’ve always been a list maker. I attribute much of my professional success and personal happiness to jotting down to-dos. Psychologists term this technique “compartmentalization,” and anytime you feel overwhelmed by life’s responsibilities is an excellent time to try it.

Psychologists define compartmentalization as a defense mechanism to avoid the anxiety that arises from the clash of contradictory values or emotions. While that may sound like a bad thing at first glance, it’s how our brains handle conflicting internal standpoints. For example, a manager can consider herself a relaxed mother or partner at home but a demanding boss at work. These two self-images can coincide because the manager compartmentalizes her life. 

I’ll get straight to the point: Many of our emotional workplace challenges are worsened by poor physical conditioning. 

An Infinite Loop of Unhealthy

The infinite loop of “feel bad, eat bad, don’t exercise, health declines, feel worse, more stressed, eat worse, even less motivated to change” results in professional burnout, microaggressions toward coworkers and clients, short tempers with loved ones, and eventual illness. 

Fall is the season for you to break this destructive cycle. 

I'm thrilled to announce the debut of my new column, "Opening Shots," in the North American Veterinary Community (NAVC) "Today's Veterinary Business" magazine. Here's one of the questions I answer in the December 2020 issue...

“My best technician of 10 years is loved by our clients - but hated by our staff. She’s patient and kind with pets, but condescending and rude with other team members. I don’t want to fire her, but it’s destroying my team. What do I do?”

For the full column, click here: https://todaysveterinarybusiness.com/column/opening-shots/

If you have a veterinary professional or personal life question you'd like me to address, leave a comment or email: OpeningShotsTVB@gmail.com

The USDA confirmed that the North Carolina pug initially thought to be the first US dog to test positive for COVID-19 never had the infection. If you’ve been watching Off Label Veterinary News for the past three months, this is no surprise. Each time stories about SARS-CoV-2 positive dogs and cats have emerged, we’ve cautioned that it’s important to distinguish between an active COVID-19 infection and incidental or “accidental” positive test results that only detect genetic fragments of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We saw similar reporting during the 2003 SARS outbreak, and there is still no evidence that you can get Covid-19 from your pets.

The pugs that tested positive in Chapel Hill, North Carolina by Duke University researchers in April were positive only for genetic material from the SARS-CoV-2 virus, not an active infection. The dogs were also not initially tested to determine if they mounted an immune response to the human coronavirus. If the body creates antibodies to a virus, that indicates an actual or “active infection” was or is occurring. When the USDA performed validated followup antibody tests, the North Carolina dogs were negative, proving no active infection with COVID-19.

As veterinary clinics rush to fill online orders and ramp up telemedicine, don’t forget to answer the phone! Over 30-percent of your clients may be depending on it!

While they continue to spend a lot of money and have a lot of pets, studies suggest that people over 60 to 65 years of age are less likely to use online ordering, and are more uncomfortable sharing credit card or bank information over the internet. So what do they still regularly use? The telephone. Don’t hang up! Let’s review some steps to keep your clinic’s phone connections clear with clients.

Face mask police? What if clients refuse to wear masks during veterinary appointments? How can clinics encourage or require clients to wear face masks during visits?

As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, people are being urged to wear protective face masks. Several states and cities are issuing fines for adults who refuse to don a face-covering in public. An increasing number of US retailers, including Costco, are requiring shoppers to put on masks before entering their stores. But what about veterinary clinics? Let’s review some of the emerging issues regarding potential COVID-19 infection from our clients, protocols and tips to encourage pet parents to wear face masks, and why it may be necessary for owners and managers to become the “face mask police” in order for you to protect your staff and other clients.

As US employment hits 14.7%, how will the potential “Viral Recession” affect US veterinary practices? It’s not all gloom-and-doom, but it’s still far from sunshine-and-rainbows.

As of May 8, 2020, the official US unemployment rate was 14.7%, accounting for over 33 million Americans. This marks the highest level of workers laid off since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Many economists predict the actual unemployment rate is 20%, citing that nearly one in five US laborers has filed for unemployment benefits since April.

How will record unemployment affect pet spending over the next several months? While no one knows for sure, there are some clear trends we can turn to for guidance and help veterinary and pet professionals survive - and thrive - during this time.

Topics covered include:

- Historical context and economic forecasts

- Why is the stock market booming when unemployment is soaring?

- Veterinary telemedicine

- Online pet food and pet supplies sales

- Chewy revenues Q1 2020

- Potential for pharmaceutical companies to go DTC or acquire online platforms

- Potential drop in preventive veterinary medicine

- Increased pet owner price pressure: discounting and rebates

- COVID-19 scenarios and economic impacts

- Impact on general veterinary practices, emergency clinics, and specialty care groups

- Future opportunities for general veterinary practices

As veterinary practices across the country begin to reopen, here are the top five messages you should share with your clients today.

While I think it will be many months before the world is safe from COVID-19, the reality is most veterinary professionals will be returning to practice over the next few weeks. This transition begins with practice owners and managers creating a safe working environment for their teams. This includes providing adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), proper training on PPE usage, and ensuring correct hygiene practices such as hand and surface sanitizing and social distancing techniques are used by the team, even when working in close quarters. In addition to keeping your staff safe, veterinarians need to communicate with clients to make them more comfortable when bringing their pets into our clinics. There are innumerable rumors, myths, and misinformation about COVID-19, many involving animals. By proactively communicating with your clients, you can dispel these falsehoods and encourage veterinary care to protect our pet patients.

After months of whispers and speculations, Zoetis has officially launched its pet insurance company, Pumpkin. Many of my colleagues had heard about their pilot program, and were eagerly awaiting its debut. I think this is an incredibly smart and strategic move by Zoetis, and I also think it signals future moves by the world’s largest veterinary pharmaceutical company. In fact, I think we’ll soon have to drop the “pharmaceutical” designation and stick with “veterinary company.” I also want to point out that this post is not affiliated with Zoetis or Pumpkin. I just wanted to let my veterinary colleagues know about it because I think our clients are going to ask us questions about it. Let’s jump into it!