The Art of Private Veterinary Practice L’art de la pratique vétérinaire privée When praise and support can backfire Myrna Milani
T
he previous column discussed how failure to recognize the practical ramifications of implementing a prescribed protocol may undermine clients’ relationships with their animals as well as cause them to give up. In these situations, offering praise and support as part of the treatment can do much to minimize such negative effects. But is it possible for praise and support from veterinarians and their staffs to do harm? Yes, it is. And in one situation in which this occurs the result may receive extensive and long-lasting negative media coverage that travels far beyond the location of those involved. The (relatively) good news is that the role communication with veterinarians and their staff members may play in the crisis often receives little, if any, of that media attention. This occurs because such interactions typically happen during the early stages of what later becomes a human-animal crisis. The bad news is that, as a result, those practitioners and others may not realize how their often well-intentioned remarks contributed to the problem. Consequently, they may commit the same communications faux pas again. For those who have not guessed it already, the situation in question is hoarding. Although hoarding now receives a great deal more attention from anthrozoologists and human mental health professionals as well as the entertainment industry, who becomes a hoarder remains speculative at best. In general, age, gender, socioeconomic status, religion or other differentiators do not consistently occur. Older people may be diagnosed as hoarders more frequently, but this may be because they have had longer to collect things. Similarly hoarders may be more likely to live alone, but that may result from divorce or alienation of family and friends that occurs as a consequence of the hoarding rather than causing it. Relative to the practitioner’s dilemma animal hoarders, like other hoarders, have not always been collectors and hoarders. For example, like many practices with a sizable pet animal (including birds and exotics) client population, Dr. Danzinger’s
Use of this article is limited to a single copy for personal study. Anyone interested in obtaining reprints should contact the CVMA office ([email protected]) for additional copies or permission to use this material elsewhere. 792
has a small sub-population of those who have what he and his staff consider “a lot” of animals or even “too many” animals. But when these clients originally came to the practice, they had what all considered a “normal” number. When a client crosses the line between a normal number and too many animals is relative. One of Dr. Danzinger’s technicians, Marcy Cellotto, is a selfdefined “devoted dog-lover” who has 10 dogs, so she perceives that number as within normal limits. Meanwhile Dr. Danzinger, who has 2 dogs, perceives 10 dogs as bordering on “too many.” At the same time though, Dr. Danzinger and the rest of his staff are not innocent by-standers in Ms. Cellotto’s acquisition of these animals. When the animal control officer drops off a stray dog hit by car or someone requests euthanasia for a puppy for which the owner lacks sufficient time, the idea that Ms. Cellotto might take in these animals occurs to more than one member of the veterinary staff. If Ms. Cellotto cannot for some reason, they run through the list of others who they believe could give a dog a good home. Some of these people may only have a few dogs in the beginning; but over time some of them will add more. If a cat needs a home, staff members automatically think of Mr. Jessup, a kind-hearted retiree who has 8 of his own and feeds the strays in the mobile home park where he lives. Once again the clinic staff believes that he and cat owners with multiple animals are not only the most likely to accept another animal, but also the ones able to give the animal the best care. Regardless of the species for which the adopter or rescuer professes an affinity, the veterinarian and his staff lavishly praise these people for accepting the animals. And all admit that sometimes their desire to place an animal may cause them to apply pressure to perspective owners who resist. “What’s one more dog and especially such an adorable little one,” one of Dr. Danzinger’s associates tempts Ms. Cellotto as she holds up a homeless puppy in front of the soft-hearted technician. Other times in addition to their often heartfelt, if possibly misplaced, praise and emotional support, some practitioners may provide medical care or animal food at cost to those of limited means to encourage them to take in more animals. Depending on the number of stray or unwanted animals of that species in CVJ / VOL 55 / AUGUST 2014
CVJ / VOL 55 / AUGUST 2014
for the animals’ care. Some of this will go for medical care that Dr. Danzinger and his staff will provide. Meanwhile Dr. Danzinger schedules a staff meeting to determine how he and his staff can ensure that they do not contribute to such a tragic event again. “I talked to a psychiatrist who has worked with hoarders and learned some things I wish I had known before,” he begins the meeting. “Because animal hoarders do place a high, albeit often strongly symbolic charge, on their animals, initially they do give them good care. Consequently, veterinarians often will see these people frequently. It’s only when the care of the animals intensifies their own physical or mental conditions that they fall off the radar.” “That certainly was the case with Mr. Jessup,” comments a staff member. “It seemed like he was always in here with a new cat. Then he just disappeared.” “What should we have done instead?” Marcy Cellotto asks the question on everyone mind. “Heading the list, we need to be careful that we don’t overly praise those with multiple animals. Second, we should not pressure anyone to take an animal or assume that those with multiple animals always can handle one more. Third, if you suspect someone may be becoming overwhelmed by their animals, tell me or one of the other veterinarians. Because we make house- and farm-calls all over the area, we easily can drop in for an informal visit with a valued client and casually evaluate the condition of the animals and environment while we’re there. With luck, we can prevent any potentially problematic situations from deteriorating further. If we’re too late, we can contact the proper mental health authorities and deal with the animals in a caring and professional manner.” No practitioner can predict which clients who have or accumulated multiple animals will become overwhelmed by their proper care. But what practitioners can do is to be mindful that they do not inadvertently contribute to the problem by communicating with these people using language that fuels their desire for more animals, or encourages them to adopt animals to which they cannot give adequate care.
793
T H E A R T O F P R I VAT E V E T E R I N A RY P R ACT I C E
the area, the word regarding the identity of these people may spread quickly throughout the animal care community as well as the community at large. Soon others may begin soliciting homes for unwanted animals and stories even may appear in the local paper extolling the virtue of these modern day patron saints of dogs, cats, horses, birds, reptiles or amphibians. Other times animals may show up on their doorsteps or be abandoned in their yards. At some point, more mentally and emotionally strong individuals like Ms. Cellotto will summon the wherewithal to refuse to take another animal. “Yes, he is a very adorable little puppy,” she tells the associate. “But I have too many other obligations and responsibilities in my life to give him the care he deserves.” When the associate persists, she maintains her stance gently but firmly. But Mr. Jessup does not fare so well. Unlike Ms. Cellotto and like a fair number of hoarders, his mental and emotional state is fragile. In his particular case, the combination of retirement and the loss of his wife of 45 years following a long illness have resulted in depression and social anxiety that he believes his cats help him endure. Because of this, he willingly accepts stray or unwanted cats, and especially those from Dr. Danzinger’s practice because he believes the staff there particularly understand his great love of animals. And because they believe they do too, when they don’t hear from him that winter and spring they assume that is because everything is going well. During that same period though, Mr. Jessup reaches the point where he has so many cats and kittens he cannot properly care for them. Because his mental health state causes him to stay away from his neighbors and them to stay away from him, no one notices until the stench from the mobile home permeates the neighborhood. At that point, someone calls the local shelter and the media circus begins. Sensationalistic headlines and articles universally portray Mr. Jessup as a heartless animal abuser who forced innocent animals to live in filth. Shelter employees speak at length about the deplorable conditions inside the mobile home as they give guided tours to reporters. Requests to adopt the cats pour in from all over the country thanks to Internet coverage of the story. So do donations to the shelter
T
he previous column discussed how failure to recognize the practical ramifications of implementing a prescribed protocol may undermine clients’ relationships with their animals as well as cause them to give up. In these situations, offering praise and support as part of the treatment can do much to minimize such negative effects. But is it possible for praise and support from veterinarians and their staffs to do harm? Yes, it is. And in one situation in which this occurs the result may receive extensive and long-lasting negative media coverage that travels far beyond the location of those involved. The (relatively) good news is that the role communication with veterinarians and their staff members may play in the crisis often receives little, if any, of that media attention. This occurs because such interactions typically happen during the early stages of what later becomes a human-animal crisis. The bad news is that, as a result, those practitioners and others may not realize how their often well-intentioned remarks contributed to the problem. Consequently, they may commit the same communications faux pas again. For those who have not guessed it already, the situation in question is hoarding. Although hoarding now receives a great deal more attention from anthrozoologists and human mental health professionals as well as the entertainment industry, who becomes a hoarder remains speculative at best. In general, age, gender, socioeconomic status, religion or other differentiators do not consistently occur. Older people may be diagnosed as hoarders more frequently, but this may be because they have had longer to collect things. Similarly hoarders may be more likely to live alone, but that may result from divorce or alienation of family and friends that occurs as a consequence of the hoarding rather than causing it. Relative to the practitioner’s dilemma animal hoarders, like other hoarders, have not always been collectors and hoarders. For example, like many practices with a sizable pet animal (including birds and exotics) client population, Dr. Danzinger’s
Use of this article is limited to a single copy for personal study. Anyone interested in obtaining reprints should contact the CVMA office ([email protected]) for additional copies or permission to use this material elsewhere. 792
has a small sub-population of those who have what he and his staff consider “a lot” of animals or even “too many” animals. But when these clients originally came to the practice, they had what all considered a “normal” number. When a client crosses the line between a normal number and too many animals is relative. One of Dr. Danzinger’s technicians, Marcy Cellotto, is a selfdefined “devoted dog-lover” who has 10 dogs, so she perceives that number as within normal limits. Meanwhile Dr. Danzinger, who has 2 dogs, perceives 10 dogs as bordering on “too many.” At the same time though, Dr. Danzinger and the rest of his staff are not innocent by-standers in Ms. Cellotto’s acquisition of these animals. When the animal control officer drops off a stray dog hit by car or someone requests euthanasia for a puppy for which the owner lacks sufficient time, the idea that Ms. Cellotto might take in these animals occurs to more than one member of the veterinary staff. If Ms. Cellotto cannot for some reason, they run through the list of others who they believe could give a dog a good home. Some of these people may only have a few dogs in the beginning; but over time some of them will add more. If a cat needs a home, staff members automatically think of Mr. Jessup, a kind-hearted retiree who has 8 of his own and feeds the strays in the mobile home park where he lives. Once again the clinic staff believes that he and cat owners with multiple animals are not only the most likely to accept another animal, but also the ones able to give the animal the best care. Regardless of the species for which the adopter or rescuer professes an affinity, the veterinarian and his staff lavishly praise these people for accepting the animals. And all admit that sometimes their desire to place an animal may cause them to apply pressure to perspective owners who resist. “What’s one more dog and especially such an adorable little one,” one of Dr. Danzinger’s associates tempts Ms. Cellotto as she holds up a homeless puppy in front of the soft-hearted technician. Other times in addition to their often heartfelt, if possibly misplaced, praise and emotional support, some practitioners may provide medical care or animal food at cost to those of limited means to encourage them to take in more animals. Depending on the number of stray or unwanted animals of that species in CVJ / VOL 55 / AUGUST 2014
CVJ / VOL 55 / AUGUST 2014
for the animals’ care. Some of this will go for medical care that Dr. Danzinger and his staff will provide. Meanwhile Dr. Danzinger schedules a staff meeting to determine how he and his staff can ensure that they do not contribute to such a tragic event again. “I talked to a psychiatrist who has worked with hoarders and learned some things I wish I had known before,” he begins the meeting. “Because animal hoarders do place a high, albeit often strongly symbolic charge, on their animals, initially they do give them good care. Consequently, veterinarians often will see these people frequently. It’s only when the care of the animals intensifies their own physical or mental conditions that they fall off the radar.” “That certainly was the case with Mr. Jessup,” comments a staff member. “It seemed like he was always in here with a new cat. Then he just disappeared.” “What should we have done instead?” Marcy Cellotto asks the question on everyone mind. “Heading the list, we need to be careful that we don’t overly praise those with multiple animals. Second, we should not pressure anyone to take an animal or assume that those with multiple animals always can handle one more. Third, if you suspect someone may be becoming overwhelmed by their animals, tell me or one of the other veterinarians. Because we make house- and farm-calls all over the area, we easily can drop in for an informal visit with a valued client and casually evaluate the condition of the animals and environment while we’re there. With luck, we can prevent any potentially problematic situations from deteriorating further. If we’re too late, we can contact the proper mental health authorities and deal with the animals in a caring and professional manner.” No practitioner can predict which clients who have or accumulated multiple animals will become overwhelmed by their proper care. But what practitioners can do is to be mindful that they do not inadvertently contribute to the problem by communicating with these people using language that fuels their desire for more animals, or encourages them to adopt animals to which they cannot give adequate care.
793
T H E A R T O F P R I VAT E V E T E R I N A RY P R ACT I C E
the area, the word regarding the identity of these people may spread quickly throughout the animal care community as well as the community at large. Soon others may begin soliciting homes for unwanted animals and stories even may appear in the local paper extolling the virtue of these modern day patron saints of dogs, cats, horses, birds, reptiles or amphibians. Other times animals may show up on their doorsteps or be abandoned in their yards. At some point, more mentally and emotionally strong individuals like Ms. Cellotto will summon the wherewithal to refuse to take another animal. “Yes, he is a very adorable little puppy,” she tells the associate. “But I have too many other obligations and responsibilities in my life to give him the care he deserves.” When the associate persists, she maintains her stance gently but firmly. But Mr. Jessup does not fare so well. Unlike Ms. Cellotto and like a fair number of hoarders, his mental and emotional state is fragile. In his particular case, the combination of retirement and the loss of his wife of 45 years following a long illness have resulted in depression and social anxiety that he believes his cats help him endure. Because of this, he willingly accepts stray or unwanted cats, and especially those from Dr. Danzinger’s practice because he believes the staff there particularly understand his great love of animals. And because they believe they do too, when they don’t hear from him that winter and spring they assume that is because everything is going well. During that same period though, Mr. Jessup reaches the point where he has so many cats and kittens he cannot properly care for them. Because his mental health state causes him to stay away from his neighbors and them to stay away from him, no one notices until the stench from the mobile home permeates the neighborhood. At that point, someone calls the local shelter and the media circus begins. Sensationalistic headlines and articles universally portray Mr. Jessup as a heartless animal abuser who forced innocent animals to live in filth. Shelter employees speak at length about the deplorable conditions inside the mobile home as they give guided tours to reporters. Requests to adopt the cats pour in from all over the country thanks to Internet coverage of the story. So do donations to the shelter
