I painted these pet portraits as a surprise for my daughter. My daughter is an avid animal lover. Like most young children, she says she wants to become a vet. However, unlike most children she is taking the initiative to independently seek knowledge about her dream profession. She has put a lot of time and effort in absorbing knowledge about animals. She has read every book available in her school library on dogs and has expanded to other animals. I am amazed by her knowledge of dog breeds and their characteristics. Whenever we take our walks, she will point to a dog and tell me what breed or breeds she thinks the dogs are and their personality traits.
Since she has a natural love for animals and science and has consistently showed interest in becoming a vet, I decided to take this vet thing seriously and dig a little deeper on what it actually takes to become a vet. What I found was astonishing. Did you know it takes eight years of schooling to become a vet?! I didn’t. I’m not sure why I thought it would take less time to become a vet than it does a doctor, but for some reason I did. The road to becoming a veterinarian isn’t cheap either. I had no idea how challenging it was to become a vet, and it brings an even deeper level of appreciation and respect I have for vets.
When I told my daughter that it takes eight years of additional schooling after she graduates from high school to become a veterinarian, instead of shying away from this profession she has doubled down her efforts. This has helped motivate her to take her studies even more seriously, and I am happy that she is currently getting straight A’s in all of her subjects! For story time, Leila and I have decided to tackle books on pet health together.
by Andi Brown. It is a wonderful book, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves their cats or dogs. This book breaks down the ingredients that are listed on commercial cat and dog foods and gives a great overview on how the pet food industry works. This book is filled with anecdotes of sick pets that were brought back to good health on this pet diet. It also gives healthy recipes for dogs and cats, a health plan, and worksheets to help track your pet’s progress.One of my favorite parts of this book is the story about Fencer, a tan and black shepherd mix who had terrible arthritis and was suffering from partial blindness due to a large tumor growing on the bridge of his nose. Many of the local veterinarians claimed that there was nothing they could do to make him better, but instead of putting his dog to sleep, the dog owner continued to seek out help, and decided to try the whole pet food diet. The results were incredible. The tumor shrunk from a whopping four and a half inches in diameter to just half an inch in diameter, and Fencer was able to continue to live a good quality of life for the next four years.
After we read that story, my daughter and I both fell silent for a moment.
“Wow, do you know how powerful this is?” I asked. “Do you realize how many more animals you are going to be able to help because you decided to start the learning process now? The vets available to Fencer could not help him with the knowledge that they had, but if you ever come across another Fencer when you are a practicing vet, you will know what to do,” I continued. It reminded me of Mark Twain’s famous saying, “don’t let schooling interfere with your education.” I think my daughter has taken this lesson to heart.
