Michael A. Obenski, DVM

The truth is, veterinary clients can be a little inconsiderate.

Some clients may think theyre acting in their pets best interestbut we know better.

What do a high-jumping athlete, practical knowledge genius and a knuckledragger have in common? More than you might think.

Sometimes clients have other ideas in mind when they hear you'll be gone for a few days.I suppose there is some small effort involved in climbing Mt. Everest or leading an expedition to the North Pole. However, several times a year I face a much greater challenge: I try to take a few days off. Prisoners have escaped from Alcatraz with less effort than it takes me to get away from the office for a few days. Nonetheless, my family requires my attendance at an annual vacation, and the state of Pennsylvania politely recommends a certain amount of continuing education.

These hand-raisers, head-bobbers and other annoying specimens are impossible to miss at veterinary CE conferences.

A veterinary client's level of panic isn't necessarily equal with the level of trauma–big or small.

What are your years of veterinary training and decades of experience compared to the profundity of clients' wisdom?

Unexpected obstacles can make farm visits feel like Olympic events for veterinarians.

Taking care of big critters is an intense job of Olympic proportions.

Telling pet owners what they want to hear would be too easy-instead, veterinarians tell it like it is. Even if it leaves clients incredulous.

Sure, phones are convenient-if you consider a 3 a.m. "emergency" call on Christmas Eve convenient.

Dropping off kittens in the cover of darkness, dreaming up diabetes in a dog, changing the weather...yup, it's all in a day's work at a veterinary clinic.

Of all the crazy medical terms out there, none are cooler than the ones that we make up.

My new clients won't look up from their phones. My older clients won't shut up. I'm not sure which is worse.

Good veterinarians talk to animals. Great veterinarians hear them talk back.

These clients dutifully bring in their pet's stool samples to the veterinary clinic each visit-and help the packaging industry thrive.

If a veterinary client is nice and pays cash, her pet will die. If the pet is vicious and the owner's check bounces, he will live forever.

So you've crafted the perfect schedule. Too bad pet owners have to show up and wreck it.

Population: My veterinary clients.

Clients have their own ideas about what merits a late phone call.

Watch out for veterinary clients who think they know better than you.

Bad pet health information has been circulating for centuries.

Does your veterinary clinic express 'annual' glands and remove 'grow-nads'?

Find out if telecrastinators and snoopophiliacs roam your clinic.

Celebrating the legacy of a very chilly veterinary team member.

Even the non-superstitious veterinarian should beware of this powerful foe.

Luckily for veterinarians, they're glad to "educate" everyone in the waiting area.

An arm-twisting, high-pressure veterinary salesman meets his match in the form of a practical joke.

One DJ gets a taste of his own medicine – courtesy of a veterinary office manager