Veterinarians, vet technicians, practice managers, rescuers, behaviorists, nutritionists, trainers, volunteers, and other animal professionals are the backbone of pet ownership. Helping pets and their families live in harmony and health together.

Catster wants to highlight some of these underrated champions of the animal world—who we like to refer to as Heroes of The Pet World.

We will interview some of the most inspiring vet clinics, animal hospitals, animal shelters, and rehabilitation organizations around the world to share all the wonderful and oftentimes harsh experiences they face while working to help, heal, guide, revitalize, and protect our furry family members.

These are the stories of unsung animal superheroes!

This week’s interview is with New Era Veterinary Hospital

Meet Dr. Maja Platisa DVM MRCVS, working at New Era Veterinary Hospital in Jersey, Channel Islands, as a night/out-of-hours veterinarian. Of course, you might recognize her from Catster too!

Mission

In your own words, what is New Era Veterinary Hospital’s mission and purpose?

The mission of New Era Veterinary Hospital, as well as most veterinary clinics in my opinion, is to help as many animals as possible, both those owned as pets, farm or working animals, as well as wildlife, ensuring their utmost health and quality of life at all times, through the hard work of a skilled and dedicated team of professionals, while providing the best veterinary care there is and being recognized for this unique role by the local community.

What is your individual mission or goal, as a vet professional and as a person?

My goal as a veterinarian is to ensure I always provide the best possible care to my patients and meet the expectations of their owners in a kind, professional, and compassionate manner, keep up to date with the newest developments and trends in veterinary medicine, and strive to always continue to improve my skills and knowledge. On a personal level, one of my biggest challenges and goals thus far is to maintain a good work-life balance, to find time for family and friends and hobbies outside of work, while leaving work “at work”.

Day-to-Day Experience

What is it like being a vet in the Channel Islands and at New Era Veterinary Hospital?

For me, being a vet in the United Kingdom and more specifically Channel Islands still feels like a great privilege, although I have worked here since graduating in 2015. It’s very different from being a vet in Croatia, where I am from, due to differences in the level of veterinary medicine, the financial constraints of pet ownership, and the lack of veterinary pet insurance. Working at New Era Vet Hospital leaves me feeling proud to be a part of such a great team of very knowledgeable, ambitious, and skilled individuals, who are always finding new and innovative ways to help animals and stop at nothing.

How big is your team?

It’s a big team and a well-oiled machine where each team member has an important and irreplaceable role to play! There are more than 20 vets, some of which work part-time, and they are spread across two branches and the main 24-hour hospital. We also have more than 15 veterinary nurses, which is equivalent to veterinary technicians or techs in the U.S.A., several veterinary nurse students and support staff, 9 receptionists across all three sites, around 12 administrative staff and accounting, a veterinary physiotherapist, and more.

Do you have staffing shortages and how do you deal with them?

Being a veterinary hospital located on an island, there are common staffing shortages and it’s challenging to recruit staff for more permanent positions. Part of the reason for this is also accommodation limitations and requirements for specific working and housing licenses, making it expensive for new people coming in. Burnout and poor mental health are also some of the reasons people tend to leave the profession early, which leads to ongoing staff shortages.

How many animals on average do you help on a weekly basis?

We see probably around 100 animals or so on a daily basis, from dogs, cats, pet rabbits, guinea pigs, and others, while visiting vets attend to farm animals and horses every day. The consultations run from the morning until early evening, with two vets consulting at the same time, alongside scheduled surgeries for every day and there are dedicated vets who only attend to emergencies. I would guess we may have around 100–130 small animals come through all the branches in a day, but I may be wrong.

Challenges and Rewards

What is the hardest part of your job? How do you handle euthanasia and patient loss?

The hardest part of my job is failure, in every sense. This is not always the loss of an animal’s life, which is the worst possible outcome for everyone involved. It could be a mistake we or another team member made. It may be frustration at a lack of diagnosis, poor response to treatment, or needing to give the client bad news. A challenge many vets experience at some point in their careers, generally in the first few years, is the infamous imposter syndrome. Dealing with insecurities and uncertainties regarding a difficult case can also leave me feeling drained and unaccomplished.

Euthanasia is always hard, but what makes it particularly difficult is knowing the animal and being alongside them during their illness and health, knowing the clients, losing very young animals due to various circumstances, and just seeing the love their pet parents have for them at such a difficult time at the end of their life. As vets, we have to learn how to protect and somehow even distance ourselves during euthanasia procedures, mentally and emotionally, as otherwise we may experience emotional burnout and depression. This is not always possible and many cases leave us almost as devastated and sad as they do the owners.

What are some of the biggest challenges that your organization faces?

The veterinary profession as such faces several big challenges, such as declining mental health, staffing shortages, and people leaving the profession, variable and often insufficient compensations, and generally challenging work-life balance. The job entails a lot of dedication and ongoing personal and professional development, for both vets and nurses, from the very beginning of veterinary studies, and this does not change after graduation.

At New Era Veterinary Hospital, one of the biggest challenges is staffing shortages, as already discussed. Next are the stress levels and mental health as a veterinary practice is a high-stress environment with continuously increasing expectations, and this often exhibits both individual and whole team stress levels.

What is the most rewarding part of doing what you guys do?

The best part is of course sending an animal home to their owner, after a successful surgery or medical treatment and seeing them recover and get back to normal. The look of relief, happiness, and gratitude on an owner’s face alongside a waggy tail or a content purr makes it all worthwhile. However, sometimes it’s also small victories as well, on a daily basis, such as getting a very sick patient to eat something, getting a spinal patient to take their first steps or move their legs voluntarily, and seeing an animal we have treated weeks ago, come back for a recheck, with their health issues much improved or even resolved. As professionals, we also find establishing definitive diagnoses for our patients very rewarding, giving us a sense of accomplishment.

Impact

What are some of the accomplishments or specific animals that have made a big impact on you as a person or on your team?

It’s difficult to point out a single case, as there are many animals on a weekly basis that leave an impact on the whole team. Usually, these are the patients who spend several days or longer at the hospital, or who come in frequently for ongoing treatment, such as chemo, and the team will quickly form a bond with each one of them. In the last year, one dog that left a mark on many team members was a Border Collie called Alfie, an older dog suffering from a complex kidney and endocrine illness. Alfie spent many days hospitalized with us and was a very sweet boy, afterward visited the practice regularly for checks and treats from our receptionists. It was difficult for all team members when his condition declined and he passed.

Future

What are New Era Veterinary Hospital’s main goals for the future?

The goal of New Era Veterinary Hospital remains to provide the best possible care to all of our patients, through the hard work of an experienced team of highly skilled individuals, while maintaining a positive and stimulating working environment, with a great focus on the mental health of all the staff members.

How can the general public help make your lives easier?

Educating pet owners through vet-approved media and reputable content, raising awareness on the best care for their animals, in order to avoid some of the more easily preventable health issues, understanding the importance of regular preventative healthcare, as well as sympathizing with the frequently challenging position their local vet is in, trying to balance expectations and financial particularities of each client with the best possible and necessary care their animal deserves, are just some of the ways that the general public and pet owners can make our day-to-day jobs easier.

Sometimes words of kindness, understanding, and acknowledgment are all it takes for the vet team to feel valued for all the hard work and long hours they are putting into the care of animals.

Stories

What are some of the funniest or most outrageous pet names you’ve encountered?

Some of these are cats called Coco and Chanel, a dog called Dolly Parton, a cat called Jesus, and so on.

How to Support

If someone wants to visit, join, support, or volunteer at the New Era Veterinary Hospital, where can they find more information and get in touch?

It’s best to contact either the practice manager or one of the clinical directors, through the email and contact forms available on the website.

Anything else you’d like to tell the pet community?

Thank you for this opportunity to share with you some of the aspects of our job, which for most of us is a calling and without which our lives would not be the same. Together with you as pet parents, through an open conversation, we can set the basis for improving animal health and welfare worldwide.