Veterinarians have traditionally reached out to clients in the hospital setting. Now, increasing numbers of veterinarians are reaching out to people - clients and other pet lovers - via the Internet.
In this interview, meet one veterinarian who is doing this successfully and helping pets worldwide through her blog and other social media tools.
I discovered the pawcurious blog in August of 2009 and did a mini write-up to share on the AboutVetMed Facebook page. I was impressed by the humor, wit and veterinary smarts of the author, who goes by name Dr. V.
A resident of San Diego, California, Dr. V is a graduate of UC Davis veterinary school and has been practicing small animal medicine and surgery since 2002. On her blog, she shares bits of her day as a veterinarian and personal stories about her pets and life as a dog mom of a kindergartner.
Meet Dr. V of pawcurious
Q: Why did you start blogging?
Dr V. I've been keeping a personal blog for over 8 years. My friends always enjoyed hearing me talk about the work I do, and encouraged me to start a public blog about being a vet.
When I'm at work, I can only speak to a handful of people a day, but on my blog, there's no limit on how many people I can interact with, and that's very rewarding. I do a combination of personal stories and work anecdotes, so hopefully I strike a balance between informative and entertaining.
Q: What does the name "pawcurious" mean (or originate from)?
Dr V. I have to give the credit for that to my friend Kevin. My blog name choices were pretty terrible. He never told me exactly what his thought process was, so I chose to interpret it as a take on "epicurean" - achieving a state of harmony through our relationship with our pets. Now that I have a puppy I have an entirely different take on it - his curious paws are everywhere!
When did you start pawcurious, and were Twitter and Facebook part of your site from the beginning?
Dr V. I started pawcurious in February of this year. I didn't use social media initially, but my husband - who is my tech support and internet expert - told me I really needed to incorporate it if I wanted to reach more people. He was right.
I was pretty resistant to Twitter at first, to be honest, but once I started to find a network of fellow animal lovers it began to make a lot more sense. Now I can't imagine being without it!
Q: How does social media enhance (or distract from) your days at the clinic?
Dr V. It's funny how quickly your mind starts to file things away - oooh, this dog has some severe allergies, I need to tweet about flea control! Or when I see a really cute puppy I want to run and take a quick picture so everyone can fawn over them.
Aside from that, I check in here and there on my breaks, but I am too busy at work to have it be a true distraction. When I'm at home, though, it's a ready distraction from things like vacuuming up dog hair.
I think the greatest benefit is how the interaction and feedback has re-energized me as a veterinarian. I am so inspired by what other vets and animal lovers out there are doing and the passion they have for pets.
Q: National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week is November 1 - 7, 2009, and you are creating awareness for shelter and rescue animals by doing a "blogathon." Please tell us what that is, and how you hope to raise both awareness and funds for animals in need.
Dr V. I got the idea from the original blogathon website. A 'blogathon' is a marathon of blogging. Each hour for 24 hours straight, I have to make a blog post. Readers can sponsor me and send me requests as to what they would like for me to talk about, and all the proceeds go to my local humane society!
I have seen so many wonderful pets come out of our shelters - my dog Emmett is just one example. With the economic crisis, shelters and rescues are simply overflowing with every type of pet imaginable who need good homes, and I hope that by calling more attention to this that people will give the shelter a chance when they are ready for a new pet.
Learn more about Dr. V's blogathon to help shelter pets during National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week.
Thank you, Dr. V, for this interview. I wish you continued success with your blog and animal-helping efforts.
