A shortage of vets means a shortage of appointments: Life of a rural vet, part 2

Editor’s note: In this series, Dr. Chana Eisenstein offers readers an inside look at the experiences of a small-town vet in inland Mendocino County. The series will run in multiple parts throughout October 2022, and will include a history of emergency veterinary care in the county.

When we bought the practice in 2010, the agreement we made with Dr. Frank Grasse, the selling veterinarian, was that Dr. Grasse would work with me and for me two to three days a week, introduce me to the community, teach me all kinds of things I couldn’t know about the practice. He died by suicide 10 weeks later. Practice ownership didn’t start out easily: losing Dr. Grasse weeks after arriving left us to manage the practice without any knowledge or experience.