I’m greatly saddened by the passing of my veterinarian. I’d known him since 2007 and he’d helped my family take care of rats, guinea pigs and birds.
He was the most awesome, nerdy vet I’d ever hoped for. He enjoyed Star Trek, Comicon, art walks, and was always caught holding hands with his wife, Marlene.
For the last 14 months he has successfully ran his own practice after breaking away from the hospital he founded with a partner in 2007. During this time, his personality outside of work began to show through more to his clients. One of his most common sayings to bad or interesting news was, “oh, dag”…like from the movie Trainspotting…, “you like dags?”
He was an educator and a great orator, even asked to speak out of the country at Exotics expositions, and his favorite was reptiles. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for Kevin to take the time out with you to try to palpate a pet and get you to feel the lumps too, or try to explain how to read an ultrasound in the back office.
My last interactions with him were text messages about his phone being lost by housekeeping at a hotel during another conference he was attending in Indiana. It was hidden amongst the linens. This was a week before anyone would come to find that we would lose this man.
He was admitted to the hospital that weekend, expected to be back to work on Monday, but it didn’t happen.
So many of us miss him dearly and are eagerly awaiting another update on if his services will be public or if his spouse will choose to keep them private. He was loved.
September 26, 2013
I am so very sorry for your loss. I always think about all of the animals who will die because of the loss of a wonderful veterinarian. This is just so sad.
Another difficult part of this process of grief is knowing that we all felt we had the best care possible, so who do we try to build that relationship with now?
The last post referred to a different veterinarian helping Kevin get my hand feeding formula to me from the conference. I think I’m going to try him out. He’s a speaker as well, like Dr. Wright, and I like the idea of a veterinarian that teaches. I’m still nervous but it’s a bridge I have to cross.
I had exactly the same experience with him, except he helped me with my rabbits. I used to drive almost an hour to get to his hospital because I trusted him the most. I was a bit worried at first when he started his mobile business, but it worked out really well. My rabbits were much more relaxed, and he enjoyed seeing his patients in their “natural habitat.”
He and Marlene were at my house the day before he left for the conference in Indiana to check on my bunnies, and he was looking forward to it. No one had any inkling that he would be gone only two weeks later.