Hi, my name is April. I am a Canadian veterinarian, living in Nicaragua.
I don’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be surrounded by animals, and I have always loved science.
It seemed a natural step to a degree in Animal Biology and then onward to Vet School, for some of the best years of my life! I graduated With Distinction from Vet School in 2004, and worked as a small animal vet in Western Canada. My patients were mostly cats and dogs, but also the occasional rabbit, guinea pig, hamster, bird and reptile. I did regular day-to-day medicine and surgery, but also emergency work. I spent my fair share of nights and weekends helping very sick pets. It was amazing, being able to save lives, and making a real difference to families that came to me for help with their much loved pets.
One of my favorite aspects was dentistry. I loved the feeling I got when I took a painful, diseased mouth, and made it comfortable and healthy. So satisfying!
You may be asking why I’m not still there.
Working for 20 years in a demanding and stressful profession was getting tough. I had two little boys that we homeschooled. I wanted more time with them. And to be honest, I was beginning to feel the emotional toll of 20 years of helping pet owners through loss and grief. And the death of patients is not easy on a vet either.
Then a pandemic came and changed everything. I think everyone was affected in some way, maybe looked at life a little differently. I knew I needed a change. I was spending more time at work and working in my huge garden, than with my kids or doing the things I love, like walking in the woods with my dog.
So we made a leap.
We sold our beautiful 5 acre homestead in one of the most beautiful places in the world. We sold or gave away almost everything we owned.
The wind blew my family south, to Nicaragua in 2022. We needed a change, and boy did we get it! Moving to Central America was like running away from home to join the circus. Totally different world…
And so it was magical and perfect and we lived happily ever after, right?
Ya, right!
It turns out, going from a busy, fulfilling career—helping people and saving pets’ lives—to doing not much of anything, can make you go a little squirrelly!
Once you are a vet, I think you are always a vet.
And I realized, what that means for me is —I need to help others. Pets —and their people. And I need to be constantly learning. And I need to pass on what I know.
I used to do that 20 times a day, in the exam room, with clients, but I can’t practice veterinary medicine here, like I did in Canada. Nor do I want to, quite frankly. It is time for a new iteration of being a vet.
So what does that look like for me?
Now I get to learn everyday about topics that I am passionate about —
- nutrition
- exercise
- healthy living
- the science of longevity
- behavior, mental health and positive training for pets
I’ve been researching these topics for many years, and applying them to my own health, life, and family, but now I can view them through the lens of veterinary medicine. There is so much more that we can be doing for the health of our pets, that science is just starting to investigate. Veterinary practice in clinics, and vet medicine research often lags behind research into human health issues.
Instead of trying to spread the word one exam room discussion at a time, I am going to spread knowledge far and wide, to many pet lovers and pet parents at once. I am going to give pet owners the knowledge to make positive choices and changes for their pets.
I promise to not write boring and generic posts about the signs and symptoms of a urinary tract infection, or the dangers of Poinsettia plants at Christmas.
Lets go beyond that, to truly important and innovative information, shall we?
Who’s with me?
I may at times geek out on the science stuff because, well, I love it, but if you bear with me, you will pick up some great tips you can use to keep your fur babies around longer, and feeling good (and bonus- many of this info can be used to make your life better too!).
