Why Your Vet Hasn't Called You Back and the Weight They May Be Carrying Artwork

Tails of Truth: The Truth about Veterinary Medicine

Welcome to Tails of Truth, the podcast where holistic veterinarian Dr. Angie Krause and her co-host, veterinary nurse JoJo, bring you candid, light-hearted conversations about pet health, veterinary medicine, and everything in-between. Whether you're a pet parent or a veterinary professional, this is your judgment-free space for real answers, practical problem-solving, and the kind of grounded guidance that helps you advocate confidently for the animals you love.

From integrative treatments and preventive care to hot-button topics, tough diagnoses, and the emotional reality of pet parenting, we cover it all with clinical expertise, empathy, open minds, and curiosity. This show takes the discussion beyond the exam room and elevates the way we care for animals.

Make yourself a cup of tea and press play. This is the kind of exchange you'd want to have with a trusted friend who just happens to be a veterinarian. We're so glad you're here!

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Tails of Truth: The Truth about Veterinary Medicine

Why Your Vet Hasn't Called You Back and the Weight They May Be Carrying

March 20, 2026 • Dr. Angie Krause, DVM CVA CCRT • Episode 50

0:00 | 15:29

Tell Us What You Think

In this episode of Tails of Truth, Dr. Angie gets honest — really honest — about the things that have been weighing on her lately. Missed callbacks, overflowing inboxes, cases that didn't go the way she hoped, and the quiet emotional toll of caring for animals and people through hard days. This is a rare behind-the-scenes look at what a veterinarian actually carries.

If you've ever felt frustrated waiting to hear back from your vet, this episode may help to soften some of your very valid frustration. And if you've ever wondered whether your vet thinks about your pet after you leave the exam room...spoiler alert: they do.

Tune in for one of our more vulnerable and human episodes this year.

Key Takeaways:

Veterinarians are managing far more than simple appointments. They also manage euthanasias, specialist reports, prescription approvals, and emergency updates and so much more.
If you haven't heard back, following up again is not only okay Dr. Angie explicitly encourages it. Things genuinely get lost in a busy practice.
Email can be even slower than a callback. The volume of clinical communication coming in to email can be astronomical.
Getting into a specialist in many areas can take weeks, and general practitioners are often the ones getting creative and scrappy to fill that gap for their patients.
The frustration clients feel when they're waiting is valid and so is the pressure a vet is under. Both things are true at the same time.
Veterinary support staff are also managing multiple demands simultaneously. The system has real gaps, and no one is dropping the ball on purpose.
Your pet matters to your veterinary team.

Sound Bites:

"I love my job. I love what I do. I want to be there for people and I want to do the things, but I feel bad sometimes." ~ Dr. Angie

"We wake up in the night thinking about your pet. We wake up in the morning thinking about your pet. Like it's just, it's consuming." ~ JoJo

"If you only knew how many animals I euthanized, if you only knew how many terminal diagnoses I made... if you only knew the pressure cooker that is the life of a veterinarian on any given day of practice." ~ Dr. Angie

"Feeling like you're disappointing people...the emotional weight of that is taxing." ~ JoJo

"I have such golden retriever energy most of the time. And so when someone's like, I was really disappointed not to hear from you. Oh no. Oh my God." ~ Dr. Angie

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Please subscribe and review! xoxo Dr. Angie & JoJo

Dr. Angie Krause (00:00)
Welcome back to Tails of Truth where we tell the truth about veterinary medicine. I'm Dr. Angie and this is my co-host and veterinary nurse extraordinaire JoJo And today we're talking about things I feel bad about.

JoJo (00:13)
I'm

so curious where this is going because I don't know the stories. So I am ready to hear it with all of our listeners like real time.

Dr. Angie Krause (00:15)
You know, I'm kind of curious as to where...

Okay. Yeah. mean, I, I've just had a last few weeks in practice and January is a rough month as a veterinarian. animals tend to struggle in the month of January and, people are also struggling in the month of January and

JoJo (00:39)
Do you think

that, I just have to ask, is that because we all ignore everything for December? Like November through December is how it happens. So everybody's struggling, but we just now have space to be like, oh, shoot.

Dr. Angie Krause (00:45)
Yes.

Yeah, like, my dog's leg is falling off or whatever. Just. Yeah, and everyone like no one has money and I mean, not nobody like I'm going to be I'm just going to exaggerate. This is my therapy session right now. I'm just going to just tell you all the things I feel bad about. So if you're my client, you can just know. God, I'm sorry if any of this applies to you. ⁓ Things I'm feeling bad about right now. ⁓

JoJo (00:54)
Yeah, I think it started like five weeks ago. Yeah.

Yeah, we've written it all, totally.

Dr. Angie Krause (01:19)
are the amount of people that I haven't called back. Like I just sat down and I have this note in my pocket. It's like one of those, I don't wanna put it on film because it's got someone's personal information on it, but you know they have the like phone call and like someone leaves you a message, like the reception staff says, please call. ⁓ Like, can we refill this whatever.

JoJo (01:23)
⁓ yeah.

Yeah.

Dr. Angie Krause (01:46)
And it's for this dog. And it was left today at 9.26 a.m. And I left the office and forgot it was in my pocket because I probably drove by the front desk. Someone handed it to me, but I was walking somewhere. So was like, well, I better put this in my pocket.

JoJo (01:58)
Yeah.

Are they like, it's a physical written, like the little thing tear off sheet. those could get lost all the time. You're okay.

Dr. Angie Krause (02:02)
Yeah, it's a physical written Yeah.

Like

the way that I'm organized with Post-it notes on my desk is, it's a little rough. Like I wish Jojo, you could be in this practice with me, keeping me organized.

JoJo (02:21)
I had

that thought the other day, I'm like, can I come in? Not because I think you're disorganized, just because I work alone a lot. I just come like, take care of things.

Dr. Angie Krause (02:24)
Yeah, I

I know, I miss you.

Yeah, no, you could like whip this into shape. But like, so, you know, the whole time I'm there, usually I'm pretty booked with appointments and I'll have in the morning, if I'm lucky, I have a 30 minute phone slot to call people back in the morning and in the afternoon. But sometimes I'll have like, someone will drop off a urinalysis or a fecal and maybe I'll have three or four of those. And then I have to report blood work from the day before or the day before that. And then people are calling me to give me updates.

And then what is really bad is that I tell people, just email me.

JoJo (03:08)
Let you keep going.

Dr. Angie Krause (03:10)
And

I have like in the moment, like I have the best of intentions, but what happens is I get to my email box about once every seven to 10 days because I'm just like nonstop like answering, you know, calls like, and there's always like Angie, Angie, you know, there's a nurse saying, Angie, another doctor saying, can you help me with this case? Can you, know, and it's, it's a lot. I feel bad for not being able to keep up. And sometimes people get irritated with me.

And it's so warranted. But inside, I'm just thinking, if you only knew what my day was like, and I have to say that, If you only knew how many animals I euthanized, if you only knew how many terminal diagnoses I made, if you only knew how many

JoJo (03:41)
Uh-oh. Yeah.

Dr. Angie Krause (03:54)
dogs or cats, I packed up to go to the emergency clinic thinking, I hope this is going to be okay. Like if you only knew like the pressure cooker, that is the life of a veterinarian on any given day of practice. It's busy. It's just like, but they're, they're so valid in their frustration with me. Like they deserved more from me and I just like, I just can't always get it done. And I understand why people are frustrated with me.

And sometimes I wish people would give me like a little bit more grace.

JoJo (04:25)
I got all teary. I have tears in my nose. Because that's so hard. Like I know that you're carrying a lot.

Dr. Angie Krause (04:28)
Aww.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's a lot.

JoJo (04:34)
Yeah. And I know that

it weighs on you. for people, just you guys, we wake up in the night thinking about your pet. We wake up in the morning thinking about your pet. Like it's just, it's consuming.

Dr. Angie Krause (04:46)
Yeah.

JoJo (04:47)
And she's right, you deserve a response, which is like, weight of that, right? It's the both and, like all of that is happening and their feelings are still valid. And can we have more grace? And what does that look like?

Dr. Angie Krause (04:58)
Their feelings are valid.

Yeah.

And I just need you at Boulder's Natural Animal with me.

JoJo (05:05)
I was gonna say, and

you need support staff to be like, hey, I mean, I just sent one of those today. I'm like, I know your email is there. I've read the email. Dr. Angie's caseload is so heavy this week. But sometimes it's just the acknowledgement that we know it's there. We know you're waiting for this. And if you don't have the support staff to do that, then I think people might get frustrated.

Dr. Angie Krause (05:08)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Right.

And I understand. And so all I can do is apologize. But sometimes by the end of the day, I get tired of apologizing. Like that's my own humanity is I'm just thinking like, ⁓ my God, do you have no, you have no idea what's happening. And it doesn't mean that, you know, they're not important, but I just, I had one woman that was just mad because I was 12 minutes late to her appointment. And I just felt like, come on.

12 minutes late. She's like, well, I can't be late because you'll have to reschedule, but you can be late. And I was like, I know, I guess.

JoJo (05:59)
Not. Those are not equals, by the way. Someone showing up to an appointment is not as equal as the veterinarian who has cases. It's not the same.

Dr. Angie Krause (06:02)
I guess not. I don't know.

Right.

It's not the same. But anyways, I always am trying to do better. But these are things that I'm just like, oh, I'm not doing that good of a job or, you know, I'm trying so hard or like me, God forbid, like there's the case that I actually, I mean, sometimes even after 18 years, I have to call a specialist. I have to research a case. have to like, I'll look at a pathology report. I'll be like, I what? Or I'll have to ask another doctor or.

And then you do all of that and it's just like there's not that much time. And at the end of the day, I have kids to get home to that need me.

JoJo (06:47)
I was just gonna say that and it's like,

I'm not like straight from work to like, do do do do do, I'm gonna go do like, I'm gonna go have my ice cream cone. It's like, picking up your kids on time and then there's homework and then there's all the things, yeah.

Dr. Angie Krause (06:57)
I know. Yeah.

right

and then I have like my own animals and I should clean my house and you know and so it's not that you know a lot of people have busy jobs but there are some days where I'm like I know how behind I am and then what really gives me anxiety is like this little piece of paper of like how many of these little piece of papers like what if I washed them what if I wash them so just call your veterinarian just follow up follow up again follow up again that's fine because sometimes

JoJo (07:22)
You

Dr. Angie Krause (07:31)
things get lost in the mix or sometimes I think, and this can happen at the front desk and we have amazing front desk staff at Boulder's Natural, but sometimes they're also doing a million things. They're checking out somebody, they're trying to manage like dogs that are reactive to each other in the lobby. And then they're trying to fill a prescription for me. they're like, so sometimes they forget things too. And no one, no one wants to admit that that can happen, but it can So feel free to just remind us.

JoJo (08:00)
I feel so stressful. It is so stressful. Let's just be honest it is.

Dr. Angie Krause (08:01)
You

is. Yeah, it really is. So be nicer veterinarian and just remind them. And I think if you're a client of mine at Boulder's Natural and you email me and I don't answer right away, like I will eventually answer. It's just, I have to have the time in my day to sit down and go through all the emails because the other emails that come into my inbox every day is if you went to the ER with your dog, then I get that report. If you went to a specialty clinic, I get that report. And so then I look at it.

And then we, you know, we attached in the records and we, you know, decide if you need us to be involved. so we're, keeping tabs on you. It's just, there's, there's a lot happening.

JoJo (08:42)
It's so true. I mean I have dedicated my Mondays to just I know it's just gonna be inbox hell Just like we have so many inboxes to manage and I mean and this week it was prescription prescription prescription prescription that Takes so much time because it's having to make sure that is this pet up to date on their exam Have we changed that? I mean how we change the dosing which pharmacy are we calling it into?

Dr. Angie Krause (08:50)
Yeah.

Yeah.

JoJo (09:10)
What like it is just so much. It's not it's not a simple click yes and no button. So I think sometimes think I think sometimes people think it's just a really simple answer that they want from you. And it's really not so simple.

Dr. Angie Krause (09:15)
Totally.

Yeah.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And you know, we have to look everything up and get reacquainted with the case and make sure we know everything. And we want to do that. And I love my job. I love what I do. I want to be there for people and I want to do the things, but I feel bad sometimes. ⁓

JoJo (09:36)
Yeah, what else is on your

little therapy list there?

Dr. Angie Krause (09:40)
I think that's

like, yeah, feeling bad. The other thing I've been feeling bad about is some cases that have just, they just haven't gone well. Like I feel bad for people when they're, the whole trajectory of their case has just kind of fallen apart. Like their animal's health has just disintegrated. And I think people feel helpless and I feel helpless with them. Sometimes I'm just like, I don't know. And like, we can't get into the specialist and.

Sometimes if I have enough of those in a week or I'm just like, my gosh, this is really stressful. mean, most things I know what to do with. So it's not very often where I'm like, I have no idea what to do, but there's sometimes there's enough cases where you just feel bad of how, how like maybe bad the luck was, or you just keep people get kind of tossed around from.

imaging center a specialty clinic, like back to us and I don't know. I hate it when that happens and I feel bad for people.

JoJo (10:38)
Yeah, you said that and I just realized what's on my list to talk to you about. just had this moment of like, ⁓ Yes, where it should be a certain way and it's just not going to be and it's not your fault at all. Like just to be clear, it's not your fault at all. It's just, we can't get into specialists that we want to get into or get people into and then it's just makes it harder for everybody.

Dr. Angie Krause (10:44)
of those cases we're going to talk about?

right now getting into an internist around here takes weeks. And I'm like, I, I'm sorry, but like I have this one dog that has a fever of unknown origin. I just want to get her into the internist, but the only way to do that here in Boulder is to have this dog admitted to the ER and spend the night dog does not need to have care overnight to spend the night. And then they, that's the only way they can see the internist.

JoJo (11:31)
Okay. Veterinary medicine is a little bit of a mess. So I want that, I bet you're feeling the trickle down of that in day practice.

Dr. Angie Krause (11:31)
I'm like, wait, what?

yeah, because then they come back to

me and they're sitting in my exam room and I'm like, I would really like to have an intern at some of these things. And so, ⁓ so then I'm trying to figure out how I'm like, okay, well, we're going to get scrappy. And so a lot of times it's the GPs that are like, okay, well, we're going to figure this out, but figuring that out is going to take some phone calls. It's going to take some searches. It's going to take some collaboration with colleagues. It's going to, it's going to take a lot of things.

JoJo (11:46)
Right? Yeah. ⁓ no.

right. And for every pet parent, their pet is the number one priority. And so you have 30 people advocating, which we want you to do for teaching you to do, advocate that is the whole purpose of this podcast is for you to feel empowered and your veterinarian has limitations.

Dr. Angie Krause (12:09)
So I feel bad for these. Yeah.

Totally. Of course.

Yes. Yes.

I'm so sorry. guess it should just this episode be called I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm trying so hard. I wish I could do more.

JoJo (12:35)
But you're tired of saying I'm sorry.

And just the emotional weight of that, because I heard you say, there's too many euthanasias, too many hard cases that are just not that you're, I know you, you enjoy the challenge of a difficult case, but one on top of another, on top of being behind and feeling like you're disappointing people. The emotional weight of that is taxing.

Dr. Angie Krause (12:53)
Yeah.

Yeah.

I hate disappointing people.

JoJo (13:02)
Yeah, it's a suck feeling. It doesn't feel good.

Dr. Angie Krause (13:04)
I know.

Like I have such golden retriever energy most of the time. And so when someone's like, I was really disappointed not to hear from you. And I'm like, ⁓ no. my God. So don't be disappointed in me.

JoJo (13:12)
they said the word disappointed. That's the worst. ⁓

Dr. Angie Krause (13:21)
So I know.

JoJo (13:21)
yeah. Well, should you make that phone call? By the way, terrible system. I think they have pieces of paper.

Dr. Angie Krause (13:24)
I know, I don't even-

It's really the best system. What else are we going to do? What are we going to put it on a Trello board where it's going to go to die? It has to be on my desk in a paper form so that by, you know, I can like go through the papers.

JoJo (13:40)
Okay, that's so funny because you know the clinic that I went and worked for for a little bit last year, they went to that paper system too, like the little tear off from the 80s kind of paper. Yeah, that seemed to work for people.

Dr. Angie Krause (13:50)
Yeah.

It works.

I need it. Except for when I put it in my pocket and take it home. And then I'm like, well, I could call him for my cell phone from Texas.

JoJo (14:00)
And if that makes you feel any better, sometimes my labs don't get reported to me for like two or three weeks in the human world.

Dr. Angie Krause (14:06)
Yeah.

Well, we know I do that.

JoJo (14:10)
It just happens. I figure it all is well. ⁓

Dr. Angie Krause (14:14)
All is well,

it's gonna work out. And just feel free to call me and you can tell me how disappointed you are, And that was the cue to end this episode.

JoJo (14:23)
That's people trying to get a hold of me. I'm disappointed you haven't returned my call. I promise you it's one of those. I can see it.

Dr. Angie Krause (14:26)
I know. Probably.

Okay, well, if you're my client and I've disappointed you, I'm so sorry. And I'm trying really hard and sometimes things, sometimes the days are hard, sometimes the weeks are hard and sometimes the months are hard. So, but call me.

JoJo (14:46)
⁓

Or email me. Kidding. Okay. Well, I was gonna say I was gonna put more on your plate, but let's not? How about if you listen to this episode, there is so much content already out there for you that Dr. Angie's invested in and it's accessible. And so for listening to this episode, you can go to

Dr. Angie Krause (14:55)
Let's not.

JoJo (15:07)
I Go to Boulder Holistic Vet. Go to learn more. Find the courses. Choose any course you'd like for free. And then just you just plug in the code truth tales, T-A-I-L-S or T-A-L-E-S.

and it's yours for free. Already taken care of.

Dr. Angie Krause (15:21)
It's my apology for not calling you back right away.

JoJo (15:23)
There you go. Okay.

Bye all. See you next time.

Dr. Angie Krause (15:27)
Bye, see you next time.