When the time came to let her “fur-baby” go, Betsy Daugherty was so grateful that her vet was Dr. Steve Winokur. “He gently guided me through a very dark valley to a place of peace, caring for me as he has always cared for my dogs,” said Daugherty, who has entrusted Winokur with a dozen “fur-babies” over the years. To show her gratitude, Daugherty has nominated Winokur for the 2017 Petplan Veterinary Awards, which honor vets, technicians and pet owners from the U.S. and Canada. Winokur is a finalist in the competition, which will announce winners in February. Winokur, who owns Atlanta’s Pharr Road Animal Hospital with his wife, also a vet, talked about his approach to treating both animals and their owners. For more on the competition, visit www.gopetplan.com/vet-awards/
Q: Why did you become a vet?
A: My dad was a vet and I had a lot of exposure to it growing up. I spent some time in a master's program at Emory medical school and entertained human medicine but not for very long. I just had a better feel for the veterinary community.
Q: So you don’t have anything against people?
A: I am OK with people and I think a huge part of my day-to-day is interacting with the clients. It would be hard to do what we do if we didn't like people.
Q: Is the world divided into cat people and dog people?
A: Some people like cats and will never own a dog. And vice versa. But there are some people who will let everything and anything into their house.
Q: Are dogs and cats destined to not get along?
A: Depends on how a critter is hardwired. It would be tough to find an aggressive lab. They are like a Mother Earth pet. There are other critters that if something has fur, they are going after it.
Q: How is being a vet today different from your dad’s day?
A: The knowledge base is dramatically, dramatically larger. I got out of school 25 years ago. The students today learn a lot more than we were asked to learn just because there is so much more to know. Needless to say, part of our responsibility is to stay current.
Q: Every Christmas, Santa brings lots of kids puppies or kittens. Is that a good idea?
A: It is a cliché but a dog or a cat or a puppy or a kitten isn't for Christmas, it is for life. Hopefully, people will think it through that most of these critters will live 15 plus years.
Q: You are a certified veterinary acupuncturist. How did you get interested in acupuncture?
A: I got interested in it before I went to vet school. A classmate of my dad had come back from Asia and showed a home movie with these Chinese veterinarians using acupuncture toperform a C-section on a cow. They then stitched up the cow, took out the needles and she got up and went into the field. It blew my mind. Sometimes Western medicine can get a patient only so far.
Q: Do you use acupuncture to treat arthritis?
A: Most commonly. I find it very helpful for allergy patients, cancer patients and for internal medicine cases as well. I recommend acupuncture to owners, too.
Q: How do you handle people who will go to any means to try to save a pet?
A: It is part of the responsibility of the doctor to give an owner the pros and cons and realistic outcomes so they can make a decision that makes sense for them and their animal.
Q: What is the most awesome part of your job?
A: I get to practice all the different disciplines of medicine. I get to incorporate Eastern medicine. How cool is that? Interacting with the animals is always fun unless they are snarky or biting or a fraidy cat who is going to scratch you.
Q: What’s the hardest part?
A: When we have to say bye. Sometimes it is a good relief when the animal is at a point where they don't need to be experiencing what they are experiencing. The untreatable illness is probably the hardest thing and then going through that with the owner. It is part of what we are supposed to do.
Information about the Petplan Veterinary Awards: www.gopetplan.com/vet-awards/
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