What Your Vet Wishes You Knew About Your Pet with Charles Cosgrave #192 cover image

What Your Vet Wishes You Knew About Your Pet with Charles Cosgrave #192

What Your Vet Wishes You Knew About Your Pet with Charles Cosgrave #192

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Charles Cosgrave grew up on a dairy farm in County Meath where the work never really stopped. His father was the local vet, farmers knocked on the door day and night, and Christmas dinner waited until the calls were done. He didn't realise that wasn't how everyone lived until he was older.He went to UCD, qualified, and left for the UK with no intention of coming home. He came back for a few months to earn a few quid before going travelling with his wife. They never went. He had seen what multi-site practice looked like in Britain, sat down with his dad and John Corrigan, and started building it here. Village Vets is now 35 sites across the country, with three 24-hour emergency centres.What makes this worth an hour is everything in between. Why a vet learns five species in one degree while a human surgeon learns one part of one body. Why the kids in the room give the best information about a sick dog. What actually walks through the door at two in the morning. And why, with 35 practices to run, he calls himself a pretend vet now and misses the room.🔑 Key PointsThe job was in the house before it was a careerHis father was a vet, farmers called at all hours, and the family didn't sit down for Christmas dinner until the morning's calls were finished.One degree, five speciesVets are taught cats, dogs, cows, horses and sheep, and it works because the muscles, the heart, the lungs and the gut are largely the same across all of them.He came home for a few months and never leftHe was between jobs and wanted a few quid together before going travelling with his wife — he started working with his dad instead, and never went.The night rota is why the business existsOn a one-in-two rota he was exhausted on his nights off, and the only way to fix it was more vets, so he grew the practice.The kids usually give you the best informationParents tell children to stay quiet in the consult room, but the children are the ones glued to the dog all day and they notice what changed and when.Two new vet schools open this year and it still won't be enoughGalway and Waterford will take about forty students each, UCD takes 120, and demand for veterinary care has risen far faster than the profession can train for.Neutering a male dog is a prostate conversationDogs have no outlet for testosterone the way humans do, so the build-up can cause testicular and prostate problems later in life.Pet insurance is worth having, and switching providers is the trapA new provider can exclude anything that happened under the old one, so research the policy properly at the start and stay with it.📚 ResourcesVillage VetsCharles's practice group, 35 clinics across Ireland and three 24-hour emergency centresUCD School of Veterinary Medicinewhere Charles trained, and still the main route into the professionDog microchippingwhat's required in Ireland, and the measure Charles says would curb puppy farming⏱️ Timestamps02:37 — Growing up on a dairy farm with a vet for a father03:04 — Christmas dinner waited until the calls were done05:59 — How one vet learns to treat five different species07:30 — Thirty-five sites, and how it started08:04 — Home for a few months before travelling, and they never went09:37 — No craic in the rota: the real reason the practice grew10:24 — Two new vet schools, in Galway and Waterford13:44 — Three emergency centres, open 24/714:38 — What actually comes through the door at night15:45 — Why the kids give the best information19:20 — Neutering, testosterone and the prostate33:44 — Pet insurance, and the catch in switching providers40:45 — "I'm a pretend vet now"50:15 — Be bold, be brave, back yourselfThanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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