The hardest times that made you who you are

2 mins

What a year it’s been; the last 12 months have been a heavy mix of highs, lows, optimism, boosters, and further measures. It’s not been easy, and at times uncomfortable. It’s been another year in your practice working with masks, disinfectant sprays, and understanding (and less understanding) pet owners. It was all about running and not standing still, but always with a smile, doing your best and putting your back into it.

Unfortunately, it looks like 2022 will see this discomfort continuing for a while longer. But beautiful things often arise from tricky situations – when everything is easy, there is no reason to do things differently, and innovation stops.

We have already written about the hairdressing industry, where covid rules encouraged them to embrace online booking – a system which for 20 years they thought was unnecessary and customers would not use. Lockdown and associated restrictions forced a re-evaluation, which unexpectedly led to the implementation resulting in higher customer satisfaction and better time management. Now and then, a quick trip out of our comfort zone is a good thing – it can force us to improve.

Just as your practice is our customer, we, as pet owners, are your customers too. When we called on you last year for vaccinations, consultations, and operations for our pets, we saw the challenges in your practice with our own eyes. We saw you juggling a thousand things simultaneously. But we also saw the fun and devotion in you, we experienced your friendliness and understanding, and we were allowed to briefly be a part of something that we can only describe as passion. We have no test for this, but as we at IDEXX might say, the passion for the job is in our blood.

From everyone at IDEXX Animana and our pets, thank you for 2021!