Cat's response to clients being jerks is usually "Do I need to go eat someone for you?" It's rather adorable, and does make me feel better a lot of times.

Usually I do all right dealing with clients. I hate seeing anything hurt, be it an animal or a person, and I think being empathic tends to keep things from getting out of hand. (Except for the one guy that I almost got in a fistfight with. That was fun.) I try to get people to understand what they can do better in the future without making them feel more like shit for what's happening now. And a lot of times it works.

I've gotten better at handling certain things. If someone wants to accuse me of wanting their animal to die because they won't get it treatment... that's not my fault. I do the best that I can for them. If stupid idiots want to open their conversation with me by saying "I don't trust vets", when they've slathered their cat with garlic (which can make cat red blood cells explode) for fleas, well, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink.

But sometimes it just gets overwhelming, or people come up with new and creative ways to slide around whatever emotional barriers I manage to put up.

Thanks for the response. It means a lot to know there are people out there who think I'm doing good.