Russian veterinarian Anastasia Gorelova has spoken out about the realities of her six-year career, detailing patient cases ranging from cats to four-metre pythons.
Gorelova, who has been a vegetarian since the age of 13 and avoids circuses, described the emotional toll, low salaries, and workplace injuries that come with veterinary practice in Russia in an interview with news website Lenta.ru.
Her interest in animals developed during her childhood when her family lived abroad due to her father's work assignments. Keeping dogs or cats was difficult during those overseas trips, but while living in Tunisia, a North African nation, her family kept a guinea pig and three tortoises that wandered under palm trees in their garden. Upon returning to Russia, the family kept guinea pigs again, and recently acquired a parrot.
In the ninth grade, Gorelova initially considered pursuing a chemistry and biology track to study human medicine, as she had dreamed of becoming a paediatrician. However, after learning that medical school required passing the Chemistry Unified State Exam (EGE), Russia's standardized entrance test, she opted to take profile mathematics and apply to veterinary school instead.
Her mother initially opposed the decision, arguing that a veterinarian was not a real doctor. Her father supported her choice, telling her mother that Gorelova might one day travel to Vladivostok, a port city in Russia's Far East, to treat whales. Her mother eventually agreed, and Gorelova enrolled in the evening department of the K. I. Skryabin Moscow State Academy of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnology, a major veterinary university in Moscow.
Veterinary education and farm practice
Gorelova said her initial enthusiasm faded during her studies as she realized veterinary education in Russia faced severe issues. She noted that elderly professors taught outdated treatment schemes and no longer practiced medicine. Instructors described crowded poultry farms where chickens were kept in tight cages without sufficient food, causing severe stress that led the birds to attack one another and peck out each other's eyes.
Although Gorelova did not suffer traumatic experiences during her studies, her classmates completed internships on agricultural farms and shared horrifying accounts. In one instance, a cow struggled to give birth when a calf became stuck. Farm workers tied a metal cable to the calf's hoof, attached the other end to a tractor, and pulled the calf out, killing it in the process. Gorelova said that while she finds cows intelligent and beautiful, preferring them to horses, she refused to work on livestock farms.
Clinical practice and animal welfare
From her early university years, Gorelova combined her studies with work as an assistant in small veterinary clinics, where she discovered that not all veterinarians treat animals with kindness. At her first job, she witnessed a doctor castrate a 16-year-old cat without anesthesia, claiming the animal was too old to survive sedation. Gorelova noted that elderly humans undergo surgery under anesthesia and that old age is not a medical contraindication.
At the same clinic, Gorelova and a doctor euthanized two cats belonging to a single owner. When she expressed sadness in the staff room, the doctor told her that she did not belong in the profession if she felt sorry for every patient. In those small facilities, a single veterinarian acted as dermatologist, general practitioner, surgeon, and anesthesiologist during a shift, often failing to calculate proper drug dosages or monitor anesthetized animals, leading to painful deaths from minor issues.
Seeking better standards, Gorelova joined a modern veterinary facility as an intern. The multi-room hospital featured sterile operating rooms, an inpatient unit, and specialized medical staff. On her first shift in the intensive care unit, a cat died despite resuscitation efforts, and the attending specialist expressed deep sympathy for both the owner and the animal. Gorelova said the experience proved veterinarians could handle critical cases while remaining empathetic.
To process tragic cases, Gorelova and her colleagues attend psychological training sessions and discuss difficult outcomes openly. She recalled crying at home on her day off after her clinic euthanized Luzern, an elderly shelter dog with multiple chronic health conditions. She also treated dogs suffering from severe human abuse, including one attacked with an axe and another stabbed repeatedly with a pitchfork, noting that both animals remained gentle and affectionate toward clinic staff.
Gorelova noted that performing euthanasia in front of owners is emotionally draining, as staff frequently weep alongside grieving pet owners. Most owners opt for general cremation and do not request their pets' ashes. Under Russian law, veterinarians are prohibited from returning euthanized animals to owners for private burial, as deceased pets are legally classified as biological waste.
Exotic animals and veterinary care
During her career, Gorelova spent time treating exotic pets, a category that encompasses all species other than dogs and cats. Common patients included guinea pigs, chinchillas, rabbits, budgerigars, cockatiels, Grey parrots, leopard geckos, bearded dragons, and tortoises. While her clinic did not treat fish, she noted that zoos perform surgical procedures on them.
Her clinic also provides medical care for Djungarian hamsters. Because the rodents are too small to yield sufficient blood samples for laboratory analysis, veterinarians evaluate them using X-rays and ultrasound scans.
Her exotic patient list included monkeys, martens, foxes, hawks, lemurs, lorises, and a deer. Having admired fennec foxes as a child, she was thrilled when one was brought into the clinic. On one occasion, staff administered an enema to a toad. In another case, a circus macaw sat calmly on its perch throughout treatment, surprising staff because macaws are typically emotional. A contact zoo once brought in a kangaroo that was too weak to resist as a veterinarian placed a catheter in its tail, and the same doctor later treated a coati.
Bites, scratches and handling risks
Gorelova carries her largest physical scar from a guinea pig bite received while the animal was climbing off her hands. She also helped handle a four-metre reticulated python that required four staff members to restrain after its owners warned it was in a bad mood. Though she initially feared working with snakes, she noted they are rarely brought in and are non-venomous.
Cats frequently inflict painful bites and scratches, including an incident where a cat tore open a colleague's lip, requiring emergency hospital treatment. However, Gorelova noted cats can easily be wrapped in a blanket for restraint. When a lynx was brought to the clinic, it refused to sleep, terrifying staff by hissing loudly at its full size.
Her most painful bite came from an Alabay, also known as a Central Asian Shepherd Dog. Although the bite did not break the skin, it left a large bruise that brought her to tears. The dog had been friendly moments earlier while being petted, but suddenly lunged, which staff attributed to food aggression caused by an open can of dog food nearby.
Unusual cases and ingested objects
Gorelova said her work also includes heartwarming moments, particularly when critically ill patients are successfully resuscitated in the intensive care unit and return home. In one instance, first-time dog owners panicked when their puppy lost its teeth, unaware that dogs shed baby teeth, and left relieved after learning the process was normal.
Veterinarians at her clinic have extracted various foreign objects from pets, including a rubber duck and the head of a toy. In one case, a dog swallowed female underwear, and the male owner requested that veterinarians hide the object's identity from his wife, implying it belonged to his mistress. In another instance, a panicked couple brought in a tiny dachshund that had swallowed a condom.
Pet owners and end of life decisions
Gorelova advised pet owners against panicking over single episodes of vomiting or diarrhea if an animal continues to eat normally afterward. However, she emphasized that an animal refusing food for 24 hours constitutes a serious warning sign, criticizing owners who wait a full week before seeking veterinary attention. She also noted that a single sneeze from a cat is usually harmless dust exposure from under furniture.
She expressed strong frustration with owners who lie about their pets' history, recalling a dog brought in with internal bleeding consistent with physical abuse. The owners initially claimed ignorance until one admitted to kicking the animal. She also criticized people who keep swifts in residential apartments, explaining that the birds live and sleep in flight and suffer when confined to boxes or rooms.
Regarding medical treatment, Gorelova believes owners should pursue care if they can afford it and maintain their pet's quality of life. However, she opposes taking on heavy debt when an animal can no longer eat, walk, or defecate independently. When a pet remains in intensive care for a month without improvement, she insists on euthanasia to end its suffering. She also expressed skepticism toward pet cloning practices popular in Asia, arguing that cloned animals possess different personalities and mindsets despite shared genetics.
Animal welfare and captive breeding
Gorelova strongly opposes animal circuses, describing them as inhumane. During a summer family trip, she saw a circus tent set up outside a supermarket where animals were kept in intense heat without shade. She observed camels with severe leg injuries, lions confined in small cages, and a chained dog without water. After leaving a negative review on the circus's page on social media network VKontakte, her comment was deleted while positive reviews remained.
She holds mixed views on zoos, noting that many animals are bred in captivity or acquired through commercial transactions rather than being wild animals rescued from danger. She also advised against keeping wild pets in homes, pointing out that apartment living cannot meet the spatial needs of animals like parrots, which fly several kilometres daily in the wild.
Personal life and off-duty rescues
Gorelova became a vegetarian at age 13 after watching slaughterhouse footage on VKontakte. She initially hid her diet from her parents and later eliminated fish and dairy products as well. Although her parents initially disapproved, they now accept her lifestyle, and half of her extended family currently refrains from eating meat. At home, she keeps a pet rabbit and a parrot that dances on its perch and attempts to speak.
She frequently assists animals outside of work. While leaving a metro station, she encountered a man searching for his lost small poodle. Spotting the three-kilogram dog, Gorelova ran after it while wearing a heavy backpack, shouting for bystanders to help as the dog ran into an eight-lane road. The dog crossed four lanes before being struck by two oncoming vehicles in succession.
The driver of the second car, a man her age, stopped to offer help. Gorelova retrieved the dog and searched the neighborhood until she located the owner's apartment building and neighbor. The owner hesitated to take the dog to Gorelova's clinic, choosing instead to call other busy facilities while critical minutes passed. Although the owner's son eventually transported the dog to a vet, the animal died from its injuries.
Despite the physical and emotional challenges, low pay, and demanding schedules of her profession, Gorelova said she has no regrets about becoming a veterinarian. Currently working as a general practitioner with plans to specialize in animal neurology, she said seeing pain medication relieve a patient's suffering makes the work worthwhile.
