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Lizzy, DVM | Veterinarian

@dogtor_lizzy

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Elite Fear Free Certified Small Animal Vet
Sharing VetMed + My Life Beyond It
Retired Nurse | Ranch Girl | Dog Mom
Grace Is My Story. ↓ Follow Along

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Horseback riding looks effortless when it’s done well. That’s because most of the work is happening in the brain. 🧠

People often see horseback riding as “just sitting there,” but research tells a different story.

When you ride, your brain is simultaneously processing:

🐴 Balance and postural control
🐴 Coordination between hands, legs, seat, and core
🐴 Spatial awareness and navigation
🐴 Timing and rhythm
🐴 Sensory information from the horse’s movement
🐴 Decision-making and problem-solving in real time

Studies have shown that riding activates multiple brain regions involved in motor control, balance, sensory processing, and attention.

The horse’s movement also creates constant, subtle changes that the rider must adapt to, meaning your nervous system is continuously making micro-adjustments to stay balanced and communicate effectively.

That’s why riding can feel physically exhausting even when it doesn’t look strenuous from the ground.

It’s not just exercise for your muscles, it’s exercise for your brain, too.

#HorsebackRiding #EquestrianLife #DidYouKnow #BrainHealth #interestingfacts by @dogtor_lizzy

Them: “Why do you love riding horses so much?”

Me: “Because this is what it does to my brain.”

#horselovers #equine #equestrian #horseoftheday #horse by @dogtor_lizzy

A little reintroduction / life update because… a lot has happened lately 🐾

Hi, I’m Lisa (most of you know me as Dogtor Lizzy) 😊

I spent the last 3 years in Ireland, working in different vet hospitals and clinics and I truly loved it. The ties will always remain strong, and I’m still part of Vet Space Ireland. 🇮🇪

But life was happening… and somewhere along the way I started missing the sun too, so last month I packed up my life again and moved my dogs, horse, and tortoise to Germany 🇩🇪
(because clearly I don’t do anything the easy way 🤣)

Now I’m here, working part-time while I study…
trying to balance real life, real patients, and going back to being a student again.

Because here’s the part no one really talks about:
As a vet who trained overseas, getting licensed in the US isn’t simple. 🇺🇸

It’s exams, and more exams… and proving yourself over and over again.
BCSE → NAVLE → CPE

Some days it feels excessive.
Some days it feels unfair.
And some days it’s just exhausting starting over.

But there are reasons I’m getting serious about this now. Timing, life, and the fact that my fiancé is on the other side of the Atlantic 💍

The goal is to build my life back in Kansas.
And I’m not done until I get there.

So if you’re also in a season of rebuilding, relearning, or just trying to make things work, you’re not alone.

So it’s back to the grind for a little while. 💪
And if nothing else… at least you’ll get a lot more real, unfiltered vet content out of this 🤣🐾

#vetlife #vet #vetmed #veterinarymedicine #vetlife by @dogtor_lizzy

Maybe I bond so easily with a 1,200-pound flight animal because neither of our nervous systems knows how to chill. 🐴❤️

#horsegirl #horsegirlproblems #nervoussystemhealing #nervoussystemregulation #horses by @dogtor_lizzy

We ask people in caring professions to give their all. Then we act surprised when they have nothing left. 🖤

#med #medicine #vetmed #vet #doctor by @dogtor_lizzy

We didn’t go into veterinary medicine because we thought it would be easy.

We knew there would be long hours, difficult cases, heartbreaking decisions, and days when the emotional weight followed us home.

We chose this profession because we care about animals.

But somewhere along the way, that passion became an expectation that we would tolerate almost anything.

Because it’s a calling.
Because the animals need us.
Because we chose this.
Because someone has to do it.

And so we keep showing up exhausted. We sacrifice our health, our relationships, and our lives outside the clinic.

Until some of us finally can’t do it anymore.

This isn’t about expecting an easy job. It’s about expecting a sustainable one.

Veterinary medicine cannot survive on compassion alone.

Our skills have value. Our time has value. Our wellbeing has value.

A calling should give your work meaning. It should never be used to justify being broken by the work you love.

If we want to keep good veterinarians in this profession, we have to start treating them like the professionals they are.

🐾 Veterinary medicine is not a hobby.

#VeterinaryMedicine #VetMed #VeterinaryLife #Vetlife #VeterinaryProfessionals by @dogtor_lizzy

13 YEARS OLD TODAY. 🥹🐾❤️

Happy 13th birthday to my sweet Kylie girl! 🎂🐶 Thirteen years of floppy ears, that unmistakable Beagle nose, selective hearing, food obsession, and somehow convincing everyone that you’ve never been fed in your entire life. 😂

You’ve been by my side through so many chapters of life, and I’m so grateful for every single one of them. You may be a little slower these days, but you’ll always be my baby girl. ❤️

Here’s to 13 years of being loved, spoiled, and completely convinced that every meal is serious business. 😂🐾

Happy birthday, Kylie. I love you more than you’ll ever know. ❤️🎂🐶 by @dogtor_lizzy

What if compassion isn’t just better for the patient but better for the person providing it, too?

We talk a lot about the emotional cost of veterinary medicine.

The suffering we witness.
The difficult conversations.
The euthanasias.
The cases we can’t fix.

And we’ve often been taught that the way to survive it is to develop thicker skin, don’t get too attached, and don’t take it home.

But what if we’ve been looking at this slightly wrong?

Empathy and compassion aren’t the same thing.

Maybe some of us have become incredibly good at feeling and absorbing suffering, without ever being taught how to move from that feeling into compassionate action.

And neuroscience suggests those experiences may actually affect us differently.

I’m not suggesting compassion is a magic solution to everything that makes veterinary medicine difficult.

But it is something we can practice.

Something we can potentially learn to do differently.

And maybe that means we don’t have to care less.

Maybe we can learn to care differently. 🖤

#vetmed #veterinarymedicine #vet #veterinarian #vetlife by @dogtor_lizzy

Nothing humbles a veterinarian faster than confidently saying, ‘This should be a straightforward procedure.’ 🤣

#vetmed #vetlife #veterinarymedicine #vet #veterinarian by @dogtor_lizzy

9/11 is deeply personal to me.

I remember the fear of watching the country I love come under attack. I remember the moment when, in a matter of seconds, the world as I knew it changed and that sense of security we don’t realize we have until it’s gone disappeared.

But my connection to September 11 goes much deeper than what I witnessed on a television screen.

People I love were there.

People who were once so carefree, joyful, and vibrant had their lives fundamentally altered in a matter of seconds.

They survived something that changed them forever. They lost people they loved. They carried the trauma of that day with them, while also navigating health struggles that are ongoing to this day.

The calendar moved forward. Their lives did too. But the consequences came with them.

And now there are younger people in these families who weren’t even alive when it happened, growing up with the imprint of a history they can never personally remember.

These aren’t distant stories to me. These are my people.

People who have shown me an extraordinary amount of love, kindness, and support. People who, despite everything they have carried themselves, have continued to show up for me in ways I will never forget.

So when I think about September 11, I don’t just think about what I saw that morning.

I think about the people I love. What they lost. What they survived. What their lives became afterward. And everything they still carry.

Because sometimes history isn’t something that happened a long time ago.

Sometimes it’s something people are still living with every single day.

That’s why, 25 years later, September 11 still feels so immediate to me.

It isn’t just a date I remember. It is a part of the lives of people I love, and therefore a part of my life too.

#911 #september11 #september11th #91101 #september112001 by @dogtor_lizzy

25 years ago tonight, September 10, 2001… 💔

246 people went to sleep preparing for their morning flights.
2,606 people went to sleep preparing for another day at work.
343 firefighters went to sleep preparing for their next shift.
60 police officers went to sleep preparing for morning patrol.
8 paramedics went to sleep preparing for another day of saving lives.
And 1 K9 went to bed, ready to be a good boy. 🐾

They went to sleep expecting tomorrow to be ordinary.

None of them knew they were living through their last night.

By 10:00 a.m. the next morning, September 11, 2001, their lives had been cut short.

Twenty-five years later, we know the history.
We know the numbers.
We know the photographs.
We know the stories.

But tonight, before September 11 becomes a date on the calendar again, remember this:

They went to bed on September 10 just like we do.

They had plans.
People they loved.
Things they were looking forward to.
Ordinary little moments they never knew would be their last.

So tonight, September 10, 2026, kiss the ones you love a little tighter. Hug your children. Snuggle your animals. Call the person you’ve been meaning to call.

And never take another ordinary night, or another ordinary morning for granted.

Twenty-five years later, we remember.
We will always remember. 🇺🇸

#september11 #911 #91101 #fdny #nypd by @dogtor_lizzy

As a former veterinary technician myself, I remember how much I hated seeing technicians lumped into a veterinarian post as an afterthought.

A quick “vets and techs” mention as if we all experience veterinary medicine in exactly the same way.

We work within the same system and absolutely share many of the same risk factors, but some of the challenges of being a veterinary technician are unique to the role.

So I think veterinary technicians/nurses deserve their own conversation.

Not a footnote.
Not an afterthought.

Their own data. Their own experiences. Their own discussion about mental health and suicide in veterinary medicine.

Because if we’re serious about changing veterinary medicine, we need to understand what every part of the veterinary team is carrying. 🤍

#vettech #veterinarytechnician #veterinarynurse #vetnurse #vetmed by @dogtor_lizzy