Four Things Gen Zer Won’t Let Cats Do After Working in Vet Emergency Room – ryan

A Gen Z woman has shared a list of things she won’t let her cats do, after what she saw while working in veterinary medicine.

Emily, who didn’t share her surname, lives in the Midwest with her 11 cats. Her rules regarding what her cats can and can’t do stem from her own personal experience working in an emergency clinic.

The 27-year-old told Newsweek: “I previously worked in an emergency veterinary clinic working nights, weekends and holidays.

“We saw a wide variety of cases from ranging from ear infections, dog fights, all the way to emergency c-sections and GDV (bloat). You truly never knew what the day would bring and that’s why I loved it!”

The now-viral video had a text overlay that read: “Things I don’t allow my cats to do after working in emergency vet med.” Emily outlined a handful of house rules she follows to keep her cats safe—rules shaped directly by the cases she saw on the job.

Her no-gos include:

• Cats don’t go outside
• She never leaves them home alone for several days
• They’re not allowed in the laundry room
• Cats are always in carriers in the car

“These cases came from things I personally worked on or cases I learned about from my co-workers. A majority of them I have seen myself,” she said.

In the video, Emily said: “Things I do not want my pets to do because I used to work in an animal ER part. My cats don’t go outside. Period. I will never have an indoor outdoor or an outdoor cat ever. No. And also because I have mostly orange cats and they’re not very bright, but still.”

While in the video caption she admitted: “ER vet med has made me into a helicopter pet parent.”

Perhaps the most personal of her guidelines involves never leaving her pets unattended for extended periods. Emily shared the heartbreaking story of her cat Taco, who suffered a major injury in 2023.

“The most important one I shared in that video would have to be not leaving your cats alone when you leave for vacation with just a bowl of food and water,” she said. “This came from my own personal cat Taco, who in 2023 mysteriously broke his femur during the night and I found him the next morning. Accidents happen and I couldn’t imagine him having a broken leg for several days if he was left home alone.”

Emily no longer works in veterinary medicine, having stepped away after getting married to focus more on family life. But she’s turned her experiences into something valuable for others.

“I share on TikTok to help educate owners, so many times in the ER I saw cases of pet owners who just didn’t know any better,” she said. “I no longer work in vet med after getting married and wanting more time with my family, but I had all this knowledge and wanted to help educate others.”

The video has over 320,000 views on TikTok since being shared last week, and struck a chord with people online.

Not everyone agreed with the list, though. Some viewers didn’t like the idea of keeping cats inside: “All animals should have the right to feel and smell fresh grass and the warm sun,” said one commenter.

Others took the list on board. One commenter said: “All of these!! Anytime we go on vacation I have someone stay at my house with them. They are like toddlers.”

“I was definitely surprised at the amount of views I have gotten, but for me it was never about the views,” Emily said. “Even if only one person watched my videos, I could help educate that owner to be a better pet parent.”

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to [email protected] with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.