Best way to say thank you to three vet offices
October 23, 2021 10:47 AM Subscribe
My cat recently lept off my 4th floor balcony. He was saved by his vet. His vet is one who works in three different offices (small vet chain) and all of them - from the receptionists to the techs to the vet need to understand how profoundly grateful I am for all they have done. I want to thank them but I don't know what's practical or appropriate and I need suggestions, please. Details inside.
All vet offices anywhere near here are at capacity and have been for months and will be for months. Plus my vet's office has suffered some personal tragedies in the past year making their work even more stressful. I am so lucky that they have worked him into their schedule and saved his life. I feel like a special thank you is needed.
I do not know the names of all the people involved with my cat's care so personalized gifts are out. I do not know the exact number either. We live in Seattle so food gifts are touchy - vegan, vegetarian, gf, sugar free - it's a mind field around here. That said, would a gift certificate to a food delivery service be appropriate? Maybe one for each of the 3 offices? And another for the vet? Or gift certificate from a bakery? Or flowers for each office or a plant? Help.
He's still got about 3 or 4 weeks of treatments so I have some time. Just no great ideas.
All vet offices anywhere near here are at capacity and have been for months and will be for months. Plus my vet's office has suffered some personal tragedies in the past year making their work even more stressful. I am so lucky that they have worked him into their schedule and saved his life. I feel like a special thank you is needed.
I do not know the names of all the people involved with my cat's care so personalized gifts are out. I do not know the exact number either. We live in Seattle so food gifts are touchy - vegan, vegetarian, gf, sugar free - it's a mind field around here. That said, would a gift certificate to a food delivery service be appropriate? Maybe one for each of the 3 offices? And another for the vet? Or gift certificate from a bakery? Or flowers for each office or a plant? Help.
He's still got about 3 or 4 weeks of treatments so I have some time. Just no great ideas.
The most meaningful thank you gifts I've ever received at work were heart-felt notes. Doesn't need to be long, just something that says how much you've appreciated what they've done. Everything else has felt awkward or like an obligation (even using a gift card can feel like a chore sometimes). I can almost guarantee that long after anything else you might get them has been used, consumed and/or forgotten, that note will be hanging up in a break room somewhere and bring happy thoughts to those workers every time they stop to read it.
Not too say you can't also give them something, and I'm sure you will receive some good suggestions here, but that message will have the most impact.
posted by Jawn at 11:11 AM on October 23, 2021 [9 favorites]
Not too say you can't also give them something, and I'm sure you will receive some good suggestions here, but that message will have the most impact.
posted by Jawn at 11:11 AM on October 23, 2021 [9 favorites]
Response by poster: Two answers and the problem is solved. Thank you so much. I will absolutely make a cash donation to each office to help those who are struggling to pay. I'm embarrassed that I did not think of this myself.
And they will be with a personalized note for each office.
THANK YOU!
posted by susandennis at 11:24 AM on October 23, 2021 [18 favorites]
And they will be with a personalized note for each office.
THANK YOU!
posted by susandennis at 11:24 AM on October 23, 2021 [18 favorites]
You might take note on your next visits whether they have a wall of honor of some kind where they keep notes from clients, and see a) if there's a general format they seem to prefer b) if they could maybe use a big bulletin board or series of boards to make it look nice.
I once spent some very long hours in an emergency vet waiting room with nothing to do, and I think I read the thank-you notes on their walls a hundred times.
If you wanted to do a food gift, I'd actually recommend getting (or assembling your own) care packages of packaged food - Amazon has them in every possible price point and combination, where you should be able to get a good selection of ingredient-marked shelf-stable snacks they can put in their break rooms.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:50 AM on October 23, 2021
I once spent some very long hours in an emergency vet waiting room with nothing to do, and I think I read the thank-you notes on their walls a hundred times.
If you wanted to do a food gift, I'd actually recommend getting (or assembling your own) care packages of packaged food - Amazon has them in every possible price point and combination, where you should be able to get a good selection of ingredient-marked shelf-stable snacks they can put in their break rooms.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:50 AM on October 23, 2021
When my husband of 40+ years died, I had a large basket of fruit sent to his
GPs office and his cancer center, addressed to his doctors AND staff with a personal note of thanks. As you write, I didn't know the names of all the people who helped him through the decades and I understood how varied are folks ' diets so I thought fruit would an almost universally appreciated treat.
posted by tmdonahue at 3:29 PM on October 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
GPs office and his cancer center, addressed to his doctors AND staff with a personal note of thanks. As you write, I didn't know the names of all the people who helped him through the decades and I understood how varied are folks ' diets so I thought fruit would an almost universally appreciated treat.
posted by tmdonahue at 3:29 PM on October 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
Also cookies. I bet they’d like cookies.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 9:45 PM on October 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 9:45 PM on October 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
I also have a cat who would've died if not for the incredible vet who managed her case and saved her. The vet truly went above and beyond. When my cat had recovered I shared a Google album with the vet of pictures and videos of her happy and playing and healthy and the vet really seemed to appreciate that.
That said, the donation sounds like a really good idea too.
posted by Anonymous at 5:32 AM on October 24, 2021
That said, the donation sounds like a really good idea too.
posted by Anonymous at 5:32 AM on October 24, 2021
I sent these cookies to my amazing vet after my dog passed away, and they were very well received. I also brought by a ton of waterproof blankets I had on hand from senior dog life and they said those were super helpful to have.
posted by nancynickerson at 10:37 AM on October 24, 2021
posted by nancynickerson at 10:37 AM on October 24, 2021
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by esker at 11:04 AM on October 23, 2021 [12 favorites]