A Quality of Life issue

My trip to the Big Apple was amazing and I learned so much.  One thing that I learned (that I always suspected) was that animals pull us together, no matter who we are. When people hear that I am a veterinarian (no matter how famous they are), they smile and start to tell me about their pets.  The pets' silly antics, how they comforted them in times of sickness or sorrow or how their lives are made better because of the animals.  I found out that George Stephanopoulos has a long haired Dachshund and a Corgi mix that make him smile. Robin Roberts has a Jack Russell that was her steadfast companion when she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer. We talk about "quality of life" as veterinarians and we use this ambiguous term to help us make some tough decisions.  But I think that the biggest "quality of life" issue that I see as a veterinarian is how animals make our lives better with every wag and purr.