Christmas and the new year coincide with holidays for students studying abroad. For many homesick overseas students, this well-earned respite from the books is an opportunity to spend time with family. The festive period is also extra busy at the clinic because owners not only prepare their homes and themselves for the public holidays, but also their pets.
Most pet owners like to get their animal maintenance and chores out of the way before the Lunar New Year. We see a lot more routine vaccinations during this time, as well as owners getting new pets and bringing them in for their first veterinary checks. There is a buzz in the air in the clinic and morale is high - and made even higher with generous Christmas presents given to the nurses by some of our clients.
The festive atmosphere of these months is also bolstered by an influx of budding veterinary students doing holiday internships with us.
These students are not only new faces, they sometimes bring new ideas to the clinic, because going to university keeps them at the forefront of veterinary science.
In recent years, the number of applicants for holiday internships has increased markedly. This is because many foreign universities have changed their entrance requirements to lure fee-paying students from around the world - and a lot more Hongkongers are now studying overseas to become veterinarians.
When I graduated more than a decade ago, there were only 48 students in my class and I was the only Hong Kong-born person in the whole course. But now things are very different. There are well over 100 Hong Kong students studying in vet schools at Australian universities alone. So in the coming four or five years, there is going to be a large influx of new graduates in Hong Kong because many of these students will choose to return home to their families and friends.
I worry about how all these new graduates will affect the city's veterinary sector, especially with the current poor economic outlook. There are not many job vacancies, and most of the vacancies that exist require vets with experience.