My pony is hopefully (knock on wood) coming home this weekend and my unfortunate tradition with my dog is to bring food or something for the staff since I know vet life kind of sucks. Last time, I brought a tupperware of cookies and candy bark since it was Halloween but since it’s January and so many people do “healthy” new years resolutions, I’m not sure what makes sense - thoughts?
When my pony was in the hospital, I visited twice a day. I brought food each time…usually bagels and OJ in the morning and pizza at night.This was a university hospital w lots of staff and students.
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these days eggs. How about breaking out the easter egg dye early 
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I had a horse under 24 hour care for a few days at an equine hospital an hour plus away. When we went to pick him up, I brought ten Starbucks gift cards and asked the veterinarian in charge of his case to give them out to those who had worked with him. Cards were $25 each, although not marked as such.
I know that not everybody loves Starbuck’s coffee (I don’t), but they’re ubiquitous, also offer food and sweets if a recipient was not a coffee drinker, and I figured that was a thing most would appreciate and could use.
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Maybe something a little more healthy ish like banana nut mm muffins without a ton of sugar? You could put some cream cheese frosting on the side for those who want to indulge.
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They are not exactly low calorie, but Alyssa’s Healthy Oatmeal Bites are yummy and they are small/easy to grab while busy. Sams Club here usually has a big container of them.
ETA: It is “Aussie Bites” that Sam’s Club sells here. The ones I mentioned above must be from Publix.
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I gave annual gifts to my vet’s staff.
Tried to be different every year & not always sugary stuff:
Homemade gift basket with candy & fruit
Gift card for a nearby pizza place
Honeybaked ham (so they could have lunch)
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If you’re pressed for time and in an urban area and have Edible Arrangements they are delicious and loved. You can do regular fruit and chocolate covered too. A mix of fun healthy and fun naughty.
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Oh that’s a great idea - I can always pick up a platter from wegmans even. Or order it for delivery so I don’t have to worry about keeping it safe from the dogs on the drive down.
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that is what I was thinking, like a bunch of 3 inch subs/wraps rings you can pick up at the deli, some sort of salad, fruit platter ?
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I don’t know if this is a small hospital or a large university, but something non-perishable is always appreciated.
When I worked at a large university vet hospital, we so rarely had time to eat some days! So something like a fruit tray could potentially go bad if it were left out and no one got to it.
Also, people would send us stuff and sometimes it never got to the people actually caring for said animal. That can be hard to combat, though.
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I usually send a food gift to my vets at Thanksgiving - usually a food tower of sorts from Harry & David, Popcorn Factory etc. Moose Munch is always a big winner in my book haha.
With it being cold, flu and still COVID I would stick to commercially prepared foods and not bring anything homemade.
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Well, I no longer work in equine medicine except for a very small number of close friends but I still work full-time in small animal doing mostly surgery. My team is the first there in the morning to get me in to surgery and then stay late often helping my treatment/triage/medical team wrap up their cases at night, sometimes not getting a lunch/break. Any food, drink is appreciated, devoured relatively quickly and by all. Everyone including the receptionists are invaluable to my patient/client care.
I had to laugh when I read this because I had one of my surgery techs get after me when I brought in cookies Monday morning. “Dr. Darling how dare you work on getting me fat!” I told her I would bring the veggie tray in next Monday morning. Later we had a ‘few’ emergencies come into my surgical service that I had to work in and was willing to do so in order to spare the owners the cost of an emergency room visit. We were thanked with two dozen doughnuts and a dozen bagels with assorted cream cheese options yesterday morning. The first to go without a crumb left were the doughnuts. The bagels were gone by the time I clocked out last night LOL. To be honest from my perspective my teams are grateful just to be thought of and shown some gratitude be it a card, food or drink of any type. I’m sure how ever you express your appreciation will be appreciated and put to good use.
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How do people feel about protein bars or shakes? Not as fun as sandwich platters or edible arrangements but great for energy on the go. Can decorate the boxes with bows and glitter?
OHH!! I like this idea. My DH is a bar expert since he is on the road a lot. He loves the Bob’s Red Mill and the MetRx brands. He also likes Chomps, That’s It bars, SANS, Rx, and Perfect Protein (but they need refrigeration). On average a box of 15ct or so is between 17-20 bux.
Go to Costco and get a big party tray of wraps and the mini boxes of Junior Cheesecakes.
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I also work in vet med and second what exvet says. We will eat it, we will appreciate it whatever you bring. I think this time of year things in the savory category are great as people are still a little done with sweets after the holiday but who am I kidding we will also absolutely eat the box of donuts! Picking up a party tray of something at Wegmans is perfect. I like the chocolate covered fruit idea or 3" sub idea if you’re trying to be healthier. I would add probably best if it’s something that can be left on a counter for an hour or two and doesn’t necessarily need to be in the fridge, because people eat what they see ;). Don’t fret too much about what to bring, we always appreciate clients who specially thank us whether it be with treats or a simple card!
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I brought a couple dozen carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.
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When I worked at an equine clinic, Edible Arrangements were our FAVORITE. Vet med doesn’t exactly lend itself to healthy eating, but somehow chocolate dipped fruit doesn’t seem as unhealthy as a donut (even though it’s probably worse)! Otherwise, anything will be appreciated, but things that are savory and easy to grab and go- bagels, sandwiches, pizza- are especially great. Anything that requires standing around and/or a plate means busier staff may miss out.
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Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I ended up ordering a Harry & David gift box that included sweet and savory snacks and fruit so everyone has options. Pony is coming home tomorrow morning with the best possible outcome for a hock injury (no infection, impressively sound, no tendon involvement)
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