Bruce Figger Large Animal Traveling Veterinarian talks occupational suicide, books & horse digestion

About this episode

Vance interviews Bruce Figger, a traveling large-animal veterinarian in rural Kansas, in a wide-ranging conversation that moves from veterinary science trivia (cow vs. horse digestion, RFID cattle tracking, generalist vs. specialist vet training) into deeply personal territory. Figger explains disease-spread parallels between feedlots and college dorms during COVID, then walks through the alarming veterinarian suicide rate — now the highest of any profession, surpassing dentistry — attributing it to compassion fatigue, crushing student debt, and demanding client relationships, while also noting the field's demographic shift toward ~90% female graduates. The emotional core of the episode is a mutual disclosure: Figger reveals that his and his wife's first child died hours after birth due to undeveloped kidneys, and Vance reciprocates with his own family's fertility struggles, using this to argue that stigma around miscarriage and infant loss isolates people unnecessarily — introducing the Swahili concept of "poa" (being slow/present with grieving people) as a better cultural model than performative condolence. The two also discuss chiropractic care and the limits of scientific certainty, referencing Eric Weinstein's critique of peer review, and close on financial literacy (Dave Ramsey, Rich Dad Poor Dad) as a stabilizing structure that let Figger's family focus on grief rather than money during crisis.

“The suicide rates for veterinarians are the highest among the professions... you add in all these extra stressors of compassion fatigue, overwhelming student debt, owners being mad because you're charging too much.”

“Nobody told me this growing up... when it happened to me and then I go start telling people about it, they're like, no, that happened to me... you're not the only one carrying around this kind of hurt.”

“Cows are like all stomach and a little bitty chunk of lung... a horse eats grass but can't regurgitate, so they ferment in the hind gut instead of a rumen.”

Key moments

• ~22%: Cow vs. horse digestion explained in vivid detail — cows are "all stomach," horses ferment in the hind gut and can't vomit.
• ~40%: The veterinarian suicide crisis — highest of any profession, driven by debt, compassion fatigue, and demanding clients — discussed with genuine puzzlement about causes.
• ~62%: Figger discloses his first child died hours after birth from undeveloped kidneys; Vance reciprocates with his own fertility struggles, breaking a shared cultural silence around loss.
• ~68%: The Swahili concept of "poa" (slowness/presence with the grieving) introduced as a better cultural model than American performative condolence.
• ~80%: Debate on chiropractic care, scientific certainty, and Eric Weinstein's critique of peer review as a lens for humility about incomplete knowledge.

Notable quotes

“Our first child didn't make it. We only had him for a couple hours... his kidneys didn't develop.”

“The suicide rate for veterinarians is the highest among the professions.”

“Nobody told me this growing up... you think you're completely alone, until you find out there's a lot of people carrying around this kind of hurt.”

“Cows are like all stomach and a little bitty chunk of lung.”