Roger Federer and Geneva Cat Veterinarian Speak the Languages of the People

June 9, 2009 - PRLog -- Mies, Switzerland – The 2009 French Open saw the victory of Roger Federer, a 27-year-old Swiss native and Grand Slam title holder.  In his fourth French Open final, he stole the trophy from the grasp of Robin Soderling.  

At the close of the winning match, Federer sunk a 127 mph serve and proclaimed his victory in French.  What some folks may not know is that he could have effortlessly uttered those words of triumph in German…or English.

That’s because Roger Federer is trilingual, or the speaker of three languages.  He hails from Switzerland, which claims not one official language, but several.

And the advantage of Roger’s trilingual tongue?  He can reach out to triple the fans, triple the television and radio stations, and conduct triple the press conferences.  Not too shabby, even when compared to that big silver cup.

Like Federer, a veterinarian outside of Geneva, Switzerland sees the value in tripling his communication capabilities.  Dr. Nortey Omaboe, an animal doctor practicing veterinary surgery for more than 25 years, committed himself to the care of animals, and the hurdling of language barriers, at a very young age.

As a boy, Nortey was on holiday with his family in Sicily.  There, he happened upon a litter of kittens.  Some were ill, and one was suffering from a severe eye infection.  Nortey saw to it that the kittens received attention from a local Italian veterinarian.  Though the language barrier made it difficult to communicate with the animal doctor, Nortey did deduct that he needed to administer the prescribed medication, and should house the kittens indoors, to speed their recoveries.  

To Nortey’s dismay, his family’s host would not allow Nortey to keep the kittens inside of the home, which doubled as a cheese-making shop.  From that tender age, the future doctor vowed to not only offer animals the same treatment afforded to humans, but to simplify communications between doctors and cats’ caregivers.

Dr. Omaboe’s animal hospitals’ successes can be attributed to those early convictions.  He treats each cat that enters his veterinary clinic’s doors with the same care that would be offered to his own pets.  And, he does it with open communication, speaking German, French, and English.

The doctor sums it up when he says, “If I were not able to speak freely with cats’ owners, then pivotal questions and answers, information and instructions would be overlooked, and cats’ lives would be in peril.”  

It has been said that Roger Federer moves like a cat, with stealth and agility.  Dr. Nortey Omaboe knows what it takes to maintain the stealth and agility of the model of Federer praise…the legendary pet cat.  But more than that, what these two men have in common is the ability to recognize the value in speaking to the people, with a fluent give-and-take that mirrors a tennis ball, lobbed from one player to another, without fault…no matter the playing court.  

To learn more about breaking veterinary language barriers and caring for the stealth and agility of your own cat, visit http://animalhospitalsaveterinariansveterinaryclinicgenev...