The veterinarians at Bollinger County Veterinary Service are closer than co-workers -- they're business partners, passionate about helping animals, and even sisters-in-law.

"We're a family-owned business," Dr. Colleen Retz says. "We even went to veterinary school together."

Along with Dr. Liza Jones, the veterinarians' day usually begins around 7:30 a.m. with regularly scheduled appointments. They help pet owners with vaccinations and checkups until around 10 a.m., when they usually perform their routine surgeries.

"We do a lot of spays and neuters during that time," Retz says. "Sometimes we have something more exciting, like a foreign body removal, but it's usually routine stuff."

And they spend the second half of the day, from 1:30 to 5 p.m., back in appointments, unless an emergency crops up.

"I'm definitely an animal lover," Jones says, explaining why she decided to become a veterinarian. She made the choice early.

"I knew I wanted to be a veterinarian at 6 years old," she says. "But I knew I would have to get good grades to get into vet school, so I started focusing on that."

She says the core allure of veterinary work was the prospect of being able to help a creature that couldn't help itself.

The work is engaging from a scientific perspective, as well, she adds.

"Our patients can't tell us what is wrong with them," she says. "It's like a mystery to solve to try and figure out what the problem is and how to fix it."

Retz says for her, the most fulfilling aspect of the job is the work they do with the Bollinger County Stray Project.

"Taking a stray, getting them back to 100 percent health, and then finding a person that'll be able to take care of them, that's probably it," she says.

"But probably the most difficult part about the job is working within the financial constraints of a client's budget," she continues.

Sometimes a cure is too expensive and the doctors are forced to find a more cost-effective avenue to recovery.

But, she says, there's nothing like having a patient that improves under your care.

"That's a great feeling," she says.