Last night every emergency vet hospital closed their doors on us

[Anonymous]

Off topic but dentist the same way. Totally booked. Coming in on weekends for emergencies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd like to try to offer a slightly different perspective FWIW. Last weekend my dog suffered a health emergency and we rushed him to our closest emergency vet. It was about 5 in the afternoon and they took us right in and immediately started working on him because he was in distress. As we sat there waiting for test results, at least 4 other animals were brought in in varying states of emergency. We left for a bit and came back and even more animals had come in. There were two vets working and a variety of techs and other staff. Every one of them was working their asses off and were so incredibly polite and kind to everyone there waiting for news on their pets. They explained that they were backed up, explained that they had to triage and prioritize the most dire cases, and did their best to give everyone an idea of how long they might expect to wait. By the next morning, when our dog thankfully had recovered, they were completely full and were turning people away. Inside, when we went to pick him up, the staff had begun to turn over and everyone was still hustling. People from the night shift had stayed to help manage the overload. They brought an extra vet (I guess they have some on retainer?) to help stay on top of the cases and allow them to accommodate additional patients.

OP, I wasn't with you yesterday and I'm sorry your puppy had to wait a long time to get seen. I'm sure it was scary and frustrating, but I wanted to offer my experience because I'm willing to bet that inside each of the clinics you were turned away from, there were dedicated people trying their best to help every animal that was already there and they had to make the call.

And how often and how long do you think that practice can sustain that pace?

Some practices are set up to be solely emergency practices, and some are regular practice es with extra emergency availability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry that happened OP. We support a German Shepherd rescue and they just went through something similar. They pulled five shepherds from a shelter. All five were very sick. Distemper 🙁 They could not get them in to see any of the vets they typically use. All were above capacity. Two of the pups have died. They finally got the other three admitted. It took several days and a three hour drive to find a vet.

We have been lucky. Our vet is busy, but we have always been able to get in. Especially in an emergency. Hope your pup is doing better.

The rescue should have at least one, possibly multiple, practices on retainer at all times to support this kind of thing. This sounds more like the rescue to me. I know of several rescues that have at least a tech with them, or waiting at the office, if they suspect ill animals.

[Anonymous]

Just curious, OP. What did your regular vet suggest, or what practice guidelines do they have for one of their animals in an emergency situation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is bananas. OP is relaying a scary experience that we should all be aware of as pet owners in the area. Yes, a lot of us adopted pets during the pandemic. My dog was living under a truck... is it better if we don't give dogs loving homes because it's hard to find veterinary care? I'm sorry this happened to you, OP, and I hope your dog is doing ok.

No, Op is pretty explicitly criticizing the vets that couldn't care for her pet, and multiple people are explaining why her criticisms are unfounded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure the OPs story is completely accurate.

We had a potential emergency a couple weeks ago, we also live in Vienna so called Hope. They were as helpful as possible on the phone but they were at full capacity. They looked up the next closest animal hospital with space was. At that time it was as far as Woodbridge.

The Hope center would have taken us (with cat above) in any case no matter what.

Incorrect.

Ask me how I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is bananas. OP is relaying a scary experience that we should all be aware of as pet owners in the area. Yes, a lot of us adopted pets during the pandemic. My dog was living under a truck... is it better if we don't give dogs loving homes because it's hard to find veterinary care? I'm sorry this happened to you, OP, and I hope your dog is doing ok.

No, Op is pretty explicitly criticizing the vets that couldn't care for her pet, and multiple people are explaining why her criticisms are unfounded.

Look, the criticism is fair and not fair. The profession needs to fix things. This is not sustainable OR fair (to the existing vets or to the families needing care for their animals).

It's the same with doctors, dentists, etc. When you need to be seen or your child needs to be seen, you are desperate. Even understanding what is happening in the profession, it is still maddening and upsetting and sad and scary. People are probably "lashing out" but it's not b/c they don't like the vets. They want them. They NEED them. Instead of being a jerk and judging OP, maybe understand that the situation is stressful.

Like I said, until you're at the emergency vet with an animal bleeding out of her mouth, and being turned away, you may not understand how stressed and fearful you can be on behalf of your animal who, just a year ago, would have gotten in right away.

[Anonymous]

I know this is an old thread but we were promptly seen at the Metropolitan animal hospital emergency vet on Rockville Pike this evening after my dog accidentally ate a few grapes. They are allowing owners inside too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am confused about what op thinks veterinary hospitals operating at capacity are supposed to do when she shows up. Throw another emergency out the door and treat her dog?

Triage

Right. Is triage unreasonable?

1. Animals can't talk so triage is much harder.

2. They do triage as much as possible.

3. They were at capacity. So who would do this triage?

4. You do know that a concept in triage is to just let some go that can't be saved, right?

#4 is completely false. They triage the most emergent situations, especially actively dying pets as “most critical” so they are seen above anything stable. If your pet is not actively in a life threatening situation, they may turn you away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am confused about what op thinks veterinary hospitals operating at capacity are supposed to do when she shows up. Throw another emergency out the door and treat her dog?

Triage

Right. Is triage unreasonable?

1. Animals can't talk so triage is much harder.

2. They do triage as much as possible.

3. They were at capacity. So who would do this triage?

4. You do know that a concept in triage is to just let some go that can't be saved, right?

It can also be a regional area triage with a cooperative real time data system, as mentioned above. Experienced techs can do that, as RNs do this in hospitals. And yes, for many things, it is pretty clear how serious the emergency is, and, of course, for some, not as apparent. But it's a start.

What I've learned from this thread is that there is a crisis that wasn't really happening before in terms of service, but some of the endemic and specific issues have been building up, with a pandemic illuminating and exacerbating the problems. The vets are correct about a lot of things, of course, but the owner who is scared and expecting care from local ER providers as usual while not realizing what's happening really doesn't need to be raked over the coals as an entitled suburban Karen who doesn't even deserve a dog. If the veterinary community really believed that of people in her position, they wouldn't be also offering specialty services such a dog water PT, laser work for skin, ophthalmology or especially oncology. We interact entirely differently with our pets than even 20 years ago, and that is how the veterinary field grew to what it is today. It's like developments built with no infrastructure changes, like roads and schools. We are all Tricky- Woo's owner now, admittedly.* We don't realize there is a problem until it's a crisis. Over the years, we've had a few crises, and I was very frightened, which I guess is why they are called Emergency centers.

That is not to say that the vets need some understanding, our (client) realization of the situation, and compassion, not to mention kudos for hard work in a pandemic when the spotlight is in other places. More should be written about it, social media platforms associated with centers need to get the info out, pay needs to be increased, and yes, it's time to work with technology to help streamline emergency situations within a region.

Thank you for posting this <3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am confused about what op thinks veterinary hospitals operating at capacity are supposed to do when she shows up. Throw another emergency out the door and treat her dog?

Triage

Right. Is triage unreasonable?

1. Animals can't talk so triage is much harder.

2. They do triage as much as possible.

3. They were at capacity. So who would do this triage?

4. You do know that a concept in triage is to just let some go that can't be saved, right?

#4 is completely false. They triage the most emergent situations, especially actively dying pets as “most critical” so they are seen above anything stable. If your pet is not actively in a life threatening situation, they may turn you away.

DP here.

The prior PP is not wrong. People use the word loosely now, but "triage" as a term came out of disaster work with mass casualties, and the original three groups were those who will survive without intervention, those who need intervention to survive, and those who will not likely survive despite available interventions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am confused about what op thinks veterinary hospitals operating at capacity are supposed to do when she shows up. Throw another emergency out the door and treat her dog?

Triage

Right. Is triage unreasonable?

1. Animals can't talk so triage is much harder.

2. They do triage as much as possible.

3. They were at capacity. So who would do this triage?

4. You do know that a concept in triage is to just let some go that can't be saved, right?

#4 is completely false. They triage the most emergent situations, especially actively dying pets as “most critical” so they are seen above anything stable. If your pet is not actively in a life threatening situation, they may turn you away.

DP here.

The prior PP is not wrong. People use the word loosely now, but "triage" as a term came out of disaster work with mass casualties, and the original three groups were those who will survive without intervention, those who need intervention to survive, and those who will not likely survive despite available interventions.

Perhaps in mass casualty situations, yes. But this is simply not the case in emergency vet med at the moment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am confused about what op thinks veterinary hospitals operating at capacity are supposed to do when she shows up. Throw another emergency out the door and treat her dog?

Triage

Right. Is triage unreasonable?

1. Animals can't talk so triage is much harder.

2. They do triage as much as possible.

3. They were at capacity. So who would do this triage?

4. You do know that a concept in triage is to just let some go that can't be saved, right?

#4 is completely false. They triage the most emergent situations, especially actively dying pets as “most critical” so they are seen above anything stable. If your pet is not actively in a life threatening situation, they may turn you away.

DP here.

The prior PP is not wrong. People use the word loosely now, but "triage" as a term came out of disaster work with mass casualties, and the original three groups were those who will survive without intervention, those who need intervention to survive, and those who will not likely survive despite available interventions.

Perhaps in mass casualty situations, yes. But this is simply not the case in emergency vet med at the moment.

Yes my cat with breathing difficulties was seen right away and I overheard them explaining to someone who complained why they saw a cat who was having difficulty breathing first. This is common triage for emergency rooms whether for pets or humans but yes triage in a mass casualty situation would be different.

[Anonymous]

At least you could find one. I live in a city with zero emergency vets. There was one, but people gave them a hard time about the prices so they shut down. Wasn’t worth the stress. So yup, our pets just die if they can’t surivive the night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our mini Goldendoodle puppy was screaming when she squatted down to potty last night. It was so heartbreaking and we had never heard or seen her behave like that before. She would squat and try to go and scream and cry. We got so scared and we called the nearest emergency vet in Vienna, who told us she likely has bowel obstruction but that they are at full capacity and cant take her. We desperately called 4 more places only to be turned down. We drove to Hope emergency vet clinic where we were standing outside the door with our puppy and the doors were locked. We called the number indicated and were told they cannot take us.

We were a mess thinking our puppy is going to die and finally an emergency vet in Manassas said they will take a look at her if we drive over. After a 40 minute drive, we finally got her medical care.

WTF is going on. Are pets who need emergency care allowed to die?

Pender vet. Full service 24/7 actual hospital. Not just a clinic.