The new normal in veterinary medicine

[Anonymous]

Vet here....I am going to write this as compassionately and realistically as possible.

Your vet's office is slammed. More pets. Decreased number of vets because many older ones retired during the pandemic. Some offices closed entirely. Decreased staffing - huge shortage of veterinary technicians and assistants. Increased negativity from clients. Corporate ownership of many practices, so the vet has NO CONTROL over prices. Vets leaving the field because of dissatisfaction. Crippling educational debt (often over 120K). High suicide rates. Long waits for annual exam appointments - sometimes 4 weeks or more. Sick visits are often scheduled only that morning - just like at your doctors office - or you may be sent to an ER/Urgent care facility.

These are the facts. The new normal. You cannot just walk in an expect to be seen. You cannot call and expect them to fit you in around your schedule. Those days are gone. When I walk into work every day, my schedule is booked from start to finish and I have to be very creative to squeeze in the extras that I know need to be seen. I have not taken an actual lunch break in years. I eat at my desk between appointments - if I get to eat.

So, when people complain about prices or not being able to be seen, this is why.

Your vet's office is working their tails off. Have some compassion and appreciate them.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for posting this. We have a close family friend who is a veterinarian and committed suicide, so it hits close to home.

What I have learned is to figure out which animal hospitals are the best/closest (maybe ask your vet) and get same day/emergency care there.

Thanks for all you do, OP. It’s a calling to care for animals. An expensive and thankless calling. But we’d be lost without you.

[Anonymous]

I have much sympathy and respect for vets and the staff. I would never complain to be rude to them. But privately, I am dismayed and shocked at the high prices and an availability when my pet is sick.

From a customer and client point of view, it’s very difficult and hard to watch your pet wait several days to be seen when they are sick at that moment. Twice now we’ve had to call around to new vets to see if we could be seen immediately because our lovely, overworked, and very busy veterinarian can’t fit them in.

[Anonymous]

Are there any statistics out there on how many vets retired and how many clinics closed since covid?

[Anonymous]

I think you can control basic visit fees. My last vet (we moved far away) charged $65 per visit and then increased it to $75 which is a huge difference, especially when a visit is for a shot and lasts all of 5 minutes and the vet doesn't even deal with the pet, it's a technician.

[Anonymous]

Thank you Vet. I'd heard of this new normal, and I'm sorry to hear there is no relief in sight.

Hang in there!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you can control basic visit fees. My last vet (we moved far away) charged $65 per visit and then increased it to $75 which is a huge difference, especially when a visit is for a shot and lasts all of 5 minutes and the vet doesn't even deal with the pet, it's a technician.

Huh? NP here but how can they control this? This is like saying the cashier at Safeway can control the price of the milk you're buying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you can control basic visit fees. My last vet (we moved far away) charged $65 per visit and then increased it to $75 which is a huge difference, especially when a visit is for a shot and lasts all of 5 minutes and the vet doesn't even deal with the pet, it's a technician.

Huh?
The price of literally EVERYTHING has gone up. That increase is very very reasonable.

[Anonymous]

How can you tell if a veterinary practice is privately owned or corporately owned?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How can you tell if a veterinary practice is privately owned or corporately owned?

Ask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vet here....I am going to write this as compassionately and realistically as possible.

Your vet's office is slammed. More pets. Decreased number of vets because many older ones retired during the pandemic. Some offices closed entirely. Decreased staffing - huge shortage of veterinary technicians and assistants. Increased negativity from clients. Corporate ownership of many practices, so the vet has NO CONTROL over prices. Vets leaving the field because of dissatisfaction. Crippling educational debt (often over 120K). High suicide rates. Long waits for annual exam appointments - sometimes 4 weeks or more. Sick visits are often scheduled only that morning - just like at your doctors office - or you may be sent to an ER/Urgent care facility.

These are the facts. The new normal. You cannot just walk in an expect to be seen. You cannot call and expect them to fit you in around your schedule. Those days are gone. When I walk into work every day, my schedule is booked from start to finish and I have to be very creative to squeeze in the extras that I know need to be seen. I have not taken an actual lunch break in years. I eat at my desk between appointments - if I get to eat.

So, when people complain about prices or not being able to be seen, this is why.

Your vet's office is working their tails off. Have some compassion and appreciate them.

my daughter had outstanding GPS from a science program at Virginia Tech. She was rejected 2 years in a row from 5 different Vet schools.

You get no sympathy. You and your ilk created this issue by limiting the number of Vets

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can you tell if a veterinary practice is privately owned or corporately owned?

Ask.

Sorry, that was an incredibly obvious question. I think my question is what are the names of a few large veterinary practices so that I can know those names when I call and ask or look on the website.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vet here....I am going to write this as compassionately and realistically as possible.

Your vet's office is slammed. More pets. Decreased number of vets because many older ones retired during the pandemic. Some offices closed entirely. Decreased staffing - huge shortage of veterinary technicians and assistants. Increased negativity from clients. Corporate ownership of many practices, so the vet has NO CONTROL over prices. Vets leaving the field because of dissatisfaction. Crippling educational debt (often over 120K). High suicide rates. Long waits for annual exam appointments - sometimes 4 weeks or more. Sick visits are often scheduled only that morning - just like at your doctors office - or you may be sent to an ER/Urgent care facility.

These are the facts. The new normal. You cannot just walk in an expect to be seen. You cannot call and expect them to fit you in around your schedule. Those days are gone. When I walk into work every day, my schedule is booked from start to finish and I have to be very creative to squeeze in the extras that I know need to be seen. I have not taken an actual lunch break in years. I eat at my desk between appointments - if I get to eat.

So, when people complain about prices or not being able to be seen, this is why.

Your vet's office is working their tails off. Have some compassion and appreciate them.

my daughter had outstanding GPS from a science program at Virginia Tech. She was rejected 2 years in a row from 5 different Vet schools.

You get no sympathy. You and your ilk created this issue by limiting the number of Vets

OP does not get to decide this - she or he is not on the board of a Vet School.

Also, you really want to attack someone who just told you they work in a profession with high rates of suicide?

Shame on you. You're really nasty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you can control basic visit fees. My last vet (we moved far away) charged $65 per visit and then increased it to $75 which is a huge difference, especially when a visit is for a shot and lasts all of 5 minutes and the vet doesn't even deal with the pet, it's a technician.

Op here. No I cannot control the price of an office visit. That is set by the management. Not the vet.

And as far as the client who said they have had to call around twice to find a place open to see their pet - we have sick visits set aside every day for our clients. New clients need to possibly wait, but we try. We just cannot do it all. We offer dropoffs , fit in appointments, etc. We are doing all we can.

And you have called around twice. I have called emergency facilities hundreds of times during this pandemic to see my critical patients. It takes a toll on all of us.

Trust me. Your vet is not rolling in the dough and eating bonbons. If they are making a lot of money it is because they have earned it.

[Anonymous]

It's a broken industry. I don't blame individual vets -- we always have good experiences with our vets. But I think we need to rethink veterinary medicine and also pet ownership. Neither need be as complicated as they are now.