Vets, emergencies, and animal poison control
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Anonymous
| I understand demand due to pandemic puppies has shot up while the supply of staff and new doctors has not kept pace or even decreased. Do those in the know think this will ever resolve? It’s really unnerving to have a puppy who ate something potentially dangerous and be told by emergency (the second one—as the first one went out of business!!) not to bother coming in the door until talking to poison control (while we were on hold with poison control for over 45 minutes—I finally called a second poison control number and thankfully they didn’t think it would be a problem at the dose level). The ASPCA number says they were trying to hire and train people as quickly as possible. It’s not the first time we’ve needed emergency care and likely won’t be the last with a puppy. I know specialists and even regular vets are in short supply too. We are lucky in that we can usually get in to ours and they have longer than normal hours and emergency options, but after hours you’re basically screwed if something requires immediate care. Is this just a sign of the times? |
Anonymous
| The part where animal poison control had you on hold for 45 minutes may very well be covid related - but the local emergency rooms telling you to call poison control before coming in is not. If you do show up at the emergency animal hospital with a pet that ate something, they're going to have you call animal poison control from there too - they outsource all those kinds of inquiries. They're trying to save you having to pay for the emergency visit where you literally sit in a room and dial a phone number. |
Anonymous
| After hours you go to SouthPaws or another 24 hour ER. |
Anonymous
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Vet of 17 years here. Emergency clinics would be less slammed if people could keep their puppies out of their medicine and inappropriate foods. Also pick your socks and underwear off the floor and get a heavy trash can with a lid. Don't leave sanitary products in the bathroom trashcan. Foreign body surgeries take a long time.
Basically, lots of stuff seen in the ER is preventable. Spread the word. There isn't a shortage of vets per se there is an extremely high demand for services. It goes beyond just the Covid puppies. (Loads of them are getting returned to the shelters now anyway.) People are just very keen right now on treating their pets. I guess they were just ignoring things before and hoping for the best IDK. As far as if they will be able to staff up soon-- not sure if that's going to happen. The word is getting out of how stressful the profession is. And the demanding, entitled, unappreciative clients are getting more common and vocal. And the pay isn't going up proportionately while vet school tuition is. (Yes yes I know if I really loved animals I would do it for free blah blah blah) |
Anonymous
OP here and I hear you about the socks etc. The little buggers are fast and my kids are forgetful! I hope our minor freakout (he’s ok fortunately!!) gets our kids taking it more seriously now, and it’s a wake up call to me that he isn’t ready for freedom without limits and our house doesn’t have enough limits in place. I already ordered a baby gate for the stairs leading to our basement where all the kids’ crap is…lol. Our issue last night was almost entirely mom and dad’s fault, though. The day before our two week vacation (pup accommodated us!) my husband noticed ants in the kids’ bathroom in the basement. Put an ant bait down to avoid returning to an infestation since we didn’t have time for pest control to come out, instantly forgot about it. It was the kind where the bait is contained inside but it was possible he got a little out. The bathrooms are supposed to be closed but our kids (and dad) have trouble remembering since it’s been a few years since we had a dog and we just aren’t accustomed to it yet (6 mo puppy!). He also has been either crated or tethered to one of us until recently and at 6 months is pushing his boundaries like adolescents do. A friend of mine is a vet and she has quite some stories. Vet care is expensive, sure, but it’s not unexpected at all! Can’t afford it, don’t get a pet! I suspect the rude customers are just more of the entitled, disrespectful behavior trends you see elsewhere like in airports, restaurants, etc.  Our favorite vet has definitely had trouble keeping their vets on staff even before the pandemic. I think some have moved to lower COL areas or to practices with fewer hours. I appreciate your perspective as a reminder to everyone to treat everyone with respect, though (and that many pet emergencies are preventable!!).
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Anonymous
Yes, we love Southpaws and have had many good experiences with their specialist and emergency care (we had two very very senior dogs in our care for a number of years). Our mistake was thinking the VCA closer to us was open 24 hours (they have emergency but not 24/7; apparently they also closed earlier than their posted time of 8 pm!). We know now and won’t make that mistake again. I also didn’t realize before this that vets want you to call poison control first before seeing your dog, but it does make sense. I was just really disappointed by the long hold time. I actually never even got through to the ASPCA one and after 30 minutes holding ended up finding another one who picked up within a few minutes. They were very helpful and responsive in case you ever need someone else to call (Poison Helpline). |