Last night every emergency vet hospital closed their doors on us

[Anonymous]

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?

[Anonymous]

I'm really sorry for what you went through.

It's a very tough time for veterinary practices right now. This thread might give you some insight:
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/989276.page

[Anonymous]

If they are full, they are full. It's no different that a hospital ICU at capacity because of COVID, who can't take someone who gets in a car crash. If you don't have enough vets and enough staff and enough ORs and beds, you don't have them.

[Anonymous]

So many people got dogs during pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Vets and their stadd are committing suicide or leaving their profession due to overwhelming stress because:
1. People took on more pets en masse during the pandemic, but there aren't more vets;
2. Vets were already stressed before the pandemic because there aren't enough schools to produce enough graduates and
3. The take-overs by large corporations pressure vet practices to see more patients in less time for sometimes less pay or in difficult medical conditions with fewer supporting staff.

So yes, sometimes it ends up leading to terrible situations like yours.

How is your dog?

[Anonymous]

You had to make 5 calls and drive 40 minutes. Big freaking deal.

[Anonymous]

It's an awful situation. Even though it's awful, they can't care for more patients than they can care for, and if they were maxed, they were maxed.

OP, if they had admitted your dog, would you have been okay if they left your dog to take an unnoticed turn for the worse and die in the corner, just so they could keep seeing more emergencies that kept coming through the door? Would you have said "oh, well," or would you have argued that they had first responsibility to the animals already under their care?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's an awful situation. Even though it's awful, they can't care for more patients than they can care for, and if they were maxed, they were maxed.

OP, if they had admitted your dog, would you have been okay if they left your dog to take an unnoticed turn for the worse and die in the corner, just so they could keep seeing more emergencies that kept coming through the door? Would you have said "oh, well," or would you have argued that they had first responsibility to the animals already under their care?

I don’t understand what that means. Why can’t a vet come provide emergency care for a puppy? It’s an emergency

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's an awful situation. Even though it's awful, they can't care for more patients than they can care for, and if they were maxed, they were maxed.

OP, if they had admitted your dog, would you have been okay if they left your dog to take an unnoticed turn for the worse and die in the corner, just so they could keep seeing more emergencies that kept coming through the door? Would you have said "oh, well," or would you have argued that they had first responsibility to the animals already under their care?

I don’t understand what that means. Why can’t a vet come provide emergency care for a puppy? It’s an emergency

Because every vet on staff is already treating a different puppy with an emergency. What do you want them to do? Let someone else's puppy die instead of yours?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's an awful situation. Even though it's awful, they can't care for more patients than they can care for, and if they were maxed, they were maxed.

OP, if they had admitted your dog, would you have been okay if they left your dog to take an unnoticed turn for the worse and die in the corner, just so they could keep seeing more emergencies that kept coming through the door? Would you have said "oh, well," or would you have argued that they had first responsibility to the animals already under their care?

I don’t understand what that means. Why can’t a vet come provide emergency care for a puppy? It’s an emergency

Yes, you do understand.

You just don’t want to.

And in times of pandemic, think that this might happen to you, in a human hospital, if we can’t get dangerous variants under control. It has happened elsewhere in the world already.

There are only so many medics to go round.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's an awful situation. Even though it's awful, they can't care for more patients than they can care for, and if they were maxed, they were maxed.

OP, if they had admitted your dog, would you have been okay if they left your dog to take an unnoticed turn for the worse and die in the corner, just so they could keep seeing more emergencies that kept coming through the door? Would you have said "oh, well," or would you have argued that they had first responsibility to the animals already under their care?

I don’t understand what that means. Why can’t a vet come provide emergency care for a puppy? It’s an emergency

Yes, you do understand.

You just don’t want to.

And in times of pandemic, think that this might happen to you, in a human hospital, if we can’t get dangerous variants under control. It has happened elsewhere in the world already.

There are only so many medics to go round.

This happened to human relatives in India. It may happen here someday too, if we keep behaving as though masking and vaxxing are political and we keep destroying the climate. It sounds awful, OP, I'm sorry. But yeah, you all went and got dogs during the pandemic. Doesn't seem like the best idea.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Is your dog ok now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is your dog ok now?

Op here. Yes she is ok now, thank you for asking. We are so grateful for the vets in Manassas who let us in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is your dog ok now?

Op here. Yes she is ok now, thank you for asking. We are so grateful for the vets in Manassas who let us in.

Did she end up with a bowel obstruction or was it something else?