Veterinary Medicine: Happy One Year Pandemic Anniversary
Excited to watch Arlo and Koda grow up together.
It has been one year since COVID-19 made headlines, and our local community started to feel the effects of a global pandemic and public health crisis. Words like “unprecedented”, “social distancing”, and “return to normalcy” became more widely used than ever before. Every social and business sector has been affected, and in that regard, veterinary medicine is like all the rest. However, there have been some unexpected challenges that we have encountered, and a few that we expect to encounter soon.
The Great Puppy and Kitten Boom of 2020
By now many of you have heard of pandemic puppies and pandemic kittens. We certainly assumed it might be the case that with more time spent at home, people would suddenly find themselves in the perfect situation to add a pet to the family. What we could have never predicted was the sheer number of new pets being adopted, many to new pet owners. Veterinary clinics across the country, and locally in Manitoba, have felt the effects of The Great Puppy and Kitten Boom as new clients are calling daily to find a forever veterinarian for their new forever friend.
An Unprecedented Increase in Demand
With pet owners spending more time at home with their pets, and in some cases becoming more active with their pets, we have also noticed that our clients are developing a keen eye when it comes to pet health and wellness. They are noticing subtle changes in their pet’s health and behaviour, and they are reaching out to book an appointment. This is wonderful, and we are so impressed by their attention to detail. Yet we can’t help but notice how this also affects the increased demand for veterinary care on a daily basis. This not only translates into a full appointment schedule that can cause a longer wait time for routine appointments, but also an increase in the amount of same-day urgent appointments and emergencies.
Curbside Service without Feeling Like a Drive-Thru
We are veterinarians, but we are also family doctors. We appreciate how the human-animal bond improves the lives of both the pet and our client. It has now been a year of delivering our care via curbside appointments, and I can assure you that we miss seeing our clients in person. We miss catching up on how their family is doing, and we miss seeing our patients interact with their family too. Curbside veterinary care has been a necessary change to ensure that our team can stay as healthy and protected as possible, so that we are always available for our clients and their pets. We are always doing our best to make our clients feel like they were right there in the appointment, whether it’s with photos, videos, or sometimes a description of how their dog performed all of their tricks for a treat. We look forward to the day when we can reminisce about this bizarre time, and we can do so without masks or a hesitation for a handshake or a hug.
Veterinarian Shortages, Stress and Overwork – Our Very Own Pandemic
Let’s talk statistics. The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association estimates that there are 12,000 veterinarians practicing in Canada. By comparison, the Canadian Institute for Health Information estimates that there are 91,375 physicians (human doctors) in Canada. This means that we can assume a potential patient pool of 412 people per physician based on Canada’s current population of 37.7 million. If we apply the same math to the veterinary pool, we have 3,141 people (potential clients) per one veterinarian. Granted, not every person has a pet, however those who do will often have multiple pets. All theoretical math aside, we are facing a veterinary shortage during a time when demand for veterinary care has never been so high. Veterinarians and veterinary staff are facing stress, overwork and burnout faster than ever before. This. This right here is what we have been working so hard to prevent at our clinic. I am so proud to share with you that we are succeeding, and will never stop trying to improve in this area.
What Lies Ahead?
We have learned many things over this past year, but we have especially learned to be resilient, innovative, and kind to one another and to ourselves. Our traditional busy time is just around the corner with the spring rush bringing heartworm and tick prevention, vaccinations, new pet spays and neuters, and everything else that you can’t predict. But for the things that we CAN predict, we have taken steps to ensure that our clients and our team will get the care they need and deserve.
We are asking our clients to book well in advance for routine appointments and surgeries such as wellness exams, vaccinations, spays and neuters. We are preparing to launch our new Central Vet website that has incredible online registration forms so that we can collect valuable information about your pet’s health in advance of your appointment. Our veterinarians’ schedules are also changing to be more predictable (ie: easier to book follow-ups) and to include more flexibility for urgent and same-day appointments. And of course, we are constantly checking in with our team to make sure that we uphold the utmost in workplace wellness and self-care.
Recognizing that this is a team effort also means that we are asking our clients to do a few things so that they can “help us help you.” This includes completing online history forms and reviewing important information such as heartworm prevention options in advance of the appointment time. We also ask that our clients call us when they have an urgent concern so that we can triage their pet’s urgency right away. This also means understanding the different types of appointments we may recommend whether it is a Critical Care curbside appointment, or a drop-off appointment. We are asking them to be understanding of our recommendation as it comes from a place of wanting to provide your pet with the best care possible.
Moving Forward Together
If I were to use all of the previously mentioned key pandemic vocabulary to sum up the year in one sentence, it would be as follows: This has been an unprecedented year in which social distancing and public health orders have us longing for a return to normalcy. This applies to the veterinary world but also to our everyday lives. At one year into the pandemic we find ourselves thankful for many things, including a trusted profession, supportive clientele and a family of coworkers that hold each other up and cultivates resilience.
I sincerely hope that we do not need to “celebrate” a 2 year pandemic anniversary. But if we do, I am confident we will be better and stronger for the lessons we have learned. But better yet, let’s hope to celebrate together once we are reunited with our former “normal.”
Pearl, my full time assistant and Tiny Vet Chronicles Editor
