Urgent

Times are changing in vet med, especially in our locale. Vets are being over run with routine needs by their existing clients and it can take weeks even months to get in. ERs are similarly making clients wait for hours then sometimes turning clients away after that for pets that “aren’t sick enough”

And staff is frazzled helping people who are not always on their best behavior. Hospitals can’t find enough vets to help as employees or even extra occasional help so that the regular vets can get some time off

One can see the avalanche approaching

The Urgent Care veterinary hospital service niche has come! Noble Vet started this Jan 1, 2023

No more appointments. Emergencies, the in between not quite regular care and a hospitalized ICU type case is now being cared for by us. In some ways I think my entire career of 28 years has prepared me for this as well as my mentality. Of course the staffs capability is a absolute requirement for this

We are fitting in our regular clients for routine needs, just not taking new clients and have cut out most basic time and staff energy consuming efforts like a nail trim just for nail trims sake (you’d be amazed how many people that takes sometimes or chemical restraint or …)

Clients are greatly appreciative rather than aggravated that they had to wait. Our average wait time for all is 20 minutes. Yes, we timed it. Heartbreakingly one of the top reasons patients come see us is that the regular vet who has seen a pet for their entire lives can’t euthanize them in a timely manner – we ALWAYS take them in when the time has come to end things, put pets and their caretakers at peace. Just yesterday a new client with an older ill kitty said that the internet was scaring them and their regular doctor gave them an appointment a week away and they just knew the patient wasn’t going to live that long (!)

So people have to figure out ways to obtain this level of care, search a little, it’s gratifying that regular hospitals and ERs are starting to refer clients to us – a collegial move in the best interest of the pets and not competitive. In turn we send the pets back to their regular doctors for regular care and won’t take them on for routine care if we started seeming them for Urgent Care

We provide better, faster, more reasonable care than the Emergency Room – Guaranteed!

#Noblevet #Urgentcare #Emergency

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Sheep

Then there was the time I decided I was going to become a large animal Dr.

My buddy/client/contractor has a herd of sheep, one of whom had a medical problem. Usually this kind of thing is handled by an ambulatory/mobile veterinarian who comes to your barn or ranch. The ones he contacted were not interested. Too small an issue, too far to travel, would prefer to “turn and burn” (huh?) or taking care of a sickly family member. He was told to take it to the vet school and not to delay treatment.

I get the urgent text – scenario and pictures. My advice is replied to “can i learn how to do that on You Tube?” Maybe I should get involved. Negotiations start on timing – bring the sheep to the clinic for $X or I’ll come there (over an hour away) for $Y but it might not be for a day or two. He says he’ll find someone to bring it by. Not.

So that same night I’m on my way out, after a heck of a week and final day. I text ahead “have the sheep ready at X o’clock.” I certainly am not intending to chase sheep or have him figure out which one it is when I get there.

My anticipation was well warranted. He’s a bit tipsy, says we are having steaks first. I’m a bit concerned as daylight is fading but he waves me off, light will not be a factor. We have a lovely dinner with his wife (it’s their usual date night) and one year old. Finally time to go get sheep. It’s darkish but the arena is lit.

Find a paddock with 3 new alpacas and 3 lambs. One of the 5 girl lambs has the problem. All 5 were in there before my arrival it is reported. The darn alpacas let them out, apparently. One can see where I am going with this. None of the three have the medical condition I was summoned for. I knew, just knew we should have started the vet stuff when I got there and earned our dinner.

I get to return to the house to watch the playoff game while our “farmer” goes out on the ATV to catch the/more sheep. Ultimately he returns dejected – not gonna happen that night. He (and I) are very frustrated. He is getting out of the sheep business.

New plan is hatched – I end up sleeping on the sofa bed. In the 5 o’clock hour we are up and I think good to go. “Give me 15 minutes” apparently a decent hangover is causing some troubles. 2 hours later we still haven’t budged.

Finally he takes off on the ATV having yelled something unintelligible to me in the house – obviously he is going to round up sheep. Do I join? Come down in 15 minutes? Where? Wait for him to call/text? The Mrs says just wait it out, what’ll happen will happen. More delay. He returns looking for his phone which naturally can’t be found.

Finally 15 sheep are in the paddock. None still can be identified as having the medical problem established. It self corrected! (apparently that is a thing with this particular issue)

Sigh. I get a steak dinner out of it and some ground beef from one of the cows he raised. We are not talking further compensation til he’s “done being dead” some other time. Promises he will not drink again for a month. I intend to hold him to that.

Maybe this is why people are having a hard time getting vets to come out to look at their livestock?

CS

Quote of the Day

“My dog doesn’t like men, he gets upset when my husband gets friendly with me”

This is such an interesting concept on so many levels. I often get the “dog hates men” deal which I used to take as a personal challenge then realized I didn’t have to address it at all as I worked with 5 other veterinarians, all female. Let them deal with the unhappy dog.

The reality is that dogs are likely poorly socialized to “men” at an early age – whether it is a dominant large tall deep voiced individual or simply someone different than the woman/child who they got to know. I do agree that a bad experience with a person who mistreated them can have last effects (“the dog was abused”) but it makes more sense to me that they recognize as ok that which they experience and especially at a young age.

It feels like a bit of a disservice, socially, what we do with our dogs when we keep them to ourselves while getting their vaccines. Until 4 months old. They should get out there around all kinds of people and vaccinated healthy dogs.

Which brings us back to the client with the amorous husband. I don’t think that “man hating” really had to do with men (or me) at all. This was more of a dysfunctional triangle where the top resource (her) was being competed for by husband and dog.

CS