If you own a cat or a dog, chances are you’ve had to wait about a month to get them in for a veterinarian appointment recently.
“I have people come to me almost every day, coming from other clinics, saying that they can’t get in to see their vet for two weeks, three weeks, five weeks,” Dr. Neil Moss at Kaysville Veterinary Hospital said.
It’s not a problem unique to Utah. The U.S. is experiencing a national vet shortage, which is increasing wait times at clinics and emergency animal hospitals alike. A surge in new pet ownership also came with the COVID-19 pandemic, Moss said, which spurred greater demand in care for those animals.
This has led to frustrated Utah clients having “volatile” interactions with clinic staff, a Salt Lake City veterinarian said.
Inundated with appointments
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Walton updates the board with the day's procedures at University Veterinary Hospital and Diagnostic Center.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Walton, left, and fellow vet Dr. Shawn Bybee do simultaneous dental work on people's pets.
Across the state, vet clinics can’t find doctors and technicians to fill vacancies on their staff amid a “crisis of employment” throughout the veterinary industry. That shortage couldn’t come at a worse time.
Before 2020, owners could expect to get their pet in for an appointment the same day or the next day, said Dr. Rachel Walton at University Veterinary Hospital and Diagnostic Center, in Salt Lake City’s 9th and 9th neighborhood. But that hasn’t been the case for about two years, she said.
“I’ve been practicing at this hospital for 15 years now, and I think that when COVID started, that was definitely some of the highest demand for appointments that I have ever seen,” Walton said.
Maybe it was because people were home more during March and April 2020 and needing companionship, Walton said, but a lot of people suddenly got new pets. For a while, it wasn’t unusual for her to see five or six new puppies every day, she said, “which I can honestly say I don’t think I ever had that many brand-new puppies a day before.”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Walton checks Zilla’s ears during a routine teeth cleaning.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) “I’ve been practicing at this hospital for 15 years now, and I think that when COVID started, that was definitely some of the highest demand for appointments that I have ever seen,” Walton said.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Veterinarian tech Leslee Cassidey lays on the floor with Zilla during recovery to ensure she can swallow on her own before the endotracheal tube protecting her airway can be safely removed.
Emergency veterinary care is also inundated with appointment requests, but there’s not enough staff to provide that care, she said, making it so that many 24-hour hospitals are no longer open at all hours.
That drives more people to turn to their regular veterinarian, who is overwhelmed, and so the client in turn gets overwhelmed, “and it just kind of spirals from there,” Walton said. She reported some clients yelling at staff in person or over a phone, threatening to take their business elsewhere and posting negative reviews online, with much of the vitriol directed at clinic staff and sometimes technicians, rather than doctors.
“Fortunately, we haven’t had physical violence thus far,” Walton said.
Will it get better?
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Bybee and Walton update pet owners on their care during a busy schedule.
Utah is getting its own four-year veterinary school in 2025, which could help meet some of this demand for animal health care — in due time.
The new four-year program was approved during this year’s legislative session with the goal of increasing Utah’s “pipeline of veterinarians,” said Dr. Dirk Vanderwall, interim dean at the Utah State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
Under Utah’s current veterinary program, students spend their first and second years at USU, then their third and fourth years at Washington State University. But this new course of study will see students spend all four years in Utah, as well as more than double the class size from 30 to 80.
Accreditation for the new program is still a few years away, though, and its students won’t be ready to practice medicine amid Utah’s vet shortage until they graduate from the program. In the meantime, Walton shared a few tips for pet owners:
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Fourth year vet student Emma Lohse prepares a dog for multiple tooth extractions.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Lohse reviews an electrocardiogram readout for a cat alongside vet tech Mackenzie Leiker and Dr. Bybee.
First, establish a relationship with your veterinarian. This will make it more likely that you’ll be able to obtain urgent care for your pet when you need it, Walton said.
Second, be respectful to all veterinarian staff, not just the doctor. That includes veterinary assistants, technicians and receptionists, Walton said. “We are doing our very best to see as many patients as we can.”
Third, plan ahead. Don’t wait until the last minute if your pet will be needing vaccinations, a spay or neuter procedure, dental work, heartworm testing or other care soon, Walton said. Due diligence can help prevent emergencies down the line.
“I think that certainly will help ease some of the frustration,” she said, “if you just recognize that it may take a little bit of time to get in for some of these things.”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Dr. Megan Witzel, left, and Walton along with assistant Stacey Arntzen keep Maple calm and steady for blood draws and vaccine shots.
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