We are open from 8 am to 8 pm Mon through Thurs. On a typical day, I'll pick yesterday as an example, I see about 11 appointments in 30 minute slots and then as many emergencies as call and need to be seen. Yesterday 3 vets, all working a 12 hour shift, saw 17 emergency same day fit-ins.
At 745pm a 9 year old up to date on its annual exam and vaccines presented for an acute onset of lethargy, inactivity and inappetance. Within 1 minute of the physical exam my gut told me this dog was in trouble. It is the gut feeling that you get with experience. I spoke to the owner. I had to have a quick, frank, troubling conversation without any diagnostics to lean on.
"I am worried about your pup. We are dehydrated, the gum color is mucky, and our belly looks distended and is painful. I think you need to go to the ER." She shook her head in agreeance.
"I just knew something wasn't right." She replied.
"Ok, I am going to go make some calls."
I called the two local ER's both are about 30 mins from the clinic.
In the days of the ER's opening and inception the primary objective was to honor the referrals of the local general practices. We were the bread and butter of their business model. There was an understanding that if we referred it meant these cases took priority and needed to be there. The acute episodes of milder emergencies would be deferred, or wait. Last night when I called to transfer both places refused to take the case.
I called both of them the next day to try to understand.
I was given very different answers, neither I expected, from the veterinarians who are the medical directors.
The first ER told me that when they say they are full they are full. Hard stop. She did add the perfunctory exception. "We always take the euthanasia's. We don't want to make them wait." Now, it might sound like an act of basic compassion, and in some cases it is, but, it is the easiest money a veterinarian makes. If you cannot make room for patients that are trying to live but dying, versus the dying and can't afford other, then I am skeptical. Disturbed. Irritated. Do I understand the reality of over extending and over burdening an engine? Hell, yeah! There are times where I know I cannot add one more case to the day without repercussions. There are moments that I want to run screaming from the building, ripping my scrubs from my body to be thrown in the trash as some last desperate act of freedom. But, then I remember who I am and why I worked so hard to get here. And, so it remains that many of our emergency patients won't, can't, refuse to go elsewhere.
The other provided an apology. "We always take veterinary referrals. It is our first obligation." Well, thank you. Thank you very much. I reiterated that I would only send them on after we were unable to provide care. I also promised to go over expected costs and scenarios so the pet parents wouldn't be caught off guard. There is a painful reality to being sent elsewhere with a potentially dying pet and then being given the news that you cannot afford to be here. You have no options and the vet that you knew and felt you could trust has been responsible for it.
The subject of emergency care at our general vet practice is a harried history so long that it bears context and consequence to discuss it.
Jarrettsville Vet has been around for over 80 years. A long, long, long time. Over that time we have been the place for all things animal related. We have seen the transition from farm animals as our primary patients to dogs and cats that are now provided every luxury a human has. We have grown from a clinic with 2 exam rooms renovated from a single story home, to an 8 exam room facility open 7 days a week. We have done (almost) every surgery imaginable. Open chest, transfusions, horrible accidents, wounds, and cruelty. We have worn every hat from every specialty because we had to. We can transform from a bleached, pressed, white coat to a trauma center in seconds. We are still the people of the place this has always been. A rural, humble, practice built upon longevity and honesty.
We, the team at JVC, has learned together that there isn't much we cannot do. We are never alone in our cases and we never abandon each other. Maybe that is the marrow of a legacy that 80 years grants you? Maybe it is just the collective fabric of a group that has always understood their place, their importance, and the legacy that time and dedication grants you.
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