People Scramble to Find Veterinary Care for their Pets

Many people are finding that getting their pet an appointment for veterinary care is pretty challenging these days, especially if it’s an emergency and they aren’t established with a clinic. A recent article in the Atlantic cited a family who had just moved to Cleveland and noticed necrotic tissue on their cat. They had to call around 50 clinics before they found one who was able to get them in. Additionally, the article states: “Veterinary medicine has dealt with staffing problems for years, but the pandemic made everything worse. After COVID hit, demand for vet appointments went up—for newly adopted pets and for older pets in whom owners observed new health issues after being at home all day. COVID precautions like curbside service also meant offices [had to allocate more time to clean and manage said curbside service, much of which we are still doing]. Everything just took longer.”

Even our Colorado Springs emergency clinics are so backed up that it can take hours for anything that’s not life-threatening to be seen, even if your pet is in pain. The reality is that there are not enough veterinarians and staff to take care of all our companion animals these days, and this is across all sectors from horses to rabbits, lizards, snakes and turtles to dogs and cats!

You can read the whole article from the Atlantic that details WHY there are fewer openings available for veterinary clinics to get your pet an appointment including staff shortages, burnout, high suicide rates, lower pay than human medicine (which is also experiencing huge staffing issues) and more. However, the point is that we are doing our best to get your pet seen, and we offer a far shorter wait than your own doctor’s office likely will.

Our team continues to learn so that we can share the latest information with you. We also still are adapting to rapidly changing circumstances to give you the safest and best experience possible.

That said, an article from the American Veterinary Medical Association about the shortage of equine vets inspired the following list. We hope you will consider kindness first and help us to help you:

1. Our Client Care Specialists, who you reach when you call Pikes Peak Vet, are not trying to stress you out and make your day worse when they tell you that we are fully booked. They are letting you know that it may take a little time and understanding on both sides to find a time in which we can appropriately see your pet.
2. Please honor your veterinarian’s personal time by realizing that if you call with an emergency in the afternoon, staff may already be leaving for the day and we are usually still triaging challenging appointments from the morning, so we may have to try to get you in the next day or ask you to try one of the emergency clinics. This is not our preference, but sometimes it’s all we can do.
3. Make sure you have all of your paperwork filled out and you are on time for your appointments. We will do our best to get you in as close to your appointment time as possible, but may be working with critical patients with unexpected needs. I have personally waited over an hour to see my personal doctor for an annual appointment that was scheduled months in advance because she was tending to patients who had been hospitalized and were needing critical follow-ups. It’s rare that you will wait that long to be seen and we can try to reschedule you if the wait does not fit your needs that day.
4. Be receptive to seeing any veterinarian at our practice who is available and is not your regular vet. This is standard practice in human medicine. At Pikes Peak Vet, due to space limitations and personal needs, most of our veterinarians do not work more than two to three days a week and therefore are not available on demand.
5. Use the same veterinary clinic for emergencies as you do for routine work. Many clinics are not taking new clients at all and also will not see nonclients with an emergency because they only have enough staff to serve existing clients.
6. This also brings up the point that you should get your pet seen for regular exams before they have an issue. Once you are established with the practice and, heaven forbid, something does happen, the clinic will have a relationship with your and your pet and can get you in more easily than if you are a nonclient.
7. Welcome and encourage the young/new veterinarians who are seeing cases at our practice. Pikes Peak Vet, along with many others, has worked hard to recruit them and provide a supportive environment to make them feel appreciated. We hope you will do the same.
8. Acknowledge how much you value the partnership with your veterinarian and the office. A smile and a thank you go a long way. If your vet is late because they were held at an emergency, try to remember how hard they are working for someone else and that it could be your pet in the future.

From the veterinarians and staff at Pikes Peak Vet, we truly do this work because we care deeply about you and your pet. We want to be there for you and want you to continue to place your trust and faith in us! Thank you.