The virus has changed the working lives of vets
Our working lives as companion animal vets have changed significantly over the past month. We are normally very handson and social, working closely with people and their pets. We just can’t do work in the same way any more: all vets across Ireland, and indeed across the world, have had to take steps to minimise any risk of the transfer of viral infection between humans. And that means that we have had to start doing our business in a different way to normal. Vets across the country have been instructed to do this, to play our role in dealing with this crisis.
Fortunately, vets have been classified as essential workers.
Our culture recognises is that animal health is not a luxury: it’s a necessity. Animals are a key part of our society, and they need to be looked after. So our staff are coming to work as normal, sometimes being stopped at checkpoints to show the documentation that confirms that they are working at a vet clinic.
Our day to day work as a veterinary team now has four main parts.
First, telemedicine. We have always discussed cases with pet owners over the phone as part of our usual work, just checking that all is going well, and going over questions that they may have. But now, we are doing more work remotely than ever before. While there are some cases that obviously need to be rushed to the vet at once (e.g. an animal having a seizure), there are many others where it isn’t clear at first that they need to be seen urgently. So we have an initial telephone or video consult with the owner, discussing the signs of illness in detail. And using video apps, we are now able to see the animal for ourselves. It isn’t nearly the same as physically examining an animal, but it’s useful for triage i.e. working out whether the animal needs to come to us for treatment.
So these days, we spend a couple of hours every day on the telephone or smart phone app (we use one called Whereby). This significantly reduces the number of people who have to leave their homes to bring their pets to see us.
Second, we still spend around six hours a day physically examining animals in person. We have a socially distant method of doing this: the owner stays in their car, phones our reception when they arrive, and the vet then talks to them on the phone, writing down comprehensive details of the pet’s problem. The vet then comes out to the car – with mask, apron and gloves – and brings the pet into our clinic. Our team of nurses then helps us to physically examine the animal, carry out any tests that are necessary (such as blood and urine samples, x-rays, and ultrasound scans). This usually leads to a diagnosis, and treatment is then given. Some animals need to be hospitalised in the clinic for surgery and other treatments, perhaps staying for a few days. Most animals are sent home after the diagnosis has been made, being returned to their owner in the car park along with the necessary medication.
The process of handling animals in this way is far more time consuming than normal: we are probably only seeing a third as many animals as usual, but we are still kept busy because it is takes so long to go through those processes of talking on the phone, going out to get pets then delivering them back again. The main thing is that it’s safe to work like this: safe for animals and safe for their human owners.
Euthanasias are an exception to the general rule: for us, it’s so important that owners are with their pets at the end that we take special steps to allow this to happen, with everyone wearing personal protective equipment. This is a stressful time for everyone, made more complicated by COVID-19.
Third, as well as the handson treatment of sick animals, our clinic needs to continue to provide retail products to our patients. Just like humans, many animals are on long term medication that’s essential to their ongoing good health. And many others are on specific types of pet food that they need every day. We have arranged a socially distant way to allow people to collect and pay for these products: again, they stay in their car, paying over the phone, and the medications and food are delivered to them.
The fourth part of our working day involves the in-clinic day to day stuff. People don’t think about vets doing extra tasks like this, but it’s always been a critical part of our daily workload. Stock needs to be ordered, staff need to be managed, the building needs to be maintained, and there are many other daily tasks. And we need to spend time reading textbooks about new and interesting ways of treating pets with different conditions. As a vet, it’s a constant challenge to keep fully up to date. It’s enjoyable doing this type of study, but it’s still a necessary daily task that we need to keep up with. And in this crisis, it’s one of the few that has not changed in our daily lives.
So we are all missing the old style of practice: chatting to owners, and petting the animals. All of this precautionary stuff is so distracting, and it dominates our lives.
We need to remember that in a year or so, we will look back and say “that was a challenging and difficult time”. And today we all need to congratulate ourselves because, given that it is such a challenging and difficult time, aren’t we all doing well?