Going to the vet no routine visit during pandemic
Dr. Suzanne Magruder remembers when veterinary visits were a simple process.
In pre-pandemic days, patients (and their human owners) would come to Saybrook Veterinary Hospital, walk inside and wait to see a vet. But according to Magruder, who owns the Old Saybrook hospital, veterinary visits are far more complicated amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Really, the big difference is that the humans can’t come into the hospital with their animals,” said Magruder, 51, who lives in Essex. “Now, the client comes to the parking lot and calls us. We come out and leash the dogs with our own plastic leash for cleanliness. We bring them into the building and examine them. We do vaccines, testing and whatever else is needed. Then we call the clients again and go over findings.”
Once all the work is done, the receptionist calls the pet’s owner, takes payment over the phone and the animal is led back to the owner.
It’s exhausting, Magruder said. And it takes forever.
“(Before the pandemic) we set up half-hour appointments, and we usually didn’t even need that long,” she said. “Now an appointment takes at least 45 minutes.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed nearly every aspect of American life, and that includes veterinary medicine. Doctors said they have no person-toperson contact with the owners of their clients. Like other health care professionals, they have to wear protective gear, including masks and gowns.
There are also heartbreaking stories of delivering bad news about a pet’s illness over the phone instead of in person, or of pets euthanized in special outdoor areas so owners can at least be present for their loved one’s final moments.
“Definitely of the day-today things that have changed, the biggest is the lack of contact with clients,” said Ryland Edwards, president of the Connecticut Veterinary Medical Association. “A lot of our members are ‘people people’ — they love the animals, but they enjoy working with people as well. So this is hard.”
It’s definitely not what Magruder signed up for when she got into veterinary medicine nearly 25 years ago. Magruder, a past president of the state veterinary medical association, said the field felt like a natural fit for her from the start.
“I always enjoyed science and loved animals, so it kind of clicked as the right job for me,” she said.
She’s owned the veterinary hospital for seven years. It’s a relatively small space — about 1,600 square feet — and most clients are cats and dogs.
When the pandemic initially reached the state, initially the hospital took a hit, Magruder said.
“It slowed down at the end of March and into April, when things started to get really bad,” she said.
The hospital also stopped doing elective surgeries, such as spaying and neutering, to cut down on any unnecessary traffic. But, Magruder said, eventually, business picked up again. Pets still need rabies vaccinations. Pets still get sick or hurt. People still get new pets who need their shots.
Today, she said, business is doing well, and none of the four doctors and 14 other staff members have had to be furloughed. That’s the good news.
The not so good news is the sense of anxiety that can seep into the practice. “The stress level is higher,” Magruder said. “People are scared. There’s an undercurrent of fear.”
One of the toughest situations is when an animal is sick and she has to deliver bad news to the owner over the phone, as they sit only feet away. “That is really where I need the face-to-face,” Magruder said. “I need to explain things and go over the X-rays in person. But I can’t.”
The only exception to the “no humans” rule is when pets need to be euthanized, she said. Owners are allowed to be present and her preference is to do the procedure in a fencedin area outside, with the owner sitting in a chair at a safe distance.