Shortage of veterinarian services during pandemic frustrates pet owners

Dec. 24—Local veterinarians are struggling to keep up with demand for their services during what has been a difficult pandemic made worse by staffing challenges, inefficient curbside models and some customers' short tempers.

People with sick pets on their hands are being told they'll have to wait weeks — months, in some cases — before they can get an appointment. Those who can't wait that long are left to take their chances in other counties.

"People feel helpless. They can't get their pet seen and they don't know what to do," said Lake Isabella pet owner Stacy Mack, who lucked out Thursday by getting an appointment for Castle, her 4-month-old Italian mastiff, at All Critters Pet Hospital off Rosedale Highway in Bakersfield.

The situation has put a strain on not just pet owners and their animals but also veterinarian offices' staff members. Already beset by hiring difficulties before the pandemic, they have since lost employees to lack of child care or quarantine mandates.

It's a sign of how bad things are that not one of more than a dozen local veterinarian offices and pet hospitals contacted by The Californian was able to take even one minute this to speak with a reporter. But the executive director of the Southern California Veterinary Medical Association, Jennifer Hawkins, vouched for them.

"We're just in survival mode," she said of the industry's current state.

José Duarte was one of the fortunate ones. The Bakersfield resident noticed the breathing of both his Chihuahuas sounded raspy, perhaps because of the cold, wet weather of late. For a week he called around, all the way to offices in Taft. One place left him on hold for two hours, and in the end he failed to get an appointment.

Luckily, he said, someone canceled an appointment Thursday morning at All Critters.

"I took it in a heartbeat," Duarte said.

Mack, the Lake Isabella pet owner seated nearby with her mastiff, recalled a tragedy she experienced earlier this year. She had been unable to get an appointment for one of her dogs and, in February, it ended up dying before she could find a veterinarian able to give her an appointment.

She couldn't even get a necropsy afterward because the waiting list was six months long and the dog was too heavy to store easily at a pet morgue.

Chuck Nordstrom, assistant executive director at the Bakersfield SPCA on Gibson Street, said he's hearing spay-and-neuter services are booked three months out. Customers he hears from are doing whatever they can to get their pets the care they need.

"It's usually not that bad. It's just really busy right now," he said, adding his usual advice to pet owners is to check with local government services and animal shelters.

Hawkins at the veterinary association traced the trouble to the initial stay-at-home orders early in the pandemic. Even as more people were adopting "COVID pets" during the time of widespread isolation and loneliness, she said care for all but the most urgent cases became unavailable. This created a service backlog that, to some degree, still persists.

Restrictions loosened up over time but demand for veterinary services only increased. Meanwhile, staffing at veterinary hospitals began to dwindle under the weight of pandemic pressures, illness and children home from school.

Those who remained at the office found themselves facing unprecedented amounts of verbal abuse from irate customers, Hawkins said, leading some highly trained staff to walk away from the field of veterinary medicine altogether.

"It's definitely been, you know, a challenging time," she added.

Meanwhile, the curbside model in which customers were told to wait in their car until called went over badly. Some pet owners lost patience and left. Rare became the instance of an animal getting speedy service without some sort of hitch or hassle.

Now people search far and wide for service, Hawkins said, and resolution of the situation seems as far off as ever. But she noted a bright side.

"The great news is people are identifying that their pets are very important family members to them," she said.

Her advice to pet owners was to bring the patients with them when they go to a vet's office looking for an appointment. Also, it's best to call sooner instead of later, Hawkins said, and customers should make sure to bring a snack and a fully charged cellphone when waiting for service.

On Thursday at All Critters, Allison Alvarez, of Bakersfield, was seated in the waiting room with her 6-year-old chinchilla, Oregon. The pet had somehow gotten string wrapped so tightly around his leg that it cut off blood circulation. Alvarez worried the limb might have to be amputated.

Alvarez expected a wait of several days, if not a drive to Fresno or Los Angeles. But lucky for Oregon, there was a cancellation and he got medical attention after all. By midmorning, the little guy had a clean wound and a prescription for an antibacterial medicine.