A Heart-to-Heart From Your Local ER Vet: Finding Kindness in Our Pet Care System
Hi Neighbors, and Happy New Year!
I love being a part of this community, both through my integrative practice, Comfort Paws, and as an ER veterinarian at our local emergency clinic. It’s an honor to be that calm face when you walk through our doors worried about your pet.
Working those long hours, I often see pets referred from their family vet. I commonly hear a genuine frustration: "My own family vet couldn't fit us in today, and now we're stuck here, and it's costing us more time and money."
I completely understand that feeling! But as someone who works with your general practitioner (GP) every day, I want to assure you: Your GP and your ER team are partners. We are all part of one big, devoted system working for your pet's best outcome.
Understanding The Veterinary Care System
When your family vet tells you to come to the ER, it's not neglect, it’s the highest form of professional commitment. It means they recognize your pet needs resources beyond what they can safely offer in their clinic that day.
The GP’s Focus: Your primary vet handles long-term wellness, scheduled surgeries, dentals, and chronic disease management. They are experts in continuity of care. When they are booked, trying to squeeze in an emergency means compromising the care of other scheduled patients.
The ER’s Focus: We specialize in triage, stabilization, and intensive care, with the staffing and equipment to manage critical, unexpected events 24/7.
The Staffing Crisis: We face a critical, nationwide shortage of veterinary staff, largely due to burnout. The team that is working is operating at maximum capacity. This shortage is the core reason for longer wait times everywhere and why your GP cannot always accommodate a last-minute emergency. Our staff are people, too. They have families and need boundaries to avoid burnout.
The Cost and Complexity of Modern Care
I know the sticker shock of a serious vet bill can be stunning. Modern veterinary medicine is astonishingly advanced. We offer life-saving treatments, sophisticated diagnostics, and complex 24-hour care that were unimaginable years ago.
But because of the costs associated with this advanced care (equipment, specialists, 24/7 staff), I am often faced with the impossible ethical question: "We may have the ability to save Fluffy, but are the resources available to get them through?"
The Weight We Carry
This choice forms the ultimate, silent burden veterinary professionals carry home. When treatments fail to cure a pet, or when the full spectrum of resources is unavailable, and this includes not just financial means, but the time, emotional wherewithal, and physical capability for extended aftercare, we are often forced to turn to euthanasia as the final option.
The constant pressure from clients, the gravity of financial talks, and this profound ethical distress contribute to the shocking fact that veterinarians have one of the highest suicide rates of any profession. We feel this weight deeply. We are humans trying our absolute best for your pets and your family.
Our Hope for the New Year
We hope you'll resolve to support the entire veterinary system this year:
Trust the Referral: If your GP directs you to the ER, please know it is a decision made out of deep care, not neglect; it's the safest route to the best outcome.
Be Prepared: The best gift you can give your pet is financial readiness. Consider pet insurance or set aside an emergency fund (experts suggest $1,500–$3,000 saved). This lets us focus only on the medicine.
Practice Kindness: Acknowledging the dedication of your veterinary team goes a very long way. A simple "thank you," a kind note, or a positive online review is the emotional fuel that keeps us going through long shifts.
In this New Year, our veterinary team resolves to continue offering the highest level of care for your beloved pets. We hope you’ll resolve to support the entire veterinary system and approach us with the kindness and grace we all need.