Veterinary Care and Death

Veterinary Care

During the pandemic, hospitals around the world were overwhelmed and overrun. Doctors faced tough choices about who was admitted. Even after admission, overworked and undersupplied hospital staff were not able to give every patient top-notch care. The same problems existed in veterinary hospitals as well. Distraught owners and fatigued staff were frustrated by the effects of Covid. 

Diminished Quality of Veterinary Care During the Pandemic

"I rushed her to the emergency vet who told me that there was a 4 hour wait to be seen. I told them that Kermit wouldn't last 4 hours, so they agreed to see her immediately (for an additional fee of course) but I had to wait in the car. My already stressed and injured baby had to go into a strange place with strange people without her mom because of Covid."

A Pet Emergency During the Pandemic

"The staff took my dog into an examining room, which we weren’t allowed to enter. This added to the stress and anxiety as I wasn’t there to provide comfort to my dog. Instead, he was surrounded by strangers in a strange place being poked and prodded without knowing what was happening. The vet came out twice to talk with me briefly and then disappeared again for hours; otherwise, no one from the staff interacted with me. The whole ordeal lasted four hours."

COVID-19 as a veterinary professional

"Morale is low. We are overworked, under-appreciated, and poorly protected."

Death

We have all heard the heartbreaking stories of loved ones dying alone in hospitals or dying from lack of available treatment. Just as these tragedies were playing out in the lives of people, similar stories of frustration, grief, and loss occurred with our pets.  These are a few of those stories.

This is a picture of a collage of several different painted rocks resembling fictional characters such as Scooby Doo, Bart Simpson, and Mario.

Pandemic Kindness

"I had to go through the process of my dog passing away all on my own and my dog had to spend a lot of the time alone in a cage in the vet's office while I was forced to wait in my car. "

Quarantine ferrets

"We took him to the vet and found out he had leukemia. This was heartbreaking because I assumed we had years together. But he was getting weaker by the hour as his bone marrow stopped creating red blood cells. This was the most heartbreaking day of my life as my first real pet, my first baby, was dying. "

Death of a Beloved Pet

"I will always wonder if it had not been the pandemic if we could have identified the problem faster. I will never know. Life will never be the same."

When we adopt a dog or any pet, we know it is going to end with us having to say goodbye, but we still do it. And we do it for a very good reason: They bring so much joy and optimism and happiness. They attack every moment of every day with that attitude. - W. Bruce Cameron

Animals have a much better attitude to life and death than we do. They know when their time has come. We are the ones that suffer when they pass, but it’s a healing kind of grief that enables us to deal with other griefs that are not so easy to grab hold of. - Emmylou Harris

People are born so they can learn to live a good life. Dogs already know how to do that, that's why they don't have to stay as long. - Anonymous 6-year-old

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