High costs, questionable vet care
When your animal is sick or injured, your veterinarian helps. But what about during off-hours?
Urgent and emergency vet clinics are meant to provide dogs and cats with immediate, life-saving care. But in Oklahoma, no requirements set ERs apart from traditional clinics. You will pay much higher fees, but the care you receive may be the same as – or worse – than at your neighborhood vet.
Pet ER vs. your “vet”
When you visit your traditional vet, you probably get care from a person who is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM). This is the degree given to veterinarians who complete the years of schooling required to become a licensed vet.
Some pets may need to see a specialty veterinarian. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) recognizes 22 veterinary specialty organizations™ which includes 48 different specialties. These range from veterinary behavior and ophthalmology to radiology and sports medicine.
However, “emergency” is not on the AVMA list of specialists.
This means any DVM can call him- or herself an Emergency Room Vet without extra training.
Many emergency vets are highly skilled life savers. They quickly diagnose and treat critical conditions and save suffering pets.
But without regulations, you may see an ER vet that cannot operate an ultrasound machine, perform surgery, or otherwise treat emergencies.
Why the disparity in care? Because veterinary emergency rooms are growing so fast and are often open overnight, they can be hard to staff. There may be only one doctor on site, no doctors on call, and no way for a clinic to deliver on its claim to be able to treat animals experiencing emergencies aside from offering pain relief. Many clinic owners would not operate under such conditions. But some pet ERs will accept patients – and fees – even if they have no timely way to treat them.
The ER language loophole
“Premier animal hospital and 24-hour emergency vet.”
“Fully staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.”
“Whether it’s the middle of the night, the weekend, or even a holiday, our hospital is always open with a fully staffed emergency veterinarian team.”
These are some advertising phrases used by an Oklahoma veterinary specialty clinic which suggest their emergency room can quickly and thoroughly treat any pet emergency.
But pet parents who picture a team of competent docs rushing to save their animal will be surprised to learn the only legal requirement to be “fully staffed” is to have one DMV on site. And that vet doesn’t need to be able to treat common emergencies such as intestinal blockages or broken limbs.
Now, many emergency vet clinics go above and beyond, staffing responsibly to ensure pets receive the level of care they expect.
But some vets exploit this loophole, advertising their clinics with hollow, unregulated marketing terms such as this while staffing with vets who can’t or don’t do even basic surgery and are untrained on the “state-of-the-art” equipment at the clinic.
3 reasons Veterinary Emergency Room Reform is needed:
Fast ER Growth
Emergency vet care is the fastest growing field of veterinary medicine, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). New clinics open everyday.
No ER Rules
Because veterinary emergency medicine is so new, it is not considered a specialty by the AVMA. There are no recognized care guidelines or standards for ER clinics.
High ER Fees
Desperate pet parents are often willing to pay any price for emergency dog and cat medical care. Without regulations in place, high emergency fees don’t guarantee skilled ER care.