Vet clinics closing

[Aussie_2020]

Pet ER in MD is closing, in the news article it says they will lay off 42 people. No reason given. (sorry, can’t attach article, their website just says they’re closing their doors the end of Sep)

Getting into an emergency vet is already difficult. In my area the nearest one is almost two hours away. Last night I rushed a neo natal kitten to the ER but it died about halfway there. I didn’t know it because I had the carrier swaddled with towels, the local vet had put a heat pad in there and fixed an oxygen mask to the front to blow inside. I had to stop several times to switch out oxygen tanks. But when I got there the tech told me it had died in route.

I sure hope this clinic closing in MD isn’t a sign of things to come. Wait time to get a spay or neuter is months outs, the (somewhat) local s/n clinic has cut back on days of operation because they can’t get enough vets hired to run 5 days a week. Several vets local to them help out when they can. It’s starting to feel a bit scary.

What’s happening in your area?

[NancyM]

I picked up two new kittens a few months ago. They came from a bad situation, but are healthy and active. We have a small animal vet clinic an hour away, and since the male was taking a little too much interest in his sister, I thought it best to make an appointment for both for de-sexing. But the clinic could not take them for months. Then I saw a notice on a local facebook page, for a travelling vet who was making visits to another town, half an hour south of us. I contacted him about this issue, and made an appointment for the male kitten, since he could not spay the female kitten without his regular clinic support. But getting the male done solves my problem until the other clinic can take her in the fall. So we did that. There was no nursing or support staff, just the vet and me. Which worked out fine. The cat is now gelded, and has recovered just fine.
We are fortunate with the large animal vet situation because there is a romance between one of the better horse vets from an hour and a half away, and a local woman. So he’s in town fairly often. And he’s probably one of the better vets around here too. He’s been helpful to me, and I appreciate that. There is another horse vet who just moved into the area, not too far away from me, that I have not met yet. But I have had some positive input from a friend who recommended her services. She is a traveling vet only, no clinic from what I understand. Large animal vet, horse oriented.
If I have an equine emergency with a terminal situation, I don’t call a vet. I have neighbours with a gun and the experience of how to shoot a horse correctly and effectively.

[Aussie_2020]

From what I’ve heard lately the spay and neuter times for large dogs is even longer. We’re lucky the s/n clinic for feral cats is still open, though their hours of operation (no pun) have cut back. I’ve transported animals for locals that have no way to get the distance needed for their pets care. One of the area rescues pays the vet bill and will help with medicine. What else can they do? If they don’t help the animal suffers or is surrendered to the shelter if there’s room.

[Smiles]

My vets office made an announcement last week about their small animal clinic reducing hours and if you have an emergency they will not be able to service you. Appointments only. My equine vet says he’s stretched thin and exhausted because of all the calls he takes. There aren’t enough people going into veterinary medicine to fill the void. Plus the cost of school is ridiculous. I’m lucky I have several universities with a 3 hour window but still finding good vets/farriers is going to become difficult in the future.

[LCDR]

it’s not that young people do not want to become vets. It’s the spaces in vet schools that are limited.

There are not enough vet schools, and student spaces are likely maxxed out in those that exist now. But operating a vet school is an expensive proposition. Faculty and facilities don’t come cheap.

Taking a lead from medicine, vets should consider recruiting and allowing way more qualified foreign vet school graduates to enter the US.

About a quarter of licensed MDs in the US are foreign medical school grads. For veterinarians in the US the percentage of foreign educated vets is about 7 percent.

[poltroon]

@LCDR

it’s not that young people do not want to become vets. It’s the spaces in vet schools that are limited.

There are not enough vet schools, and student spaces are likely maxxed out in those that exist now. But operating a vet school is an expensive proposition. Faculty and facilities don’t come cheap.

This is true. It’s also true that we’re burning out veterinarians at a torrid pace, such that people who are trained are leaving the field. There are some new vet schools but they can’t keep up with the demand.

It doesn’t help that vet school is so expensive. Despite stereotypes, many of the people who I know with enormous student loan debt are veterinarians. Then, people expect them to work for peanuts with $200k in compounding loan debt. Or, they’re coming in fairly wealthy, and when the job is toxic and frustrating, they have the means to change careers.

Be kind to your veterinarians.

[NancyM]

Also the field of work with one of the highest occurring rates of suicide… due to the stress… both economic stress and emotional stress I presume. Pretty scary.

[FjordBCRF]

The veterinarian subreddit is a good place to peruse to get a flavor of the status of the field. TLDR…it’s not good

[Texarkana]

@poltroon

@LCDR

it’s not that young people do not want to become vets. It’s the spaces in vet schools that are limited.

There are not enough vet schools, and student spaces are likely maxxed out in those that exist now. But operating a vet school is an expensive proposition. Faculty and facilities don’t come cheap.

This is true. It’s also true that we’re burning out veterinarians at a torrid pace, such that people who are trained are leaving the field. There are some new vet schools but they can’t keep up with the demand.

It doesn’t help that vet school is so expensive. Despite stereotypes, many of the people who I know with enormous student loan debt are veterinarians. Then, people expect them to work for peanuts with $200k in compounding loan debt. Or, they’re coming in fairly wealthy, and when the job is toxic and frustrating, they have the means to change careers.

Be kind to your veterinarians.

All of this from both @LCDR and @poltroon.

Plenty of people want to be vets. But the pathway is a) expensive and b) pretty rigid. It’s rigid in a lot of ways: it’s super competitive for starters. Up until fairly recently, state residency was a HUGE factor in where you could or could not go. The pre-reqs needed are demanding (as they should be) but also without much flexibility. The structure of the education is more or less “one size fits all” in the sense that it doesn’t matter if you are a recent grad or someone who worked as a vet tech for 20 years, you only have the one pathway of fully immersing yourself in school for 4 years. Some schools are working to change this rigidity, but we have a long way to go.

Then after all that, the burnout rate is insane. Most of my friends who graduated vet school when I was starting have left practicing and/or dramatically changed how they practice. None of my equine friends are still in equine medicine. NONE. Only like two of them are still practicing, both in small animal medicine, although one of those is doing less practicing and more administrative and niche stuff. The others have gone into private industry and education.

[cardinale]

And to top it all off, the new regime has instituted limits on federal student aid such that financing a medical degree has now become even more difficult. Are we winning yet?

"…'s sweeping “big, beautiful” tax and spending bill, signed into law earlier this month, imposes strict new caps on federal student loans, capping borrowing for professional schools at $50,000 per year. The measure particularly affects medical students, whose tuition often exceeds $300,000 over four years.

…Many members of the medical community say the measures will send shock waves through a system already laden with economic barriers, discouraging low-income students from pursuing a medical degree.

…Before the passage of ’s budget bill, the Grad PLUS loan program allowed graduate students to borrow their institution’s total cost of attendance, including living expenses. The program was slashed as part of a broader overhaul to the federal student loan system.

Now, beginning July 1, 2026, most graduate students will be capped at $20,500 in federal loans per year, with a total limit of $100,000. Students in professional schools, like medical, dental or law school, will face the $50,000 annual cap and a total limit of $200,000."

Changes to federal student loans leave asipring medical students scrambling to cover costs

[mroades]

Also…more foreign students??? In this moment in time…yeah not going to happen.

[LCDR]

My point was about a pathway for foreign vet school graduates to be licensed to practice in the US, not foreign students occupying student slots in US vet schools.

If medicine in the US did not have foreign-trained physicians immigrating and practicing here, the number of physicians in the US today would be 250,000 doctors fewer. Welcoming veterinarian immigrants would surely help the US practicing vet shortage.

[Aussie_2020]

I remember a vet from Romania that came to the US via a veterinary program. This had to be either the late 70’s or early 80’s. He said he had to start in Nebraska for several years and then was able to move and open his own clinic. He trained in England.

[4horses]

I thought about going to vet school but at the time I was already feeling burned out between working 30 hrs a week and going to school. Then with my health issues the idea of vet school went up in smoke. Now I’m allergic to mammal meat (blood and byproducts) so that is pretty much an impossibility.

This area has a surplus of vets with the vet school. I suppose I should consider myself fortunate in that regard.

As for small animals, this is the worst year I have seen between exploding population numbers, and the rescues being above capacity. Even my new puppy is a small dog, as the cost of dog food adds up. If you pay $3.50/lb for dog food and you have a large dog, that adds up by the end of the year. And of course vet bills.

I have 6 cats right now and I have avoided adding up my chewy purchases because I know they are going through a lot of cat food in a year (and litter).

[TheJenners]

@Smiles

My equine vet says he’s stretched thin and exhausted because of all the calls he takes.

My vet too, she has been working for 30 years basically non-stop and only just recently started taking vacations. She has finally gotten to the point that requires CC on file and previous appt within 6 or 12 months before she’ll respond to an emergency call out and I dont blame her.

[Foxglove]

My vet of 40 years retired. He just closed his doors. He couldn’t find any vet to take his practice (mostly cows and Amish horses and me). I have a new vet now who is part of a group practice.

When Bob and I had our accident June 17, I called my new vet’s office when it happened (still sitting on the ground with my smashed arm wrapped in my t-shirt) --the receptionist said it was “after hours” (at 3:45? --I thought that started at 4:00 but was not in a position to argue). She predicted a “2 hour wait” for a vet from the practice to arrive. I (not so calmy) explained that my arm was broken and my horse was hurt --while she was sorry and urged me to go to the ER (nope, not until vet arrived) she maintained it would be a two hour wait --but she would try. Turns out she sent a group text to all the vets and pretty much said, who’s close? My vet in the practice was close, and 20 min later arrived to take care of Bob at the same time DH and DD arrived. [Bob is fine and my arm is too, after 7 weeks].

My old vet who could not sell his practice said pretty much what folks are saying here: no one wants to work the hours it takes to have a large animal clinic.

AND FYI, my two friends who are vets (she specializes in cats and he is a research vet who creates vaccinations) graduated with $500,000 debt between them. It took them 20 years to pay it off.

[MissusS]

I am unbelieveably lucky to live very close to a university wtih a practicing vet college (30 mins away). This also means we have many students graduating and staying in the area for work. My town has two small animal vet clinics and the next town over (10 mins away) has three.

The farm where I ride has a family vet practice - dad (in his 70s and still practicing) primarily does small animal but also has lots of experience doing large animal. Daughter (in her 30s) does small animal but can support for large animal in an absolute pinch until equine vet arrives - if she happens to be around and availalbe. This is where I take my dogs for their care. They just opened a brand new clinic which is a significant upgrade from the clinic dad practiced in for decades on the other side of their property. They have three permanent vets on staff (including dad) and hired a temp vet for summer coverage.

My equine vet practice now has four vets. They started sometime around 2018 with one vet and now have four vets and a brand new facility that just opened this spring.

I hope that means both my vet clinics are around for the long haul (that is their intent) but with how hard it is to survive in the industry I know nothing is certain. I am very grateful for their care, services, and passion for my animals. I am hardpressed to think of what I would do without them. You could not pay me enough to work in the industry. It is hard, often thankless, and not all that lucrative these days.

[poltroon]

@LCDR

My point was about a pathway for foreign vet school graduates to be licensed to practice in the US, not foreign students occupying student slots in US vet schools.

If medicine in the US did not have foreign-trained physicians immigrating and practicing here, the number of physicians in the US today would be 250,000 doctors fewer. Welcoming veterinarian immigrants would surely help the US practicing vet shortage.

I clocked that. I really do think we could meet our needs with US trained people (for physicians too) if we didn’t chew up those people and throw them away once they graduate. Sustainability is important. If the only way we can keep smart, trained people in the jobs they trained for is “or else we’ll deport you” I don’t think that’s healthy. We can do better.

As customers, the people reading here aren’t the problem most likely. But we can help by treating our vets as the professionals they are, taking the best care of our animals that we can, following their directions, doing all we can to keep our vets safe from our problem child pets, and not quibbling over bills that don’t need quibbling.

Two of my friends who left equine practice cite not only the ridiculous hours and the absurd expectations placed on them by senior partners, not only getting stiffed financially by those partners, but also dealing with clients that were just plain unethical in how they treated their animals.

For the moment, the foreign option is clearly off the table, since the current administration is deporting practicing foreign MDs for no reason, even elite ones.

[arapaloosa_lady]

Yep. I’m a small animal veterinarian. I wanted to be an equine or dairy vet when I graduated 10 years ago. Then I found out that I could work 25 hours a week and get paid substantially more money in small animal than working 40+ base hours with multiple nights on call with large animal. It’s a financial no brainer. At the end of the day it’s a job, and something will have to change drastically in the industry. There are more foreign schools approved, there are more vet schools opening. But honestly I think those will just create more competition for small animal jobs before it will help fill large animal positions. Personally I think there will be a huge move away from farm calls and towards haul in clinics.

[Texarkana]

I know this has been discussed before, but what is the hang-up for creating a mid-level practitioner for veterinary medicine, particularly large animal medicine?

Obviously there’s the legal aspect of it all. And then actually establishing the education process. It’s no small feat to hash all this out.

But it seems like the most logical way to keep ambulatory large animal services-- split the burden of call time and travel among a larger pool of people. And the easiest way to enlarge that pool is to allow the people who already have the practical skills a pathway to enter it. For example, I would trust a large animal nurse at Penn (who are all licensed techs) to pass an NG tube on a colic or choke every day of the week over a mixed practice sending out their small animal guy because it’s his turn to take call. We have people capable of handling the type of medicine you deal with most frequently on farm calls already working in the field (and making peanuts). If we created a NP-type level, it would allow them to offload the burden on our large animal veterinarians.

That one large animal vet holding down the fort for a large region would have better luck finding two techs to continue their education for a pay bump and increased responsibility than finding two vets who want to move to the boonies to work endlessly for poor pay.