Bowen Veterinary Services’ Dr. Midge Ritchie is reminding islanders that the island’s vet clinic does not do emergency care.
Bowen Vet does not meet the criteria to be classified as an emergency clinic under the College of Veterinarians of British Columbia, which holds both the clinic’s accreditation and Ritchie’s veterinary licence. The clinic is also not available for urgent care (when Ritchie arrived in 2019, replacing Dr. Alastair Westcott, it initially was). “It just got to be impossible,” said Ritchie. “We just don’t have the staffing and I’m unable to do it because I am a single mom with a five-year-old son.”
As the clinic’s only vet, bearing the weight of the practice, Ritchie had to draw a line.
'We’re telling people this because we’re not the appropriate clinic to see them'
The psychological and emotional weight of the job on veterinarians and their staff was exemplified in a recent incident at the clinic, conveyed Ritchie. It’s also the reason there’s now a “zero tolerance” sign at the entrance to the clinic.
“We had one particular client who called and spoke to the staff and demanded that we cancel [the next appointments], that their pet be seen right away because they said that there was an emergency,” said Ritchie. “It was like 4:15 p.m. on a Tuesday and we close at 5 p.m. and we were booked.”
Ritchie said they tried to direct the owners of the injured cat to go to an emergency clinic.
“We don’t tell people to do this because we don’t want to see them,” said Ritchie. “We’re telling people this because we’re not the appropriate clinic to see them.
“We don’t have the facilities, we don’t have the staff, we don’t have the ability to see emergencies and it’s not the best thing for their animals.”
While the clinic will do the odd treatment like an ear infection, a laceration, a bite, they’re a general practice, managing wellness and long-term disease processes rather than emergencies. “If you broke your leg, you wouldn’t go see Dr. Schloegl, you’d go to the emergency room,” said Ritchie.
“[The owner of the injured cat] had no idea what our next appointments were,” said Ritchie. “She had no idea that we typically reserve the end of the day for euthanasia.”
On the occasion in question, one of the cat’s owners came down to the clinic, said Ritchie.
“He was belligerent, he was screaming at [staff], being quite rude and swearing,” said Ritchie. “It was quite a traumatic experience for the entire staff and the clients that were around.
“And this is a recurrent theme in veterinary medicine in general.
“You’d never go to your family doctor and speak to them like that,” she said. “So there’s a disconnect about how veterinarians are treated for some reason.”
Keeping a 'quality of care'
As a clinic with one vet and a small staff, there are only so many patients they can see – while they keep space for a small number of same-day appointments, the clinic is currently booked two to three weeks out, said Ritchie.
“I don’t want to just start seeing patient after patient after patient and losing the quality of care,” said Ritchie. A quality of care that would be lost with double and triple booking, she said. “The kind of feeling that we have here is to have people feel heard and listened to and cared about.”
And it’s not as easy as Bowen Vet just hiring a second veterinarian – there’s a vet shortage throughout Canada and the U.S. Even if a vet could be found, there’s the problem of finding qualified staff. “It’s not just me doing my thing. It’s my technicians, my assistant, and my receptionist also being able to do it,” said Ritchie. “It’s a much deeper issue.”
“I don’t want people to think that we’re pushing them away, turning them away because we don’t want to see them,” she said. “When we tell you to go somewhere else, or to be seen by another clinic, we’re doing that because we honestly feel it’s in the best interest of the patient.”
Mental health effects
Ritchie is the only vet for the Bowen clinic and is in an industry that’s seeing a mental health crisis. The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association says one in five Canadian vets and techs have reported “suicide ideation, burnout, and depression.” A University of Guelph study published last year found 17 per cent of vets surveyed reported “seriously considered suicide since starting veterinary school,” compared to 12 per cent of the general Canadian population.
“It’s becoming an epidemic,” said Ritchie. “My colleagues are losing their lives.” She points to the widespread social media campaign #NOMV – “not one more vet” – referring to not losing any more vets to suicide.
Ritchie also pointed to this as why she and her staff need to draw firm boundaries.
“We’re all emotionally invested into every single one of our patients,” said Ritchie. And the emotional connections are compounded in a small town, where not only do you get to know the animals and their families, but you see them in the neighbourhood, at the school, in the grocery store.
“I just want the community to understand and be compassionate,” said Ritchie. “And when we say no, and when we set boundaries, we’re not doing it to hurt them or to be mean or to be rude.
“We’re doing it to be the best for all the animals that we can be and to help the staff survive from day to day,” said Ritchie. “So we can be around long term – so we don’t all burn out.”
Seek help - for yourself or others
If you - or someone you know - is in crisis or distress, know that you are not alone. There is help and there are people who will listen.
Talk to a family member, a teacher, a doctor, a coach or a person you trust.
Call 911 or go to the nearest hospital emergency department.
Call the Crisis Centre at 604-872-3311 or provincewide at 1-800-SUICIDE or go online to chat at www.CrisisCentreChat.ca.
Young people can call the Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868, go online through YouthinBC.com to text or use Facebook Messenger to speak to a professional counsellor.
Families and survivors can also get help at SAFER (Suicide Attempt Follow-up, Education & Research) at 604-675-3700.
