Dr. Bason has noticed changes in pet wellness awareness during COVID-19.
Veterinarians like Drs. Sarah Bason and Katherine Siens, joint owners of the Granite Mountain Veterinary Hospital in Prescott, have seen an increase of 10% to 20% in newly adopted pet exams for puppies, kittens and adult dogs in the past year. Previously, both doctors had been working as associates at a veterinary practice in Chino Valley, where they’d experienced more than a 20% increase in office visits as a result of the pandemic. They say that the demand for appointments at veterinary clinics across the state has increased so much because of COVID, that some emergency veterinary hospitals in locations like the Phoenix Metro area have been overwhelmed to the point of closing their doors.
“While everyone else was in shock when the pandemic hit, it slowed most people down. But the veterinarian world sped up!” said Dr. Bason. “Veterinary practices in every city, in every state have seen an increase in cases.”
The two veterinarians purchased the Granite Mountain Veterinary Hospital a year ago. Despite it being the middle of a pandemic, Drs. Bason and Siens are both moms who wanted to be in charge of their work and home lives. In normal times, veterinarians rarely struggle to get loans, but they say it wasn’t easy to get funds together to make this purchase. That’s because, during COVID, major lenders stopped lending. Having made it work, both doctors say that the local community, and other vets in town, have really embraced them and are glad to have more vets around during a time of a steep rise in demand for their services.
A mark of that demand is that their business has hired nine new people, including another doctor, in the past year. “We joke that we would be making more profit if we hadn’t done all that hiring, but it’s better than getting burned out,” said Dr. Siens. That’s a serious issue across the country, with approximately half of all vet techs getting tired of the demands of the profession within their first five years, according to a recent report on CNN.
Dr. Bason has noticed changes in pet wellness awareness during COVID-19. With many owners at home and spending a lot more time with their pets, issues that might have been going on with animals for a period of time have gotten noticed quicker. Tumors and lumps in older dogs have been found more often by owners who’ve been petting their dogs more. And spending more time at home has meant that owners have had the time to bring pets into the clinic to get those conditions addressed. Another pandemic effect is that pet owners are taking their dogs outside more, resulting in more injuries to paws and from dog fights. Now, with human life gradually returning to normal, pet behavioral problems are on the rise, often caused by separation anxiety in animals that were out of the habit of being home alone during the day.
The two veterinarians also have experienced a change in attitude of their clientele since moving to Prescott. With a population that includes many seniors and retired people who really treasure their pets, the quality of care expected from veterinarians is high. “In Prescott, people will go to a lot of effort for a 10-year-old dog with a tumor, even if only adds a year of life – and there’s more of a focus on quality of life,” said Dr. Siens. “We sometimes have long, intense conversations with our pet owners and enjoy being able to really focus on setting them up for long-term success,” added Dr. Bason. “It’s very satisfying and all the staff here really work as a team.”
And the pets are not all just cats and dogs. “We’ve been seeing a lot of exotic pets, snakes and lizards. We have Freya, a beautiful yellow and silver reticulated python that comes in that always gets the staff excited,” said Dr. Siens.
One thing that both vets are keen to stress is encouraging people who use the clinic to wear masks, be patient and kind to the staff members who are all there because they truly love animals. FBN
By Diane Hope, FBN
