Burlington Reporter

If you want to get your pet's health checked, try to plan accordingly and make your appointments early. Pet owners in the Triad are facing long waits to get veterinary appointments as the industry faces staffing shortages.

Some clinics are turning away animals that need care, a Tuesday WGHP report said. As regular clinics have struggled, the overflow pets have been taken to emergency clinics that are now beyond capacity.

It's putting veterinarians in a bind.

"Patient care has always been our priority," Dr. Janey Raczkowski, veterinarian and owner of Adams Farm Animal Hospital in Greensboro, told WGHP. "Sometimes, not only are we not able to help them, we're not able to find another source of help for their needs." 

In the pre-pandemic era, it wasn't unusual for Raczkowski to see animals on a walk-in basis if there was an urgent need, the report said. Now, your pet will have to wait for care, whether it's routine checks or elective surgeries.

"Right now, unless it's a true emergency they may need to wait two or three days," the doctor said. "It's very frustrating for me in the sense that the way I see it, we're here to help the pet. We consider them our patients. I've heard as long as 12 hours of waiting in the parking lot before they can be seen."

What that means for the long-term health of the pet is yet to be determined, but it likely won't be good news.

"The outcome's going to be better if they're seen immediately," Dr. Harvey Goho, veterinarian and owner of Total Care Veterinary Hospital, told WGHP. "And if that has to be delayed, I think sometimes the care can suffer."

The fact that area vets have gotten notices from emergency hospitals that they will not be able to take in pets over the weekend has some people worried about the state of things.

"It has been very challenging," Raczkowski said. "And in addition to that, very disheartening."