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June 2024 www.surfacecreekveterinarycenter.com 970-856-4474
SCVC Pawprint
A Growing Vet Shortage Changes Patterns of Care Paws for Concern
Veterinary medicine is a great industry, but the times are changing. We need more veterinarians. Clients have to get used to it, and we have to get used to it, too.
to be able to set same-day appointments for any animal in need. But now, if your pet gets sick, we may not have a slot open. We might ask you to drop your pet off at the clinic so we can examine them in between other patients.
Many vets used to practice in our area, but several have retired and just closed their doors. They didn’t plan to set up their practices so a young vet or corporate owner could come in and replace them. And nobody is filling the gap. The number of vets serving the 30-mile radius around our clinic has fallen to three from about seven or eight a decade ago. This is happening when the supply of veterinarians should be going up. Enrollment in vet schools has been rising by 2.7% or more in the past decade.
Emergencies. We try to respond to after-hour emergencies, but that does
not always happen, either due to the fact that we are already seeing an emergency or sometimes our phones don’t give us the message for 3-4 days. The good news is that the Veterinary Emergency Clinic is only 45-50 minutes away. If your pet has a serious injury and you can’t get through to us, get there ASAP. (Grand Valley VEC, 573 32 Rd, Ste 11, Clifton, CO. 970-255-1911). They do great work.
So, what is going on? It’s partly a generational issue. Some old-timers hoped some kid would come out of vet school, take over their practice, and do the same thing they’d been doing for decades. Unfortunately, many young doctors don’t want the old vet job that requires them to work 70 hours a week. They prefer 9-to-5 jobs without the headaches of management. We’re seeing some changes as a result. Corporate ownership. People don’t consider veterinary medicine a business. However, the industry is evolving toward multi-doctor corporate practices and 40-hour work weeks. These clinics are attracting many young veterinarians, and they allow corporate owners to negotiate high-volume discounts on products and supplies, lowering their costs. Tighter scheduling. Pet ownership is increasing in Delta County and nationwide. Some 66% of U.S. households now include pets, up from 58% in 1988. That’s good for business, but it also requires us to change. We used
More change ahead. To attract a younger generation of veterinarians, existing clinics have to do things differently.
We have to be more flexible. Four out of every five 2025 vet school grads will be female, and I want those young vets who want to be moms to be able to do so. Dr. Susie and I raised our kids in our clinic. Now, we are happy to have Dr. Neil on our team. She too often brings her baby daughter Ottilie to work. My long-term goal is to set up our center so it will run without me. I may still own it, but the place won’t close down if I have to be away for six months. Other people and systems will be in place to care for our pet patients. If we achieve that goal, our center will be running for years into the future!
–Dr. Jeff
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Our team recently welcomed a new participant to our morning staff meetings. When she enthusiastically contributes to reviewing the daily schedule, we pause and say, “Thank You!” As we push our chairs back from the table to end the meeting, she is visibly excited about starting the work day. OUR NEWEST AND CUTEST TEAM MEMBER GETS MOVING Pint-Sized Pawsitivity
Whether it’s blocking pucks during a street hockey game or checkmating chess hustlers at the park, traditionally indoor activities take on an entirely new feel and flavor when taken outside. While a rare sight these days, movie-goers worldwide used to enjoy cinema from the comfort of their cars at drive-in theaters. These made a brief resurgence during the pandemic, but now that movies are rolling in theaters again, the fad has begun to die off. These days, if you want to watch a movie, it seems like you are limited to three options: Watching it at the theater, on your TV, or on your phone or tablet. Now, I think we can all agree that watching a movie outside on your phone does not make for a great cinematic experience. Debtrette, a TikTok influencer and mom, has a suggestion. She put a spin on an old classic — family movie night — by holding it in her backyard with all the conveniences you would expect at a movie theater — like an air mattress, pillows, and blankets! If you are looking for a fun way to spruce up a traditional movie night, what better way than to bring it outside under the stars? Here are some necessities to make your moonlight movie night truly magical: Hosting the Ultimate Outdoor Movie Night MOONLIT MOVIE MAGIC
Dr. Neil’s daughter, Ottilie, turns one this month and has spent much of her life with us at the clinic. She has become integrated into our daily routines in
many ways. Gus, the Hirschs’ 13-year-old son, engineered and built a sturdy baby scooter for Ottilie using PVC pipe and a tiny hammock chair. This cool vehicle lets her motor up and down hallways and around corners.
Sometimes, Ottilie hangs around with the front-office team members as they greet clients. She occasionally slips into the treatment room and joins her mother, bumping into the
back of her knees. Other times, she disembarks from her scooter to do a little crawling, supervised by Dr. Neil or a co-worker. Team members often give Ottilie new playthings, such as Easter eggs or rattles fashioned from locked pill bottles and paper clips or coins. “Every time I turn around, she has a new toy in her hand!” Dr. Neil says. Otillie has her breakfast in the breakroom and, after a brief 10 a.m. nap, dines there again at lunchtime. Her afternoon brings another nap around 2 p.m., followed by a snack of Cheerios or Rice Puffs, seated in her Bumbo. Surface Creek clients are accustomed to seeing children at the clinic since the Hirschs’ four children, now in their teens and 20s, practically grew up here. Dr. Neil says she appreciates the warm welcome Ottilie receives from clients, who typically enjoy seeing and greeting the toddler. Dr. Neil works part-time and says she feels fortunate to practice her profession without leaving Ottilie at home. “I am so thankful to be able to do both,” she says. She recently heard from a vet school classmate who was heartbroken about having to leave her baby at the end of her maternity leave. “I didn’t have to go through that because Ottilie came right to work with me. I am so lucky to have this opportunity.”
• A portable projector screen, like a sheet on a clothesline
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Portable movie projector
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Candy, popcorn, and beverages
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Some outdoor seating and cushions
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Lamps, lanterns, or candles
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Warm blankets
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The perfect movie to bring it all together
You can find screens and projectors to fit any budget, and your movie selection will depend on the crowd. Just make it fun: Lie back on the grass and watch “Antz” or lounge in the pool while watching “Jaws”! The key is to make the experience unforgettable, and all who share in it will be thankful for your effort to make it all possible.
Here at Surface Creek Veterinary Center, we feel fortunate to have both Dr. Neil and Ottilie!
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PAWS FOR THOUGHT Your Dog Understands More Than You Think
Dog lovers have long known their pets take cues from their owners’ tone of voice and body language. But canines’ ability to understand spoken words alone, without other cues, has been debated. A new study published in the journal Current Biology shows that dogs recognize the spoken names of familiar objects independent of their owner’s body language, visual cues, or tone of voice. The study broke new ground by showing that dogs can have a higher level of abstract understanding than shown previously. In the study, scientists attached electrodes to the heads of 18 dogs and used electroencephalogram (EEG) machines to measure brain waves. Then, they played recordings of each pet’s owner saying the names of familiar objects, such as “Here’s the ball.” The owner would then appear behind a window and show the dog an object — either the item named in the recording or a different one. The EEGs enabled researchers at Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, Hungary, to track the dogs’ neural activity and compare their reaction to seeing an object they expected to see with their reaction to seeing an unrelated object. When the word used, and the object in the owner’s hand matched, the dogs’ brains showed less activity. When they did not match, the dogs knew
something was off-base, and this dissonance showed up in the EEGs. The dogs were tested on recognizing various simple objects, including a wallet, phone, and leash.
Some dogs can learn words, as demonstrated by the famous South Carolina border collie Chaser. Her owner, a psychologist named John Tilley, taught her to recognize the names of 1,000 different toys. Tilley said Chaser learned like a child through inference and positive reinforcement. Still unresolved is whether dogs can understand many words but have no way to show it. Even with the tools of modern neuroscience, we have no way to truly understand everything happening in the canine brain.
WWW.SURFACECREEKVETERINARYCENTER.COM appointment, a $250 deposit will be required. This deposit will be applied to the procedure bill. If you need to cancel the appointment, and you give us at least 24-hour notice, the deposit will be refunded. • Due to the increasing cost of credit card processing, there is now a 3% service charge added to all clinic services and products. If paying with cash, check, or PIN debit, there is no charge. 3 New SCVC Policies • At the time of scheduling a dental or surgery
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17800 HANSON RD. CEDAREDGE, CO 81413
Nationwide Vet Shortage Drives Changes inside this issue Host a Movie Night Under the Stars
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Little Ottilie Makes Our Clinic a Family Affair
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New Research Unveils Language Capacity in Dogs
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New SCVC Policies
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How Pet Husky Prevented Disaster
NPoelwicySCVC At the time of scheduling a dental or surgery appointment, a $250 deposit will be required. This deposit will be applied to the procedure bill. If you need to cancel the appointment, and you give us at least 24-hour notice, the deposit will be refunded. HERO HUSKY SAVES THE NEIGHBORHOOD
On Dec. 15, 2023, pet owner Chanell Bell of Philadelphia was taken aback when she noticed that Kobe, her 4-year-old miniature Alaskan husky, had dug a hole in her home’s front yard. This was a stark departure from Kobe’s usual behavior, which Bell initially dismissed as boredom and promptly refilled the hole. However, when Kobe began to dig again in the same spot, Chanell realized something was amiss. “We’ve been here at our home for a while now, and he never digs holes,” Bell told USA Today. “So, I knew something was up.” She investigated further, reviewing footage from the family home’s security camera overlooking Kobe’s newfound digspot. Then, she witnessed Kobe sniff the air around the area before digging the hole in the same spot again.
Gas Works, which sent a crew out to investigate. The engineers discovered that the gas lines beneath the Bell household were old, dilapidated, and beginning to leak. After fixing the issue, the company told Bell that if Kobe had not discovered the leak, the line would have posed significant health and safety concerns for the whole neighborhood. “They told me something as simple as a light switch turning on could’ve caused an explosion,” Bell told USA Today. After Bell shared Kobe’s story on social media, it caught the attention of PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, who awarded the young husky the Heroic Dog Award. Inspired by Kobe’s efforts, Bell wrote a children’s book dedicated to him called “The Dog That Saved the Block Before Christmas.”
Thinking something Kobe smelled must have alarmed him, Bell phoned Philadelphia
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