05/29/2026
There's been A LOT of rumbling the past few years about veterinary accessibility after-hours for urgent/emergency care...& here in the UP it is no different. Most offices require active client status to be eligible for emergency service for multiple logistical reasons.
But...
2wk ago today we were having dinner with friends and received a call about a dog who had been shot. Caller was local but dog didn't have a vet. We agreed to see him and assess the situation.
Story goes--dog got startled by a loud noise, took off & neighbor shot him for being on his property. Don't know if that's true or if the dog was in his chicken coop causing chaos but... dog not walking on a rear leg and clearly wounded.
I recommended taking a rad to evaluate bone and see if what I was feeling was indeed the slug. Bone intact and slug close-ish to surface. I recommended we knock him out, clean his wounds & try to fish it out. Owner agreed that was best. Try as we did, it kept tracking back on its entrance path. To avoid further injury after 30min we stapled him up and started him on pain meds and antibiotics with a plan to remove staples and update his Rabies, as he'd never had one, the following Wed.
Now here's the best part, after giving an estimate before we started and the owner agreeing to it, he tells me as we're getting ready to send him home, he only has a portion of it.
Never met the guy, don't know the dog. I'm now thinking, I've just left my night with friends, to not be compensated for my time, the radiology equipment, medication for sedation, instruments, go home meds...
I smile, and say 'All good, just pay me the balance when we remove the staples-- it will be ~$X.'
And guess what...?
He didn't show. He didn't call. He didn't come for the staples to be removed. He didn't come and take care of his balance...
He had no intentions of coming when he agreed to the follow up appointment. He wasn't ever planning on coming, which is why he so badly wanted that Rabies vaccine that evening.
And this happens way too often! I bet if you asked, it is 1 of the top 5 reasons vets no longer do after-hours calls. Because they give & give & give their time, their family-friend time, their entire personal life away to people who don't appreciate it--again & again & again... and it is just expected 'because you do this job because you love animals.'
Think about that for a little while...
That IS why many private practice vets turn their calls over to answering services & refer you to emergency hospitals.
Because this is an all to often occurrence.
It is exhausting, maddening & heartbreaking to not be appreciated...
So... if you are lucky enough to still have a local vet who provides after-hours Veterinary care--take care of them, because if you don't, there will come a day when they are forced to take back their time...& then what...??
