Pet docs make changes to curb supply shortage, keep doors open amid COVID-19 outbreak

With the coronavirus outbreak threatening to cause shortages of medical supplies in health care facilities around the nation, doctors caring for four-legged patients are being asked to conserve equipment in their clinics to help aid the response to human patients of COVID-19.

Veterinarians in Columbia say they’re changing a number of procedures, including limiting their use of face masks and limiting interaction with people dropping off their pets, both to protect their clinics from the virus and to help alleviate potential supply shortages.

“You won’t see our staff wearing a lot of personal safety equipment,” said Dr. Tracy Schlicksup, co-owner of the Columbia Veterinary Emergency Trauma & Specialty clinic in northeast Columbia. “That is in short supply in the human world, and we understand the priority to keep our doctors and nurses safe as they’re trying to get the humans through this. So we’re trying to limit our usage.”

Schlicksup’s staff is relying more heavily than ever on handwashing to limit the use of sterile gloves and opting not to wear face masks for more minor procedures, she said.

The good news, Schlicksup said, is that vet clinics aren’t concerned at this point about running low on drugs for animals.

“A lot of the medicines being utilized have not come into concern yet because this is a viral disease, there’s not a demand on a particular antibiotic,” Schlicksup said. However, “IV fluids are going to become an issue, so we are doing what we can to be as conservative as possible.”

The American Veterinary Medical Association has said that as of March 22, no supply shortages have been reported by the 32 animal drug companies from China that serve the U.S. However, about one in five of those companies have indicated there could be future shortages, according to the AVMA.

The greatest concern is the availability of personal protective equipment supplies such as masks and gloves, which are in high demand in hospitals and medical centers around the globe.

On Monday, South Carolina officials indicated that medical supplies are running low for health care providers across the state, and health care systems in the Midlands said they are cautiously evaluating their needs for the near future.

As such, veterinary clinics are scaling back the number of elective procedures they’re performing — such as preventative dental cleanings and some spays and neuters — in order to use fewer valuable supplies. They’re also reusing facial masks for certain procedures and foregoing masks for others that do not pose a risk to the doctors or patients, following the guidance of the AVMA.

At Spring Valley Animal Hospital, lone doctor and co-owner Megan Herbers is continuing to see patients for procedures such as the double “cherry eye” surgery she performed on a dog Monday morning. She reused a surgical mask from a similar procedure performed last week. To conserve equipment, she’s following the AVMA’s newer guidance, which has relaxed some of the veterinary field’s normally extensive standards.

“I’m just trying to optimize,” Herbers said.

Herbers said she expects she and other veterinary doctors will have to get creative with their supplies as the coronavirus crisis worsens. But adapting is something she’s used to as a vet.

“It’s a worry, but we’ll get to that,” Herbers said. “Veterinarians, I feel like, we always have to be creative, because not all splints fit the dogs, or when we have to bandage up something, it’s not like one bandage works for everything. So I feel I’m always having to be creative” with use of medical supplies.

While there’s little to no concern of animals possibly spreading COVID-19 to humans, there is concern that doctors and staff in vet clinics keep themselves healthy so the clinics can stay open during the pandemic.

For that reason, many area vets are changing the way they take in animals. Rather than allowing people to bring their animals into clinics and sit in waiting rooms around other clients, many local vets are offering or requiring that pets be picked up and returned to their owners in the parking lot of the clinic to limit close physical interactions among people.

“Our goal is to be able to keep our staff healthy and protect the clients so that we can maintain our services,” Schlicksup said. “We have to do these things so that we keep everybody healthy, because we don’t want to have to close down.”

Herbers and Schlicksup both said they haven’t seen a slowdown in business so far, even as normal activities throughout the community slow to a crawl or halt.

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“I think the big thing is just knowing that we’re going to be there in an emergent situation,” Schlicksup said. “There’s nothing to suggest that emergency vet care is going to be shut down.”

This story was originally published March 25, 2020 at 5:00 AM.

Sarah Ellis Owen

The State

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Sarah Ellis Owen is an editor and reporter who covers Columbia and Richland County. A graduate of the University of South Carolina, she has made South Carolina’s capital her home for the past decade. Since 2014, her work at The State has earned multiple awards from the S.C. Press Association, including top honors for short story writing and enterprise reporting. Support my work with a digital subscription