Pet lovers flock to all-night vet

When Dr. Bernadine Bishop was going to veterinarian school, not all that many years ago, her father liked to remind her of the days when most people would never have considered spending lots of money on medical treatment for their house pets.

When the family dog got sick, you nursed it as best you could through its final days. And when it died, you held a little backyard burial and then went out and got yourself another puppy.

But if the volume of four-footed traffic coming through the doors of the Eastern Maine Emergency Veterinary Clinic is any indication, that kind of thinking is changing fast. The clinic – which celebrated it first anniversary last month – serves such a large geographic region that it rapidly has become the busiest emergency veterinary facility north of Boston.

“The response has been amazing,” said Bishop, who works at the Bangor Veterinary Clinic and is on the board that oversees the emergency center in the Twin City Plaza in Brewer. “The only problem now is that we’ve already outgrown our britches and we’re looking for more space.”

Veterinarians from 25 clinics throughout northern and eastern Maine are involved in the ownership and operation of the clinic, which is one of only three in the state (the others are in Portland and Lewiston).

The participating veterinarians refer their patients to the all-night clinic in Brewer once their own offices are closed for the day. Emergency service is available 5:30 p.m. to 8 a.m. Monday through Thursday and 5:30 p.m. Friday until 8 a.m. Monday. The clinic now employs one full-time veterinarian, down from three in January, but board members hope to hire two more soon to reduce the need for shift-sharing among member veterinarians.

Bishop said the veterinarians who came up with the idea knew from the outset that lots of Maine pet owners would welcome the emergency service, even those who had no pet medical insurance and would have to pay for the expensive treatments out of their pockets.

“Having practiced for eight years and carrying a pager the whole time,” said Bishop, “I’m not surprised at the number of calls we’re getting. I used to get calls about everything from dogs who’d been hit by cars to people who wanted to ask about flea control at 3 in the morning. So our concern from the start was not whether an emergency clinic was needed or wanted, but whether this community could financially support it.”

Those doubts vanished quickly. With little advance publicity, the clinic treated about six animals on its first Monday.

Now, Bishop said, the staff sees anywhere from five to 10 animals on a typical weeknight. On a busy weekend, especially in the summer when animals are more active outdoors, the doctor may see as many as three or four animals an hour.

Aside from the traumatic injuries caused by vehicles and falling objects, animals are treated for everything from gastrointestinal disorders to kidney failures, poisonings to painful run-ins with porcupines.

Not only are there lots of Maine people willing to pay the high price of emergency veterinary medicine, they’re also happy to drive hours in the middle of the night, if necessary, to get their pets the treatment they need.

“I think there’s been a nationwide change in attitude about how people think of their pets,” Bishop said. “Yes, pets do fill a huge void in people’s lives. A lot of people think of their pets as their children, in a way, and they’re willing to put out a lot of money for their care. That’s a big difference from a generation or two ago.”