The coronavirus outbreak has impacted communities and families across the world — it’s even affected the way veterinarians practise in Manitoba.
While veterinarians have not been instructed to shut their doors in the province, there are still changes being made to adhere to physical distancing measures.
“Most of us have had to prioritize the way that we practise, such that we are really trying to prioritize essential cases over non-essential cases,” said Dr. Jonas Watson, president of the Manitoba Veterinary Medical Association.
For non-urgent medical matters, Watson says there are alternative ways of doing medicine.
“A lot of us (veterinarians) are practising telemedicine remotely, using apps like Skype or FaceTime.”
Watson suggests calling your vet before making a personal decision about what’s considered urgent versus non-urgent.
The pandemic primarily affects humans, however according to Watson, there is a chance your pet could also contract COVID-19.
“A total of two dogs in Hong Kong and one cat in Belgium have contracted COVID-19 from their owners,” Dr. Watson said.
Watson says the virus does not appear to make animals significantly ill, and after a quarantine period, the two dogs tested negative for the virus.
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Watson says dogs and cats are not modes of transmission for the virus.
“If a person tested positive for COVID and had a pet, that pet should also be quarantined, but we don’t need to be walking around worried that animals are a source of transmission.”
While veterinarians and doctors treat completely different species, Watson says some of the equipment found in veterinary hospitals could become useful to doctors fighting COVID-19.
“Veterinarians across Canada are participating in a Canadian Veterinary Medical Association poll right now to calculate the number of ventilators across the country and we’ll tally up those numbers and see if we can be of some of use.”
So far, Watson said the province hasn’t approached Manitoba veterinarians for help.
He noted his office is also short on items that many hospitals across Canada are short on — face masks.
“We have one box of masks, that I don’t anticipate that we’ll be able to replace, so we’re all being as frugal and responsible as we can.”
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