A look at veterinary care in Saskatchewan during the pandemic

As with any field, animal health care has seen some bumps in the road during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, things are starting to get back to normal for one Regina veterinarian.

Dr. Lesley Sawa, a vet at the Animal Clinic of Regina, said the main changes vets are currently dealing with are related to wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) and sanitizing surfaces.

“Masks are pretty much mandatory in my clinic … We are still being very careful because now that things are opening, people are travelling … The potential for infection is still there,” she explained.

In the early days of the coronavirus in Saskatchewan, procedures were restricted to only emergencies. A big part of that was in order to conserve PPE. However, Sawa is now able to meet the needs of most pets.

“It seems now the PPE for doctors and everything is in fairly good shape, so we feel comfortable using our masks and caps again so we can perform sterile procedures, and we’re not going to run out … At this point, we are doing everything: Spays, neuters, vaccinations, all of those things,” she said.

While it’s far from a common problem, some animals can contract the coronavirus.

Sawa said both cats and ferrets are vulnerable.

It’s most likely if the animal’s owner tests positive for the virus, which could cause some issues in treating the pet.

“We ask a lot of questions … We would certainly hope anybody would come forward to say, ‘I have COVID, my cat’s sick,’ then we would need to figure out how that cat could be seen,” she explained.

“Everybody wants to be with their pet, but ideally the pet should not be around that person, because that pet can now become infected or possibly transfer (the virus) to a human.”

However, it’s still not a major risk.

“They don’t usually get really sick,” Sawa said of the animals. “Any of the cats or ferrets that have died were sick with other things. They were very old, or had other comorbidities … But it’s very, very rare for any of these cases. The numbers have been very, very small.

“In general, we’re seeing all pets, and just hoping that everybody’s being honest on whether they’ve been exposed or not … Regina has been in pretty good shape, so at this point we’ve relaxed a lot of those restrictions.”