Elliot Lake, Ont., woman says her dying cat suffered because of vet shortage

No vet able to care for ailing pet in Elliot Lake An Elliot Lake cat owner says her cat was left to struggle in his dying days because she couldn't find a veterinarian.

A shortage of veterinarians is in the spotlight after an Elliot Lake woman endured weeks of not having anywhere to take her ailing cat.

Amanda Potts had just moved to the community when her beloved pet cat Maurice got sick and died when she couldn’t access care.

"I started trying to call around to vets to try and get him an appointment,” Potts said.

“It got to the point where I was syringe-feeding him water and because he was so dehydrated and wouldn't eat and he was losing weight so fast."

She called the local vet's office, she called all over the north shore and on the Manitoulin Island and not a single appointment was available.

After two weeks of seeing him suffer, Maurice had to be put down. He was nearing the end of his life.

Potts said she made a passionate plea to an office and got an appointment to have him put down -- and prepared to say goodbye.

"He ended up suffering and becoming worse from it,” she sobbed.

“So I ended up holding Maurice until he was fully sedated and then they took me from him and brought him inside where I couldn't be with him while they gave him his final injection. So I couldn't even be with him at his last moment."

One veterinarian in town who is familiar with the case told CTV News that he has been working non-stop since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A spokesperson for the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association said that is no surprise. Dr. Brendon Laing said vets across Ontario have been working non-stop since the pandemic.

They're fatigued, they're tired and there is simply not enough of them to go around."

"It's a story that we're hearing more often these days, which is not what we want as veterinarians,” Laing said.

“We all got into the profession because we care deeply about pets and their well-being and what we're hearing these days is emergency clinics these days are under water."

He has heard stories of long appointments at emergency clinics, but said his colleagues are doing ever they can.

The problem also hasn't escaped the College of Veterinarians of Ontario, which said in a statement that groups “continue to work together on measures to help address this complex problem through both short and long-term solutions. This includes working with the provincial government to modernize the college’s governing legislation."

For now, Potts said she's hoping others will learn from her story and those in the profession will be more compassionate.

"Hopefully that people can start looking at making this more of a career for them, especially if they're animal lovers,” she said.

“There is a desperate need for them."