Veterinarian Maurice helps day and night and that is an exception in North Holland

“During a castration we remove both testicles.” It is nine o’clock in the morning, veterinarian Maurice (36) has already completed a number of emergency appointments and has now started the first operation of the day. He removes a dog’s testicles with precision. “Catering is no longer a standard procedure, we look at it on a case-by-case basis. Some anxious dogs can become more fearful without testosterone. You first have to know what kind of character the animal has.”

The dog is given a painkiller and then placed in a crate to recover from the anesthesia. The operation is over. Rick, Maurice’s cat, walks in (‘he came into the clinic as a kitten in a coma, and when he finally recovered he was hit by a car’). He settles on the scales.

Maurice started his own clinic two years ago in a garage under a large willow tree, right next to his house. “It was impossible to buy a veterinary clinic, because investment companies took over for huge sums. So when I saw this house with a garage in a residential area, I took my chance. I built everything myself.”

To say things are going well is an understatement. He sees 40 to 50 patients in the treatment room every day. He now also employs a veterinarian part-time. The phone at the veterinary clinic is ringing off the hook for veterinary assistant Sam.

Hardly any emergency care in the region

“Coffee?” asks Maurice. An important fuel during the day. “I just finished a 72-hour shift.” Although his mood doesn’t seem affected. He helps patients in the treatment room with a lot of patience and a big smile.

Maurice is one of the few veterinarians who works weekend and night shifts. He alternates evenings and nights with his West Frisian colleagues from the De Streek veterinary clinic in Bovenkarspel to continue to help the patients of the two clinics.

There is a serious shortage of veterinarians who work night shifts. “The pressure on the vet is great, so many veterinary clinics outsource care at night to the emergency clinic Medical Center for Animals in Amsterdam.” Moreover, specialist care is only possible there. Maurice: “There was to be a central post for emergency care, in Den Helder or Alkmaar, but nothing happened.”

“Last night I had someone who came from Enkhuizen with his pet, and had to go to Amsterdam for emergency surgery with a probable gastric torsion. But the clinic there was full, so he was referred to Rijswijk. While the animal needed surgery within half an hour In this case, the animal was very old and could not have been saved with proper care, so I put him to sleep.”

Unnecessary death

Maurice experiences it at least once a month: a pet that dies unnecessarily because emergency care is too far away. In West Friesland there are a number of other veterinarians who work together at night, but the higher you go into North Holland, the less care there is. “In fact, there is no care at all at night, there are a few clinics available until eleven o’clock at night, but not at night.”

He is very concerned about this, but he also has to get to work: the next patient comes in. Bouvier Shadow is still weak and his temperature is going all over the place, says the owner. He had also come by twice during the weekend. Maurice explains that the temperature also changes in humans when someone has a fever. “Your body turns on a heater to drive out the virus.”

To be sure, the vet takes blood to test whether there is anything wrong with Shadow’s organs. “If you wait fifteen minutes, you will have the results in no time.” The dog owner does this with love.

Everyone in the waiting room raves about the animal clinic. “Maurice is always there for you,” says a cat owner. “My previous vet did not offer emergency care after noon. While you don’t call for fun, usually it concerns acute care, then I would have to go all the way to Amsterdam,” says the owner of dog Max. “The costs were exorbitant at my previous vet,” says another cat owner.

High prices

Maurice sees with concern that the costs are skyrocketing for a vet visit. Before this, he worked for two clinics owned by an investment company. “The vet and assistant are poorly paid, while the pet owner pays the top price. That really bothered me, that’s why I wanted to set up my own clinic. Even I could barely afford the veterinary costs for my own animals, then you know something isn’t right. Correct.”

In his practice he sees animal owners who sound the alarm late because of the fear of high costs. “I know the financial situation of some people, and I also take that into account by immediately intervening if it seems serious. I usually already see what is going on, without, for example, taking a blood test, which in turn costs extra. entails.” In the municipality of Hoorn there is no financial arrangement for minimum wage earners. Although there is an emergency fund from Animal Protection. In Amsterdam, care can be (partially) reimbursed by the municipality if you receive social assistance benefits. It is something he would like to discuss with the municipality of Hoorn, if he still finds a gap in his 80-hour working week.

The door of the treatment room opens: a proud owner of six curious faces enters. The kittens receive one more vaccination shot and are weighed before the new owners can pick them up and cuddle them. They have all neatly doubled in weight. “One of the kittens will become an assistance cat for a child with mild autism. It’s fantastic that a cat can help with that,” says the cat owner.

And there go the kittens again, piled up in the carrier. The next patient is already waiting.

Maurice continues until nine o’clock in the evening, and then he has a well-deserved night off.