Jul. 27—The pet health-care business is facing a chronic shortage of veterinary professionals, and St. Joseph clinics are no exception.

In a study by Mars Veterinary Health, researchers found pet ownership is on the rise, with a 33% increase nationally in pet health spending expected in the next 10 years. By 2030, the organization expects nearly 41,000 additional veterinarians will be needed to meet animal needs nationwide.

While these statistics reflect a national vet shortage in the United States, clinics in St. Joseph are feeling the same effects.

Jim Mrkvicka, a doctor of veterinary medicine who owns Animal Tales Veterinary Clinic, said he has seen an influx of appointments.

"We've had to triage the clients that call in and we take the most urgent ones," Mrkvicka said. "We've had to adjust schedules. We've shortened our lunch hour so that we can accommodate even more clients and lengthened our day a little bit. There's a lot of creativity involved with trying to service that many people."

Eric Haeker, a veterinarian at Countryside Veterinary Clinic, said while the clinic does not take appointments, they are noticing an increase in clients from around the region due to the shortage.

"We're seeing a large number of people not just from St. Joseph but from north of Kansas City, Smithville, Cameron and all over just because there is a shortage of veterinarians working full time," Haeker said.

Pet care industry changes aren't just affecting clinics. Fantastic Fido's, a boarding, grooming, training and dog daycare facility, also has seen an increase in business.

"We have filled up very quickly this year in our boarding facility for this summer," said Kelly Morris, assistant operations manager at Fantastic Fido's. "We are telling people to give us two, three, four weeks in advance notice. Daycare typically fills up every day as well."

Mrkvicka attributes the vet shortage to a few different factors.

"I think some of that is due to the pandemic," Mrkvicka said. "At least locally, there's been a lot of veterinarians leaving the area or retiring and there's not a lot of new faces that come in to fill those voids.

Haeker said he does not think there is a true veterinary shortage but rather an issue of getting enough vets to work full time.

"I think there are plenty of veterinarians out there, but getting them to work full time is very difficult," he said.

Another issue contributing to the shortage could be graduating veterinary students wanting to live in bigger cities, Haeker said.

"The type of student we're accepting maybe tends to gravitate towards the larger cities so they can work part time," he said.

Haeker also said COVID-19 caused a spike in business and that it has continued to go through the roof.

Mrkvicka agreed and said his clinic has grown since it opened, but it seems like a surge of business happened around the pandemic.

"I think there were a lot of adoptions and things that took place during that time frame," Mrkvicka said. "Moving forward, there's just so much demand and just not enough resources to go around."

Mrkvicka said that the vet shortages create longer wait times for pets to be seen.

"As the demand goes up and the supply goes down, you do see the prices go up a little bit with inflation and the cost of goods and services," Mrkvicka said. "The impact is that there's a lot of pets that have to wait a long time to get in and that's one of the challenges with us, trying to triage the more critical need ones to come in first."

While the demand for appointments is high, Animal Tales Veterinary Clinic is not yet booked through the end of the year.

"We're probably three or four weeks out for appointments," Mrkvicka said. "We try to save some spots for emergencies, but I think this is our busiest year. We've not typically been booked this far out, but we are absorbing a lot of clients from the practices that are not accepting new patients. We are stretched."

Fantastic Fido's is hosting a vaccine clinic Saturday, July 30, in St. Joseph. As of Tuesday, the clinic was already full.

"We are super excited about (it), and if this continues to be a need, that's something that we might be able to continue to partner with local veterinarians and provide that service again," Morris said. "I think this year we filled up quicker than in previous years."

Haeker is hopeful that veterinary students will see the value in the St. Joseph community and choose to work here.

"All we can do is hang in there and do the best we can and hopefully they'll be more students that gravitate this way in the future," Haeker said.