How will I know if my dog can be seen right away in an emergency?

That’s a critical question because there are times where you might walk in with an emergency, and your veterinarian's already in surgery. If it's during regular office hours as something is happening, call your veterinarian immediately. Tell them this is what's going on and that you need to get them in. And they will tell you, "Yes, come on in. We can see you right now," or, "Oh, my doctor's in surgery, and he won't be free for the next hour or so." And maybe there are times you might have to take them to a different veterinary clinic. We have to do what's right and what's best for that patient. If it requires you to go to a different clinic or go to a 24-hour facility, we have to do whatever is best for that patient. Call them before to get a better feel for what's going on and if they can see you immediately or not.

The best thing to do would be to call, whether it's your regular veterinarian or the emergency 24-hour hospital. Giving them some information will help them advise where the best place for your pet to be seen is. We often have multiple pet emergencies at our hospital even though we’re not solely an emergency hospital, so we might refer you to an actual emergency hospital if we’re not equipped to treat your pet best. We’ll always suggest the best thing for your pet.