Emergency animal clinics provide emergency services to pets. These animal clinics typically have hours in the late evening, weekends, and during holidays when most regular animal clinics are closed. They see animals that are critically ill and injured and need immediate medical attention. They often offer services, such as emergency exams on pets that are experiencing symptoms like troubling breathing, broken bones, toxin ingestion. In some cases, they provide euthanasia to severely ill pets.

Emergency animal clinics also offer emergency surgeries for pets that have been hit by cars, are suffering from canine bloat, have broken bones or serious wounds, and many other conditions require immediate surgical treatment. Medical procedures they may perform include blood work, radiographs, CT scans, and ultrasounds. Many pet owners will also visit emergency animal clinics for less serious conditions, such as limping, vomiting, diarrhea, and various types of infections.

The staff at emergency animal clinics are specially trained to deal with severely sick and injured animals, and most have had years of experience or have gone through extensive emergency care training, so they are able to properly handle pets that need emergency care.

Some pets will need to be transferred to their regular veterinarian in the morning after a trip to an emergency animal clinic for extended care. Otherwise, owners will contact their pet’s regular veterinarian for a follow-up exam. Pet owners should be aware that a visit to an emergency animal clinic can be much more costly than regular animal clinics because they offer valuable services at inconvenient times.