Our Emergency and Critical Care units can assist in all of the following situations:

• Evaluation and treatment of walk-in patients and referred cases, 24-hours per day, 365 days per year
• Initial diagnostics (digital radiographs, brief ultrasound, ECG, blood pressure)
• Arrangement of further diagnostics and consultation with other internal specialties
• Initial stabilization and therapy for variety of trauma and medical illnesses
• Continuous care and therapy for hospitalized patients, including case coverage for specialty services overnight and on weekends
• Surgical repair of minor wounds and other injuries
• Emergency soft tissue surgery such as GDV/gastropexy, enterotomy, resection/anastamosis, pyometra, Cesarian section, splenectomy
• Oxygen therapy and respiratory support
• Nutritional support: enteral and total parenteral
• Advanced pain management
• Transfusion therapy including blood typing, cross matching, plasma, packed red cells, cryoprecipitate
• Arterial and central venous blood pressure monitoring
• Pulse oximetry
• Blood gas evaluation and monitoring
• End-tidal carbon dioxide measurement
• Electrocardiography (ECG) continual monitoring

Our ICU's specialized services and equipment:

• 24-hour care and monitoring by veterinarians and veterinary technicians
• Complete diagnostic lab for immediate test results
• Blood gas analyzer
• Emergency surgery
• Small animal ICU equipment
• Digital radiography and ultrasound
• Oxygen therapy
• Pulse oximetry, end-tidal CO2, blood pressure and continuous ECG monitoring
• Continuous rate infusion for IV fluids and medications
• Advanced pain management
• Video-endoscopy
• Nutritional support

What is Critical Care?

While an emergency is unfolding, or throughout recovery from a serious illness or accident, ongoing diagnostic and therapeutic care and constant monitoring of your pet's condition may be required. Many emergency and critical care facilities offer 24-hour supervision of critically ill pets and, just as in human hospitals, may have dedicated Intensive Care and Critical Units (ICU/CCU). Such facilities are equipped to provide oxygen therapy, cardiac monitoring, blood transfusion, and nutritional support. Such facilities also typically have advanced diagnostic capabilities onsite, such as ultrasound, echocardiography, CT scan and MRI.

Will My Regular Veterinarian Still Be Involved?

Most emergency hospitals work on a referral basis with general practitioners. In some cases, your pet will only be referred to the emergency service for after hours care. In other cases, your pet may be in the care of the emergency and appropriate specialist for the duration of the emergency and recovery, but then referred back to your general practitioner veterinarian for follow up and routine care.