When was the last time you needed to take a dog to the veterinarian after regular business hours – you know, in an emergency? In the past few years alone, I’ve taken dogs (foster and my own) to the closest hospital providing 24-hour emergency services at least a half dozen times, for a puppy with a suspected broken leg (it wasn’t), a puppy with an injured eye (remember Odin? He eventually had to have the eye removed, despite prompt and lengthy treatment), and several times for my dog Woody, who has had after-hours treatment for lots of things.
NOTHING happens to Woody during regular hours! He’s needed stitches (cut his back legs on something while skidding to a stop playing fetch), swallowed a small tennis ball (they made him vomit it up), had a suspected bloat (he had gotten into the foster Great Dane puppies’ food and ate way too much, but was able to start pooping and get relief while we waited for service), and one night, he tanked with a sudden fever and vomiting and diarrhea (not sure what that was, but he was hospitalized overnight on fluids and antibiotics and recovered).
It’s been a couple of years since he’s needed emergency care – KNOCK WOOD – but if you have an accident-prone dog like Woody, take note: Many veterinary hospitals who ordinarily provide 24-hour, emergency services have begun suspending those emergency hours and overnight service. In my area alone, the closest three hospitals I could take a dog or puppy to in the middle of the night have suspended overnight service indefinitely. All three are citing staffing shortages as the reason for this. If something happened to my dog tonight, I’d be driving about 80 miles to the closest emergency vet hospital still operating overnight – and, presumably, so would a lot of other people whose hospitals did the same. The domino effect here, alone, is terrifying to ponder, with so many cases flowing to a few concentrated emergency-care providers.
I was first alerted to this by a friend who forwarded an email that one of her training clients had received from the emergency care provider in our area, stating that the hospital was closing at 9p.m., and no longer available for emergency care until 7 a.m. Since my trainer friend also provides boarding services, and needs to be able to take clients’ dogs for care in case of an emergency, she started calling around to see if the next closest emergency-care providers were available. That’s when she discovered that two more had followed suit and suspended their overnight emergency services. All three hospitals are citing staffing shortages as the reason for the suspension.
Shortly after I learned this, I saw an article (linked here) posted on a friend’s Facebook page, discussing the suspension of emergency veterinary services by a BluePearl Pet Hospital in North Seattle. Several friends of my California friend commented that the same thing was happening in their towns – in Colorado, New Jersey, Oregon …
So, just a heads-up: It might be worth a call to whatever veterinary hospital you usually go to in case of an overnight emergency, to check to see if they are still providing service after regular business hours. If they are not, it’s better to know now, so you’d know where to go in case of an actual emergency without a last-minute panic.
And also: Has this happened in your area? If so, please post a comment here.
That’s happened here too in the SF bag area. I started googling and checking all over a couple weeks ago and was shocked to find so many emergency rooms closed. I’ve also noticed lots of turnover at my own vet in the last year.
We took our dog to SAGE emergency center at Campbell during the last weekend, at night. She had bloody diarrhea and kept vomiting. We waited in the parking lot for three hours before being checked. The lack of the staffing is obvious.
We said goodbye to a beloved kitty this past 4th of July weekend at our local emergency clinic in Bellingham, Washington, a 10-min drive from where we live. My friend, who is a veterinarian there, explained that this clinic is the only one left open in Western WA. I was shocked. We, too, have been to the emergency clinic after-hours for every dog we’ve had, more than once. I can’t imagine what we would do without the comfort of knowing the Animal Emergency Clinic is a few minutes away. Scary! And I feel so fortunate to live in Bellingham!
It is absolutely false that there is “only one emergency clinic left open in western WA. There are a number of them still operating 24/7 in Snohomish and King Counties, alone. My cat was just in one of them for 4 days over the 4th of July weekend. Do your research, and correct that horribly misinformed person.
Natalie is correct, there are many 24/7 ER clinics open in Western WA. I have actually only heard of Blue Pearl-North Seattle closing their ER clinic; but Animal Medial Center (also a 24/7 ER clinic) is only 10-ish minutes away.
Yes, Blue Pearl ER on Aurora (Seattle) closed…but Blue Pearl has one downtown Seattle & in Kirkland.
Animal Medical Center on 175th & 15th (North City) is wonderful
Emerald City ER on Stoneway Seattle is also good!
Been to them all…
Bellingham does Not have the only one left…
I sm tired of vet and vet personnel defending these “pauses”. We are you doing by refusing care is immoral
There hasn’t been an emergency vet here in Lake County since I moved here in 2012. There is a phone number that can connect us to a vet at night who may or may not be able to meet us at an office about 40 mins away but this is not reliable. It’s one of the few things that keeps me uneasy about having pets where I live. I have been trying to educate myself on animal medicine but I know how risky that can be too.
The closest emergency veterinary hospital anytime for us is 50 miles away. I recently called at 2:30 am to find that unless they deemed my dog’s condition to be life threatening, I wouldn’t be able to see a vet until maybe 8 am due to short staffing and an overload of patients.
I understand that they’ve recently had to hire security guards due to upset clients…
Yes. All of the vets here in Grand Forks, ND are sending people to the emergency clinic 80 miles away. I’ve heard of pets passing because they don’t have that kind of time. Also, I find it strange that all of our vets are still curbside. I can guess that the staff are going out to eat and out in the evening and not wearing a mask or anything, yet they are still curbside. A vet tech friend of mine stated that they’re hoping it stays this way forever because they love not dealing with people. 🤬
Our vet also in the Tucson area, all of them do not want to have to deal with the evil “public”, and dogs and cats cannot talk so who knows how our animals are being treated, I hate the way they have taken full advantage of this pandemic, alot of the people that work in the vets hospitals are totally on a power trip, it is so sad.
I know a vet tech who said same. I would love to tell her who does she think cares for their pets and will give them their medicine etc.
These people need to find a different job if they can’t deal with pet owners.
Blue Pearl Hope in Malvern, Pa limited hours. No Saturday hrs.
Blue Pearl in Shillington, Pa still 24/7
VRC in Malvern, Pa 24/7
I have used all three in the past, closest is 15 minutes farthest is 1 hr+. This was according to their Websites.
Our local VCA hospital (Versailles KY) is blaming the end of their 24-hour emergency care on the governor’s COVID restrictions, which actually ended over a month ago (see below). I called about re-opening the service and was told that they are looking into putting together an overnight staff. Both the Lexington and Blue Pearl facilities are over 50 miles away from us.
“Emergency Care –
Due to social distancing mandates by the governor of Kentucky relating to the coronavirus, we are unable to provide emergency care after hours. If you have an emergency DO NOT CALL OUR HOSPITAL. We are referring all emergencies to Bluegrass Veterinary Emergency Clinic. They are located at 1591 Winchester Road in Lexington and the number is 859-268-7604. If you live in Frankfort, Metropolitan Veterinary in Louisville may be a quicker option. Their number is 502-266-7007. “
Here in Rhode Island we have very limited 24 hour care to begin with, with just a couple of clinics. But our major ER where most pets go established a Covid protocol after having a 30% increase in emergency care. Due to staffing shortages at regular clinics, many people were having to resort to ERs, which made everything worse. The major ER stayed open 24 hours, but a phone call triage was required, as well as curbside evaluations. Many local pets were referred to the major hospitals in Boston – Tufts and Angel Memorial, but they, too, were overwhelmed. Our local clinics are back to in office care now, but appointments are so far out that clients are not happy. Hopefully things will improve more shortly. Also, the two ER clinics in nearby MA towns had shortened hours, and one required a referral from the pet’s regular vet.
Yes! We received an email from our vet here in Sebastopol, CA (neighbors to another commenter in Santa Rosa, CA) that services would be closing or shortening at several of our 24 hour emergency hospitals.