Emergency
If your pet has a medical emergency outside of our regular business hours, please contact your closest veterinary emergency clinic for assistance.
Just like with people, our pets can experience accidents and injuries that require immediate care. However, sometimes it may be difficult to determine if your pet is experiencing a trauma that warrants a visit to urgent care or if their symptoms are those of something less serious. If you are unsure whether your pet is in need of urgent care, please call our office so that we can help you determine the best course of action for your pet.
When should you seek emergency pet care services?
- Pet is non-responsive or not breathing
- Pet is straining to breath (labored) with much abdominal effort
- Choking, frequent gagging without producing any vomit
- Pet’s gums are pale white or blue
- Distended stomach or bloating
- Pet is straining to urinate or unable to urinate (emergency in male cats)
- Pet is bleeding severely and/or bleeding cannot be controlled
- Lacerations or injuries where bone/muscle is visible
- Fractured bones, severe lameness or the inability to move
- Obvious signs of pain and/or distress
- Eye injuries
- Seizures (when no known cause is available)
- Traumatic injury or blunt force trauma (Hit by car, dog attack, fall)
- Toxin/poison ingestion
Please know that while we pride ourselves on being able to see your pet when they are ill, there are some cases where urgent, emergency or critical care cases are best overseen by veterinarians and teams that are solely focused on the needs of acute injury or illness and we may recommend referral to a veterinary emergency clinic.
What to do if you think your pet has eaten something poisonous
Did your dog or cat just eat something that may possibly be poisonous or harmful to their health? Call your veterinarian or a Pet Poison Control Helpline for help immediately! The sooner we can determine the risk to your pet, the easier, less expensive, and safer it is for your pet to get treated!
What to do if your dog or cat is poisoned:
- Remove your pet from the area.
- Check to make sure your pet is safe: breathing and acting normally.
- Do NOT give any home antidotes.
- Do NOT induce vomiting without consulting a vet or an animal poison helpline.
- Call a poison control helpline.
- If veterinary attention is necessary, contact your veterinarian or emergency veterinary clinic immediately.
- If medical care is required, be sure to take any packaging or other information regarding the ingested product to your veterinarian.
Call us at 207-729-4164 immediately! If after hours, contact the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center’s 24-hour hotline at (888) 426-4435 or the PetPoison Helpline at (855) 764-7661. Trained toxicologists will consider the age and health of your pet, what was ingested, and then make a recommendation about what action should be taken.
Please be aware that consultation rates may apply when contacting a Poison Control Helpline.
