It’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon on a Saturday. Do you know what veterinarian is open in your town?
You probably know your own veterinarian’s office hours from trying to set appointments. (If you don’t, now would be a good time to check them out!) Our usual vet’s hours are what seem to be most common in this part of the country: 8-6 during the week, and Saturday mornings, but closed on Saturday afternoon and Sunday.
What happens when you have a seriously sick or injured cat and your vet just closed an hour ago? It’s off to the emergency vet, right? Well, not necessarily.
You Might Have Alternatives to the Emergency Vet
What if you have other vets in your area that might still be open? Do you know for sure? If you live in a tiny town with only two veterinarian offices, you probably do know. But if you’re in a bigger city, take a look into the business hours for the ones that are in a reasonable distance from where you live.
If you don’t have a list of veterinarians near you, one of the easiest ways to look them up by proximity is to search your address on Google Maps, then search for nearby veterinarians. The map will show you their locations.
Those aren’t chickenpox on the map.We’re lucky that each red dot is a veterinarian or vet supply company in our city!
Clicking on each pin on the map displays information that usually includes the hyperlink to the vet’s web site, which should include their hours of business. If the hours of business aren’t apparent on the web site, try under an “about us” link or even a link to make an appointment to find the hours. Keep in mind that not every vet may show up on the map. We spotted at least one missing on our local map, but it’s a good start.
You might be surprised at what you learn about the hours for some of the vets you drive past every day. I recently discovered that there’s a vet near me whose office is open until 11pm on weeknights and 7 pm both weekend days. I’ve never been to this vet, but if I have a suddenly sick or injured cat an hour after my regular vet closes, I might go there instead of the emergency vet.
Now that you have gathered this information, write it down. You won’t need it until there’s an urgent situation with your cat, and you don’t want to misremember which vet was open late when you’re driving around with a cat needing medical attention. My list is on the side of the refrigerator, tucked safely behind the sheet of paper that has basic information about the cats and their main emergency phone numbers. I also have a list in the notepad on my phone, since you never know when you might need that information.
Finally, every six months or so, take five minutes to verify that the office hours for the veterinarians on your list haven’t changed. I’ve shown up with a formerly-24-hour vet with a cat hit by a car, and it’s a really bad feeling to pull into an empty parking lot after dark, wondering, “What now?” Spare a few minutes now and then to be sure nothing has changed.
That’s all you need to do to ensure that if your kitty has an urgent situation after hours, you know all of your options and can get care as quickly as possible.
Photo credit
depositphotos/photo-deti
That’s something to think about… although our Emergency vet is really, really close to us, and is AAHA accredited, so we like them a lot!
Our vet is closed on Saturday afternoon and all day on a Sunday but if they are needed they do a rota and answer the telephone so in an emergency they can arrange to see you within an hour. We like this as they read the file on the animal who needs attention and know their history by the time they arrive.
Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx
That’s some good information. Most of the vets around here have similar hours, we find. But our emergency vet is a 24 hour operation.
great information….we have info like that on a sheet with our info on a cabinet door
That is a great reminder. We are lucky that there are 3 24 hour vets about 45 minutes away.
That is absolutely fantastic information. Emergencies never seem to happen during “normal business hours” so being prepared ahead of time can make all the difference in the world.
This is a fantastic idea. I know of a couple of vets that are open later than ours and on weekends.
Thus far, we’ve had to make three emergency room vet trips – the babies tend to get horribly sick on holidays or at like 2am! I will definitely check the vets nearest to us to see who’s open when. Thanks for the reminder.
What very important reminder. We will sure take note.
Excellent food for thought!
Such a good idea! Those emergencies always happen when you are least prepared for them. It could really take a load off your shoulders to at least know which vet to head to in an emergency.
Great info! Fortunately we have email and home phone and cell phone for our special Vet.
That is good advice. At our vet surgery there is always one vet and 2 nurses on emergency cover. When we rang at Christmas for Flynn one of the senior vets was on duty and it was him who managed to get Flynn so much better. We have made sure we have seen him every time since then.
such great advice. we are way too familiar with too many vets lately. adding search for mobile vets/housecalls is another option.
guys…pleez knot ta get uz started on vetz…. they werk round heer like 8 ta 5; N if ewe haza emergencee…. de 24 office iz like 30 minits a way… itz de onlee one in de NE korner oh de …..hole state…cod help thoz comin in frum another citee…N bee fore they even start de “exam”..its like cash or charge card ? faaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
anyway…grate post ….heerz two an arctic char kinda week oh end ♥♥♥
That’s a really good idea. Our vet is open 7 days a week, but he’s in Manhattan. If there was a big emergency, Mommy would want to go somewhere closer to home because it could take FOREVER to get there in traffic.
Wow, you are super organized! That is really good information. We live in a small town with only a couple of vets. Since we moved, mom says she doesn’t know where she would go in an emergency. Better get to researching!
When we needed to take Nicky to the emergency vet at 10 pm, TW spent an hour on the phone calling every vet in the county to try to find one that was open. Even the vets who had late hours would only take pets that were their patients. They wound up wasting an hour and then having to drive another hour to the emergency vet so you should make sure those vets with late hours will see new patients.
That’s good advice, CK! We know one of them does, because one of the previous generation of cats went in on a Sunday afternoon, but this vet who is open until 11 is a new find. Asking lots of questions so you know the story is always the best plan. When in doubt, ask!
We keep the pet poison 800 number handy too. (So far I am the only one my mom has ever had to call about–for some reason, she thought I had eaten some Sculpey [as if!], which is non-toxic to humans but unknown with cats. I was only about 5 months old at the time.)
Great reminder ! Our vet is open from Monday to Saturday morning. If it’s close, the automatic answer tells you where to find an on-call veterinarian. Purrs
This is great advice and something that people don’t think about until they need a vet. I have our vet numbers in my mobile phone with their opening hours. The Emergency Vet is about 35 mins drive although they’re open 24 hours. *sharing*
I keep forgetting that not everyone lives in a rural area.. people with multiple vet options are so lucky!