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.

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.

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