Sometimes your animal sustains a bad injury or starts to display symptoms that need immediate attention. This is when you will need the services of an emergency vet. If you live in Durham and have farm animals and horses, you will need to find an emergency vet that specialises in livestock as well as domestic animals. It’s often a good idea to make a phone call first to check whether the animal needs immediate attention and your local veterinary practice should be able to provide you with an emergency number.
Building a relationship with a vet for preventative care
Of course, when an emergency occurs, it is most likely that you will already have built up a relationship with a nearby vet. Most domestic animals, but particularly dogs and cats, should ideally visit a vet once a year for an annual check-up. This way, some conditions that could turn into emergencies can be avoided. For example, many people feed their animals a diet that is better suited to humans. They do this out of love, but can cause gastro-intestinal problems for their pet over the years. A regular check-up will help to prevent this as vets usually weigh pets and discuss their health with you – if an animal is becoming listless or overweight it is most likely that it is receiving the wrong food.
Also, regular dental care is something that is often neglected for pets, and the condition can sometimes worsen into an emergency. For instance, cats are prone to a disease that erodes individual teeth. It’s extremely painful and can result in nerve exposure, at which stage your pet will be in agony and will need emergency treatment. Regular attention to its teeth will prevent the condition from occurring. Visit here for more information.
Some conditions are not life-threatening but still might require a trip to the emergency room. These would include an ear or bladder infection, or a broken toenail. Although the animal could probably wait a few hours, if the condition is painful or likely to worsen, it would be best to have it attended to immediately.
The cost of emergency vet services
Once you need emergency services, expect that costs are going to be high. Although healthcare for animals is almost always less expensive than for humans, any surgical procedure is bound to be costly. Your animal might need blood tests or to be put on a drip or special medication, and the bills can mount up. Advice to animal owners is that they should always discuss their financial situation with the vet. There could be alternative procedures that are less costly and yet don’t compromise the health of the animal. Another option is to buy pet insurance – particularly if you have a large number of animals. You can investigate premiums and deductibles and calculate the difference between that and the vet bills that you have been paying to help you make a decision. Interestingly, there are even companies that offer healthcare insurance to both humans and animals and this is also something you could look into.
If you are a pet or animal owner, then chances are that you will need to have an emergency vet in Durham on standby. The Ashfield Veterinary Surgery based in County Durham can be contacted to arrange an appointment.