Medical emergencies are those in which there is an imminent threat of loss of life.
Examples include:
- Uncontrollable blood loss
- Lack, or extreme difficulty, breathing
- Weak or lack of pulse
- Collapse with lack of response that lasts for more than 2 minutes
- Persistent colic (equine)
- Production emergencies: Sudden widespread death loss, calving difficulties, milk fever/grass tetany, etc.
On occasion, various URGENT problems are mistaken for emergencies.
Some common examples are:
- Acute lameness (with the exception of broken limbs)
- Lacerations (superficial, without uncontrollable blood loss)
- Put the animal in an environment where the laceration will remain clean and it should be fine until the next business day.
- Coughing
- Often produces a gag type response that give the appearance that there is something lodged in the throat. This is seldom the case.
- Seizures
- With the exception of seizures that occur more than once within a 3 hour period, possible seizure events can usually wait to be evaluated the next available business day.
- Acute vomiting/diarrhea
- While seldom a pleasant event, sudden onset of vomiting/diarrhea should be evaluated the next available business day
- Please do not wait several days before seeking care as this may lead to dehydration
True medical emergencies will always be treated as such. However, urgent-care and convenience requests will be handled as deemed appropriate by the attending veterinarian.