What to do in a disaster...
We offer an emergency after hours service for our companion animals based at our Hawera branch. If you have an emergency, please call your usual clinic number and you’ll be put in contact with the on duty emergency vet.
Hawera 06 278 5149
Stratford 06 765 6085
Manaia 06 274 8025
Patea 06 273 8678
So what is an emergency?
Sometimes it can be tricky to decide whether you need an emergency call out, or whether your pet will be fine until usual opening hours the next day. The following is a list of things which we would consider absolute emergencies, however animals can get themselves into all sorts of interesting scrapes, and we couldn't attempt to cover them all in one list - so if you're worried, call us and we'll figure it out from there.
- Severe bleeding or bleeding that doesn't stop within 5 minutes
- Choking, difficulty breathing or nonstop coughing and gagging
- Bleeding from nose, mouth, rectum, coughing up blood, or blood in urine
- Inability to urinate or pass feces (stool), or obvious pain associated with urinating or passing stool
- Injuries to your pet's eye(s)
- You suspect or know your pet has eaten something poisonous (such as antifreeze, xylitol, chocolate, rodent poison, etc.)
- Seizures and/or staggering
- Fractured bones, severe lameness or inability to move leg(s)
- Obvious signs of pain or extreme anxiety
- Heat stress or heatstroke
- Severe vomiting or diarrhea – more than 2 episodes in a 24-hour period, or either of these combined with obvious illness or any of the other problems listed here
- Refusal to drink for 24 hours or more
- Unconsciousness
- Hit by/fallen from a vehicle
- Bloated stomach (especially if accompanied by retching)
- Whelping bitch that's having difficulties
- An extremely lethargic animal
But - if in doubt, call us.