There are many times when your furry friends need care outside normal opening hours and that’s why we have always provided 24 Hour Veterinary Care for our local community.
Our Veterinary services are available 24 hours, 7 days a week. We always have a Vet available to see you, so if you have a pet emergency – please call.
Our state of the art facilities enable us to provide immediate treatment including vital medications, fluid therapy, oxygen therapy, urgent surgery and overnight supervised care.
We also have the capability to provide in house diagnostics such as blood tests and X-Rays, which can be done while you wait. Our equipment and facilities are the same you would find in any Animal Emergency Centre.
This means we can perform any kinds of treatment or surgery your pet needs any time day or night.
All after hours consultations and services are available at our Main Hospital in Whittlesea.
After Hours Services
Overnight patient monitoring (Baby sitting) service
Let us take care of your pet overnight. If your vet can’t provide the necessary overnight care – we can provide that for you. Many vets keep patients in overnight but do not have staff on the premises keeping an eye on them.
We can admit your pet overnight between 7.00 pm and 8.00 pm for collection any time after 7.30 am the next morning. (Weekdays)
Your pet will be fully supervised and monitored all night by our overnight nurse (and vet if necessary). You can then return your pet to your regular vet for further treatment.
Emergency Surgery
Our surgical team can be called in at short notice if your pet needs urgent or emergency surgery.
After Hours Consultations
If there’s something about your pet that worries you, we suggest an after hours consultation with our vet. While these are naturally more expensive than our weekday consultations, they’re often more cost effective than taking time of work the next day. Plus you’ll have peace of mind knowing that your pet has received the treatment it needs should it be something serious.
Contacting us After Hours
Our phone lines are diverted to a mobile where our triage nurse can take your call.
If your call is not immediately answered, it means they are attending to other things.
If your call is urgent – please leave a short message.
Your call can be returned as soon as the nurse is available.
Please always call first if you need an after hours appointment so the vet knows you are coming.
Our doors are locked outside our normal business hours so you will require an appointment for the nurse to be authorised to open the door.
We do this for safety and security reasons.
Please note – you will not be granted access after hours without a booked appointment.
When to call a Vet after hours?
You should call a vet at any time you feel your pet is unwell or has been injured. This is especially true for sudden onset changes in your pet’s health or behaviour.
Based on your information, our duty vet will be able to help determine whether your pet needs to be seen straight away or make an appointment to see you in the morning.
We know it’s often difficult to know whether something is urgent or whether it can wait until morning so we’ve listed some symptoms of conditions which do require immediate attention
These Need Immediate Veterinary Attention. Don’t Delay
Bloat
If you suspect your dog may be bloating – Call us immediately and come straight down. This is a true emergency and CANNOT wait.
Snake Bite
- If your pet has been bitten by a snake or even just suspect so – do not wait until further symptoms develop. Your pet needs immediate treatment or monitoring.
Seizures
- Seizures can be mild or life threatening if severe.
Poisoning
- If you suspect your pet has ingested poison of any kind – immediate treatment is needed. This includes chocolate and grape toxicity.
Blocked cat
- If your male cat is straining to urinate and cannot pass urine, this is another TRUE EMERGENCY. Do not delay treatment as this condition is fatal.
Whelping
- If your bitch is in active labour and not producing puppies within an hour of starting, she needs to be seen. The same applies to cats.
General & Non Urgent Enquiries
If you have questions of a general nature then we ask you to please give us a call during our normal opening hours.
These are much better handled during the day when all our staff are on board and have time to explain things in more detail.