Having worked as a full time Emergency Vet for over four years Dr Ken Robinson is well acquainted with emergency situations such as acute poisonings, envenomation, snake bite, tick bite, emergency obstetrics and trauma cases. Trauma patients make up a large part of emergency veterinary medicine including car accidents and fight wounds. Many of these Cases require Shock treatment and/or emergency surgery. Other conditions such as “Bloat” (Gastric Dilation Volvulus), Cesarian Sections and breach births are also a common part of emergency medicine. The list is long.
Because of this Dr Kens Vet Clinic is well equipped and ready to handle any emergency situation during normal office hours. While we cater to “out of hours in-patients” i.e. care for hospitalised patients 24/7, our consulting hours are limited to normal hours. Starting at 08:00 am to 6pm. Emergencies after these hours should be seen by your nearest “out of hours”/24 hour emergency clinic. See also our listing.
Some Tips on handling an Emergency.
In the case of an Emergency it is best to ring your nearest Vet Clinic as soon as possible. Let them know exactly what happened and get their advice before rushing off to the clinic. It will only take a few minutes and you may receive life-saving advice before you can get there.
If you’re not alone get someone to call the clinic on the way to the clinic for advice.
If your animal is too large to lift and can’t walk use a blanket or a towel as a stretcher and don’t be shy to ask neighbours for help lifting into car. (lay the blanket next to your pet and gently roll it onto the blanket)
If your animal ate something BRING A SAMPLE or the whole box or bottle.
If your animal killed a snake only bring the snake if it is REALLY DEAD.
In the case of seizures it is always good to bring a VIDEO for the vet to see as seizures often resolve/stop after a few minutes.
If your animal is on medication already, bring all records and medicine to the clinic as well.
Try as best you can to Keep a cool head and drive safely. If you don’t have a car, ask a neighbour for help. This may even be a better idea than driving yourself.
All things said and done we hope you will never need to use this advice. 😄