FAQs
If you have questions, please do not hesitate to call. If a doctor is not available to take your call, a member of that service may be able to answer your questions. If not, a doctor will call you back.
IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY
When your patient is unstable and moments count, please call us at 604.473.4882 when the patient is on its way or speak to the doctor on duty in the ER + Critical Care Service. The referral form can be sent as soon as reasonably practical thereafter.
The ER + Critical Care Service often manages emergencies, unstable or non-scheduled referral cases. Your patient can then be transferred or referred to the appropriate specialty services after this initial admission.
Frequently Asked Questions
For Emergency Services – NO
You can be seen through the Emergency and Critical Care department 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
For All Other Services – YES
In order to provide the best possible care for your pet we have to work as a team with your family veterinarian. After your visit here, we will work with them to further monitor and treat ongoing problems. It is therefore crucial that they be involved in the referral process so that we are able to work with them to optimize your pet’s recovery process.
First discuss with your family veterinarian if your pet would benefit from seeing one of our specialists.Your family veterinarian will provide us with your pet’s medical history and a referral request. An appointment can be made at that point. Radiographs (X-rays) may be sent ahead of time, or picked up by you to bring to your appointment. In an emergency, your veterinarian may contact our Emergency and Critical Care Service to arrange immediate transfer and care.
We have veterinarians and support staff in the hospital 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to care for patients.
Please see the Cost/Payment section of our website.
Our practice only provides acute care – i.e. specialty and critical care services. For example, we do not perform vaccinations, wellness exams, primary care or regular spays or neuters. It is therefore crucial for your pet’s overall health that we act as an extension of your family veterinary practice team and work with them on a referral basis.
Your veterinarian can select a particular specialist on the referral form.
For emergency care, your pet is taken to our triage area where vital signs and critical assessment is completed. The emergency veterinarian will then advise you on next steps.
For referrals, your family veterinarian will provide us with information from your pet’s medical file, and when appropriate, the results of tests and on many occasions, x-rays in film or digital format.
The specialist will review this information and may have many more questions for you to help them best understand your pet’s medical problem. After a thorough physical examination, the specialist will use this information to diagnose or formulate a diagnostic plan to determine the problem. You’re pet may or may not need to be hospitalized during this process. Depending on the case, it may be a part-day process, or may require hospitalization overnight or longer. Your specialist will provide you with an estimate of the costs at that time.
Yes. We will provide written reports and copies of laboratory and imaging reports as they become available for your pet’s medical file with your family veterinarian. Regular updates will be sent when patients are in the hospital more than a day or two so that they are aware of your pet’s progress. Our team of doctors keeps you and your veterinarian updated on your pet’s condition.
