Emergency care, after hours – what to expect and why you might need to travel to have your pet seen

as an animal owner, it is important to plan for what you might need to do in an animal health emergency for example, knowing who you would contact and where you would need to travel for urgent or unexpected care providing emergency care is a requirement set by the vet council for all veterinarians in clinical practice to assist you in safeguarding your animal’s welfare, to ensure public expectations are met, and the obligation falls fairly on each veterinary business veterinarians may provide emergency care, after hours themselves, or have an arrangement to share this with other vets, or with a dedicated after hours clinic this reflects the balance that is needed between ensuring high quality emergency care and maintaining sustainable working conditions for veterinary professionals in some cases, you may need to travel further for your animals and pets to be seen after hours, if your usual vet does not provide this service at their clinic provincial centres and rural areas usually have fewer practitioners, meaning some people may need to travel some distance for their pet or animal to be seen by their vet or a centralised emergency care provider one of the benefits of this arrangement is that being referred in an emergency to a dedicated after hours clinic gives pet owners access to a veterinary team that is specifically resourced and trained to manage urgent and complex cases overnight, ensuring timely and expert care continuous 24/7 coverage by the same team is often not sustainable and could compromise both the quality of care your animal receives and the wellbeing of veterinary professionals a referral system allows local veterinarians to rest, ensuring they can continue delivering excellent care during the day do i need to travel to another clinic? and how far do i have to go? if your usual veterinarian doesn’t provide emergency care, after hours, and refers you to a dedicated clinic, then you may need to travel some distance to access these services how far people might have to travel varies, particularly in rural communities or smaller townships, due to the number of clinics and veterinarians, and where they are located start by contacting your local veterinary clinic and asking if they provide emergency care, after hours, or where you might be referred if they have an arrangement with another vet or clinic to deliver these services you can then plan what you would do if your pet suddenly became unwell or was injured so you know who to contact, where to go, and how you’ll get there if you know you will need to travel, phone the clinic before going and ask whether you need to take your animal there or if an appointment with your usual vet during normal business hours will be ok, and follow their advice what if my vet says it isn’t an emergency? veterinarians are only required to attend emergencies after hours if they decide that something is not an emergency, they may ask you to wait until normal business hours it can be difficult to wait when you’re worried about your pet or animal, but you can trust that your veterinarian is trained to make these decisions do i still need to pay if i travel to have my animal/pet seen after hours at another clinic? you need to pay for any veterinary care your animal receives it is not publicly funded if you cannot pay at the time of the consultation, the veterinarian will still provide the minimum necessary care to alleviate an animal’s pain and suffering many clinics also offer alternative payment options, so be sure to inquire if this is likely to be an issue for more specific information about emergency care, after hours and how you can plan ahead, the vet council has prepared information sheets for large animal owners (e g livestock), companion animal owners (e g cats and dogs), and equine owners you can find these https //hub vetcouncil org nz/consumer guidance for veterinarians, you can find more information about communicating emergency care, after hours services to clients, https //hub vetcouncil org nz/communicating emergency care after hours services to clients