About SPECFAQs
What should I do in an emergency?Why did my family veterinarian refer me to SPEC?
Will my pet be seen immediately?
How is emergency care different from regular veterinary care?
How much will emergency treatment or specialty care cost?
Is emergency and specialty care more expensive?
Are there guaranteed results?
Will my family veterinarian be updated on my pet?
Do you offer billing?
If I leave my pet, when do I pick her/him up?
What should I do in an emergency?
Hit by car. It you pet is injured and can’t walk, use a sheet of wood or cardboard as a stretcher to transport your pet and try to minimize movement. Remember that even friendly pets may bite when in pain. If necessary, you can wrap a belt, necktie, or pair of nylons around a dog’s muzzle to act as a temporary restraint. Wrap a large towel or heavy blanket around painful cats to safely restrain them. If there is active bleeding, apply direct pressure with your hand or any clean cloth.
Vomiting/Diarrhea. Pets with vomiting and/or diarrhea may have a serious medical problem, particularly if the vomiting is repetitive or the diarrhea is in large volumes. The presence of blood is an additional concern. Blood may appear either bright red (fresh bleeding) or black/tarry (digested blood). If your pet vomits, withhold food for at least 6-8 hours and offer only small amounts of water. If vomiting persists or there is blood in the vomitus, seek immediate care.
Trouble breathing. By the time your pet shows outward signs of trouble breathing, he or she is in a crisis and time is of the essence. Seek medical care IMMEDIATELY. While transporting your pet, minimize stress, allow your pet to seek the most comfortable posture, and provide a cool temperature if possible.
Open wounds. If there is active bleeding, apply direct pressure with any clean cloth (or your hand if necessary). Once you have applied a cloth pressure bandage, leave it in place. If blood soaks through, add another snug bandage on top of the original bandage. Open wounds should be kept clean and often antibiotic therapy will be necessary to prevent infection.
Lameness. If your pet is in any significant pain, seek medical care immediately and try to minimize movement of the limb in case there is a fracture. It is generally best to avoid trying to wrap the injured limb; just limit movement while you are transporting. For more minor discomfort, carefully inspect your pet’s affected limb; start at the paw (looking carefully between the toes) and then move up your pet’s leg. Try to identify if there is an area of localized pain or swelling.
Seizures. Witnessing a seizure can be a scary experience. Keep your calm and time the seizure event. Most pets will recover from the muscle tremors within several minutes. Do not try to move a pet having a seizure unless the seizure persists longer than several minutes, in which case you may need to transport your pet for immediate care without further delay (extended seizures can lead to serious brain damage and/or death). Move furniture/objects away from a seizuring pet and place a jacket/sweatshirt beneath his/her head to prevent self injury. Do NOT attempt to place anything in your pet’s mouth during a seizure. Loss of bladder or bowel control is common. Quickly inspect the environment for any obvious toxins that might have induced the seizure, then seek immediate veterinary care.
Heatstroke. If your pet’s body temperature exceeds 103-104 degrees Fahrenheit (normal dog/cat body temperature is 101) due to overheating, this is a life-threatening emergency. Overheating is rare in cats. In dogs, it is usually caused by confinement in a hot car or excessive activity on a hot day. IMMEDIATE cooling is important; the most effective method is to pour/spray cold water over your pet and then fan air over his/her body during transport for emergency care. Even if you rapidly cool your pet, seek veterinary care to reduce the risk of development of very serious delayed complications of heatstroke.
Poisoning. If you know what your pet ingested, it is wise to the ASPCA Poison Control Center (888-426-4435; a fee does apply) for advice. A surprising number of agents are toxic to pets, including some household plants, car antifreeze, some mushrooms, cleaning agents, insecticides, human medications, rat/mouse poisons, etc. Once an agent has been ingested, time is of the essence. Seek immediate veterinary care, bringing any packaging that identifies the suspected poison with you.
Why did my family veterinarian refer me to SPEC?
It is typically not financially feasible for general veterinary practices to afford the cost of staffing after-hours with skilled doctors and nurses, nor to afford the cost of certain advanced equipment necessary for quality emergency care. If a patient arrives on emergency with a serious problem, care may be required throughout a night or weekend. Your family veterinarian recognizes that it is in your pet’s best interest to utilize the advanced service available at our hospital for after-hours emergency care.
The American Animal Hospital Association has established guidelines suggesting that a patient should be referred in a timely fashion when there is:
• A need for 24/7 medical supervision
• A need for additional expertise and/or advanced training
• A need for additional equipment or services
• An inconclusive diagnosis
• An unresolved/on-going or worsening medical condition
The bottom line is that your family veterinarian referred your pet to our hospital because she or he wants the best possible outcome for your pet.
Will my pet be seen immediately?
In general, patients visiting our emergency service are seen on a "first-come, first-served" basis (rather than by scheduled appointments). More life-threatening cases, however, must take priority over others. If you feel your pet's condition is life threatening, please notify our staff immediately upon arrival so our doctor can perform an examination without delay. As this exam is conducted in the treatment area, you will not be present with your pet. The doctor will, however, still meet with you personally as soon as possible to discuss findings and arrange a treatment plan. If your pet is in critical condition, you may be asked to sign a release allowing immediate treatment. Although we are often able to meet with clients immediately, the unpredictable nature and severity of emergency cases may at times create delays, just as in human emergency rooms. Unlike a regular veterinary hospital, we cannot "schedule" emergency appointments. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to make you more comfortable during any wait.
How is emergency care different from regular veterinary care?
Emergency care is available at times when regular veterinary hospitals are not open. As it is impossible for a daytime veterinarian and his or her staff to provide service around the clock, a centralized emergency center allows for intensive after-hours care by a specially trained staff with extensive equipment. Veterinarians referring cases to an emergency clinic want their clients' pets to receive the best possible after-hours care. The emergency hospital, however, cannot replace the historical knowledge and valued relationship you have with your regular family veterinarian. After initial treatment on our emergency service, all follow-up care will be done by your family veterinarian.
How much will emergency treatment or specialty care cost?
A doctor must perform a thorough physical exam before he or she can determine what treatment, if any, is recommended. Following the exam, you will receive an estimate for the treatment plan the doctor recommends for your pet. Upon approval, you will be required to leave a deposit in the form of cash, ATM, check, or major credit card for the low end of the estimate. We also offer a financing program through CareCredit, a reputable veterinary financing company. Please feel free to ask questions if you do not understand any aspect of the estimate or treatment plan. If you are unable to afford the recommended plan, let us know what your budget for care is and we will do our best to work within that. Our goal is for every pet to receive the best possible medical care.
Is emergency and specialty care more expensive?
Just like a human emergency room or trauma center, a modern veterinary emergency hospital requires more extensive equipment than found in a typical practice. Our hospital is able to provide ultrasound, state-of-the-art anesthetic monitoring, ultrasonic blood pressures, electrocardiograms, advanced surgery, and much more. As an emergency practice requires immediate blood test results, our hospital has also invested in an extensive on-site laboratory. In addition, operating an emergency/specialty hospital requires a highly trained staff of doctors and nurses working long and difficult hours. As a result, the overhead in operating an emergency hospital is greater than for a normal veterinary hospital. This is reflected in fees that may be somewhat higher than your regular veterinarian's but are comparable with other Bay Area emergency/specialty hospitals. Our hospital prides itself on providing an excellent value in convenient, high-quality emergency and specialty care for your pet.
Are there guaranteed results?
The problems and diseases that affect animals are at times difficult and complex, especially since we cannot "talk" to our patients. We also do not have the luxury of insurance coverage found in the human field, allowing unlimited costly testing. As a result, we typically perform “stepwise testing,” screening for the most likely problems first with less expensive diagnostic tests and recommending additional more costly tests only as warranted. Unlike a car mechanic or telephone-repair person, neither a human doctor nor a veterinarian can provide a guarantee that a specific test will diagnose a problem or that a recommended treatment plan will be successful. We will, however, make every effort to select tests and treatments that are most likely to be helpful to your pet.
Will my family veterinarian be updated on my pet?
Yes. One of our obligations as a referral practice is to remain in close communication with your family veterinarian. We recognize that you may have a long and trusting relationship with your family veterinarian and that she or he may provide essential insight into the medical management of your pet’s condition.
The American Animal Hospital Association has established guidelines that referral practices should follow including:
• Educating both the client and the referring veterinarian about the case
• Providing verbal or written daily updates to the referring veterinarian
• Providing a summary of findings, including therapeutic and follow-up plans
• Providing additional services only if these are in the best interest of the patient or requested by the client
Our goal is to work closely with your family veterinarian as a team of professionals overseeing the care of your pet. Our mutual goal is to help your pet make a speedy recovery.
Do you offer billing?
As there are no government subsidies for animal hospitals and relatively few pet owners have pet insurance, each patient’s care must be paid in full by his or her owner. Additionally, perhaps because emergency practices lack ongoing relationships with clients, experience has shown that many clients at emergency clinics failed to pay balances as promised. For these reasons, our hospital, like virtually all emergency practices (and now most general practices), is unable to offer billing for services. We do, however, offer a delayed payment plan through a reputable veterinary financing company called CareCredit. Ultimately, the extent of care given to any animal is determined by its owner and their financial resources. Our staff is, however, very willing to work with you to provide care within your budget.
If I leave my pet, when do I pick her/him up?
If the doctor recommends that your pet be hospitalized at the time of an emergency visit due to his or her medical condition, you will need to make plans to pick up your pet for its return home or transfer to your regular veterinarian. The doctor should inform you as to an expected time of release. As the emergency doctor may be unexpectedly busy, we rely on you to call for periodic progress updates. We will, however, contact you at any hour if your pet's condition should decline unexpectedly. Please provide us with an accurate phone number, and keep a phone by the bed at night. We ask that you contact our hospital each morning and evening to ensure you receive regular medical and financial updates. Our goal is to remain in close communication with both you and your family veterinarian.
