Out of hours vets

[SR04]

My poor 10 yr old lab has just had a seizure in our living room.
I called the vets to see if they could come outas trying to get her in the car would be extremely stressful and I'm not sure if we would manage it as shes not bearing weight on her back legs and is very heavy.
I was completely panicked but was greeted with " you do know there's £180 out of hours fee". I was then told to wait whilst she got the vet to call me.

10 mins later the vet calls to tell me she doesn't do call out as she will be leaving the surgery unattended and I can either take her in (virtually impossible and highly stressful for dog) or I can make an appointment....so basically an animal could potentially suffer all night.

Is it me or is this just ridiculous, do they really have the animals welfare at the heart of what they do.

My dog seems to have settled and is sleeping with me in the living room tonight but I was thinking that this was end and she we needed to let her go at home peacefully to prevent any ongoing suffering.

I'm just completely stumped and can't believe that there is no help available for us at home.

This is a big vetinary hospital thats literally 5 mins down the road from me.

Is this across the board for vets?

There may be a local home visit vet in your area if you have a search online. There may also be a local pet ambulance service.
Clinic based vets often cannot leave the practice for house calls as that leaves animals already in their care unsupported.
Out of Hours services are expensive. They have to give you the cost of the appointment up front and mentioning finances can often sound cold when dealing with emotional situations but better than you turning up to find out you cannot afford the treatment.
I hope your dog has a peaceful night and gets the care she needs.

I'm very sorry about your dog but I do think it's a bit unreasonable to expect a vet to come to you in the middle of the night when that would leave no other emergency vet care in place at the hospital. I've had the vet visit animals at my home but always with plenty of prior warning, as an emergency I've always gone to them.

Also I think it's good they warn people of the fee before they proceed, sorry I appreciate it is an emotional situation for you.

So sorry to hear about your dog. ♥️ Regarding the telephone call and home visits, it does seem to be standard practice that you are asked to attend the out of hours clinic. I hope your dog stays comfortable during the night. Will be thinking about you both.

I can understand why it simply too expensive/not profitable to have an extra vet on call for house visits 24x7. They are primarily businesses.

Hope your pup is ok, my black lab is coming up to 10 soon and with his greying chin and a couple of health issues it worries me what might be ahead in the next few years.

It might be worth checking what on call services are available in your area. I might do the same too so we are prepared if it is ever needed.

Had these seizures with two old dogs. He'll be okay now till tomorrow when you'll have to get him to the vets. A few years ago we had this with one dog Sunday so out of hours . Examination and bloods cost £380.

Second dog at vets it turned out to be an ear infection that had caused it. Check his ears. Very common in old dogs. Nystagmus was disconcerting as was the going round in circles

Sounds like a big business/chain vets. My dogs and cats and ferrets all get seen by my horse vet. She does do call outs though for a considerably higher price than you were quoted for out of hours. Normal call out appointments are £60 for a dog and even more for horses.

Thankyou. She seems settled, can't really get up but I haven't really asked her too. Shes bright and her tail is wagging. Il.be watching her like a hawk all night.

It just shocked me that I just couldn't get a vet out in an emergency.
@HighlandPony I have a horse and have several horse emergency call outs (my horse loves and out of hours emergency) unfortunately though the equine vets is part of the same big chain.

I just can't belive that an emergency call out unavailable for small animals.
What if your a lone parent? Don't have a car, been drinking..
What if your dog got run over or something?

They tell you to get a taxi. Or phone round for a private animal ambulance (which is usually a dogwalker moonlighting in their van) to bring you in. With chain vets it’s not really about fairness in welfare, it’s about business and bringing in the money. Which is why we stick with the local agricultural vet. Who even accepts barter as payment on occasion.

Sorry OP, you must be very stressed and hopefully doggy is settled and sleeps all night.

Home visits aren't easy for vets to do as they usaully have to be caring for patients at the clinic by themselves. They also have to consider their safety (mainly young females being called to random houses at night).

For lone parents / people drinking etc. they could always have a friend/neighbour drive their pet on their behalf, or use a pet taxi.

Often it's best for the dog to be at the clinic in an emergency setting anyway, so the staff have access to e.g. oxygen, blood machines, xrays etc.

I'm really sorry OP but the vets did the right thing.

They have animals in the surgery overnight and it wouldn't be responsible or practical to have the vet travel to every OOH case.

It's standard to have to travel to the vet if you require OOH care. I've done it several times for my animals over the years.

Theres such a vet shortage that none of the vet practices in my fairly large SE town do out of hours, even the chains. The nearest one is about 45 min drive (through other towns that also dont have one), and i imagine thats one vet on their own so wouldnt come out

Its a huge problem, and genuinely concerns me. My vet practice has just lost their last vet (had 5 when we joined 5 years ago) and has one part time locum, the other practices locally are in similar positions running off one vet or locums. I tried to join a family group about a 45 min drive because they have out of hour cover and i thought that was better. They have about a 2 year waitlist to register

I wonder if people know that though as my vets doesnt advertise that essentially they have no vet anymore.

I genuinely feel that my animals wouldnt get the medical attention they need currently so am holding off on getting a new dog until it feels safer

There's very little point in a small animal vet doing an out of hours visit .if your pet is that unwell then they need access to the facilities at the surgery. It would basically be a glorified ambulance service with vet putting dog in their car to transport to the surgery.pointless .
One vet will be looking after multiple animals at the surgery over night, or operating . A house visit takes up too much time away from other animals.
You can't compare with horse vets they do the majority of their work out of their cars, given the nature of the job. They are better equipped with on board drugs and equipment.
If you have a pet, it's part of your responsibility to have a plan to ensure you can get it to a vets if needed, wether that be a neighbour or a taxi.

I just can't belive that an emergency call out unavailable for small animals. What if your a lone parent? Don't have a car, been drinking. What if your dog got run over or something?

Part of pet ownership is taking responsibility in an emergency though. It's no different to being a parent in that respect.

I mean, you wouldn't get an ambulance or GP out to see you late at night just because you can't drive or have had a drink or are a lone parent.

You'd ring a taxi, call a friend or neighbour and take your child's siblings out with you if there was nobody else to have them 🤷🏻‍♀️

Well we're Day time now so fingers crossed @SR04 got her dog to the vets this morning

Yeah hopefully your dog is ok! But no I wouldn't expect a vet to do a home visit in the middle of the night. They may be alone at the practice, they may have critically ill patients at the surgery, they wouldn't be equipped to do whatever needed doing at your house. May be a good idea as already mentioned to get the number of a pet ambulance who may be able to help you in similar circumstances in the future.

@mountainsunsets I'm quite aware of the responsibilities of having pets. My point was that my dog was suffering and it would of been extremely stressful to try and carry her to the car, I completely panicked, she gets very stressed and I thought the kindest thing for her was to be PTS at home where she feels safe. It felt like end she couldn't get up was panting and shaking and she a big lab.

I did not expect the vet to just pop out over night for quick check up because I couldn't be bothered to go.

Fortunately though she actually made a full recovery and is back to her normal self.
We are just keeping a close eye and if it happens again I know what to expect. Shes 10 and its heartbreaking.

@SR04 I totally understand it must have been stressful, but ultimately the vet has responsibilities to more animals than just yours.

@mountainsunsets Obviously, I'm well aware of this. I was thinking that being a big vetinary hospital they may have more than one vet.

I would take her to the vet 10 is no great age we had one for nearly 15 years the other 18 years. There's treatment for them. A little brown pill for our last one prevented another event @SR04

@justasking111 shes under been under the vet for a while with kidney and liver failure. She has renal food and liver supplement. We took her back this morning, they have taken a blood test but I decided not to go ahead with any other investigations and am just monitoring her alongside the vets guidance.

I'm so sorry that's heartbreaking. Did the vet suggest PTS yet or is it a wait and see. I called the vet out in the daytime for our boy to PTS he passed away before the vet arrived. We have his ashes in the dining room cabinet and his love and antics in our hearts ❤️

Really sorry to hear about dog, its so worrying isn't it. My mums dog broke its leg, open fracture, on a Sunday afternoon. We had to get him into car and drive to emergency vet, our usual one outsources to a vet in the next Town. I ran a red light, longest drive ever, I was gripping the steer wheel so hard.

Dont take any notice of some of the mealy mouthed replies. You dont owe them an explanation, I'm glad your lovely old boy is feeling better 🤗

Unfortunately overnight care in many of these places is limited due to the vet crisis a PP posted about upthread. There will probably be one vet and one nurse available, if that.

While vet care is private care, most practises simply don't have the means to offer OOH home visits - they need to be on-site in case an inpatient becomes sick, or in case another emergency call comes in.

I am sorry your dog is unwell, I just don't think it's fair to criticise vet practises and claim they don't care about animal welfare.