Small animal ER only accepting critical emergencies: June 25-26

Due to a high volume of emergency cases, the WCVM Veterinary Medical Centre's emergency and critical care service can only accept small animal patients that are considered in the "red zone" (in a life-threatening situation) from 10 p.m., Saturday, June 25, to 8 a.m., Sunday, June 26.

  • Alert your clients. Please do not advise your clients to bring their pets to the VMC for emergency care during the above time range unless their animals are critically ill or injured ("red zone" in chart below). 
  • If you have clients whose pets are experiencing major health issues, tell them in advance about the temporary restriction of admissions at the VMC's emergency and critical care service. 
  • Overnight call. If possible, please organize and provide emergency call for your veterinary clinic's clients overnight on June 25-26. 
  • VMC's message to owners. If owners call or bring their animals to the veterinary teaching hospital during this period and their pets' condition is considered urgent or non-urgent (orange and yellow zones in chart below), VMC staff will advise them to contact their regular veterinary clinic for emergency care or to return to the WCVM Veterinary Medical Centre at 8 a.m. the following morning. 
  • Phone triage. For an emergency, VMC clinical team members will be available by phone (306-966-7126) overnight to consult with animal owners about next steps. 

If the VMC must restrict entrance to its emergency and critical care service for additional nights in the future, the veterinary teaching hospital will send another message to the veterinary community and to the public as soon as possible. 

The VMC clinical team thanks the veterinary community for its understanding and support. If you have questions or concerns, please contact Dr. Steve Manning (stephen.manning@usask.ca; 306-321-5923). 

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