Emergency and Critical Care Services

The Emergency and Critical Care Services offer ongoing service 7 days a week and 365 days a year. The team, which includes a certified emergency and critical care specialist, accepts all types of cases needing immediate assistance such as intoxications, traumas and any general condition putting the animal’s life in danger.

The emergency and critical care team work very closely with the CHUV’s other specialized services to allow a thorough work-up and specialized care for every patient.

We wish to inform you that due to a significant lack of professional and technical resources, the Emergency Service of the Small Animal Hospital as well as the Exotic Animal Clinic will be closed from 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. from Monday to Sunday starting this Wednesday, May 3 2023. This includes all specialty shifts during this period. The situation will be reassessed in early October 2023. As a result, any case requiring an emergency consultation will have to be seen in another center offering 24-hour emergency services.

This decision will allow us to prioritize our resources towards our mission of teaching the next generation of undergraduate and graduate veterinarians.

Please know that we are continuing our efforts to offer services to the community so that our emergency services remain open at all times for large animals and 7 days a week from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm for companion animals.

Thank you for your understanding,

The management of the CHUV

Referral centers open 24 hours:

Centre Vétérinaire DMVET (Lachine)                                              Centre Vétérinaire DMVET (St-Hubert)

514-633-8888 / Sans frais 1-800-463-8555                                    514-633-8888 / Sans frais 1-800-463-8555

 

Centre Vétérinaire DMVET (Blainville)                                           Centre Vétérinaire DMVET (Ottawa)

514-633-8888 / Sans frais 1-800-463-8555                                      613-745-0123

 

Centre vétérinaire Rive-Sud (Brossard)

450-656-3660 / Sans Frais 1-866-524-4877

 

Centre vétérinaire Laval (Laval)

450-781-1200 / Sans Frais 1-877-651-2152

 

Centre vétérinaire Montréal (Montréal)

438-387-2746

 

Centre vétérinaire Daubigny (Québec)

418-872-5355

A 5th year student or a veterinary technician will briefly examine your animal to evaluate its condition. If your animal is not stable, it will immediately be taken to the intensive care unit to be evaluated by a qualified veterinarian member of our teaching staff. A student will then meet with you to obtain the details of your reason for presenting with your animal.

If your animal is stable, you can accompany the student to a consultation room where a complete physical exam will be performed on your animal and you will be questioned about your animal’s medical history.

Finally, a veterinarian will meet with you and suggest the best diagnostic and therapeutic plan for your pet. Depending on your animal’s condition, it may either return home or stay hospitalised in the ICU to then be transferred to the appropriate specialised service (neurology, medicine, cardiology, etc.) as needed.

During your animals stay in the intensive care, our team will keep you updated on any change in its condition. Every step taken concerning your animal will be thoroughly discussed with you as well as every option available to you to enable you to make the best possible decision for you and your pet.

Please take note, that for logistical and biosecurity reasons, owner access is limited to the consultation and waiting rooms. Therefore, as your animal is taken to the consulting specialty service, you will be accompanied to the waiting room.

Animals in critical condition or in need of continuous care and surveillance or frequent treatments are hospitalised in the intensive care unit. Patients in the ICU are under the supervision of an animal health technician as well a veterinarian 24 hours a day.
Various types of care:

  • Stabilisation and treatment of the critical patient
  • EKG monitoring with telemetry
  • Arterial blood pressure monitoring and measurement of colloid osmotic pressure
  • Advanced fluid therapy
  • Blood transfusions
  • Oxygen therapy
  • Enteral and parenteral nutrition
  • Incubators
  • Assisted ventilation
  • Absence of urine production
  • Hit by car
  • Lameness
  • Burns
  • Seizures
  • Decline in an animals condition following hospitalisation
  • Bloody diarrhea
  • Breathing difficulties
  • Pain
  • Dystocia (difficulty during whelping)
  • Choc
  • Weakness
  • Fracture
  • Intoxication
  • Bite and traumatic wounds
  • Paralysis
  • Bleeding
  • Bloody urine
  • Vomiting

If you think that your animal is in need of emergency care, contact us immediately.

Professor
Clinician

 

Specialised intern
  • Dr. Thibaud Beynet
  • Dr. Marie Depoix
Veterinary Technician