I almost lost Snickers today

**A*O** · April 7th, 2007, 08:01 PM

We have a 24hr emergency vet hospital about 15mins away and I was very thankful for it at 3am when one of our dogs appeared to have an obstructed bowel. He didn't, thank God, but he was pretty sick and the vet told us if we hadn't taken him there for immediate treatment we could have lost him.

**Penny Lane** · April 7th, 2007, 08:34 PM

I seriously looked in all the phone books, called 411, everything and there is no emergency animal hospital where I live, which is complete and utter bullshit.

**A*O** · April 7th, 2007, 08:43 PM

Not saying you didn't try darl. Maybe you could ask the ASPCA or a local animal shelter? They usually have the info on emergency vets.

**PlayfulKisses** · April 7th, 2007, 08:46 PM

This has really been bothering me since I read about Snickers and the inability to locate someone on duty 24/7....so I googled for it in hopes of finding one nearby to post for her. AND YOU KNOW WHAT....there isn't one even CLOSE to Brownsville.

**shedevilang** · April 7th, 2007, 08:54 PM

we don't have an emergency vet in the book here either but one of the older vets makes emergency house calls if it is serious enough. I only know this because some one else knew thankfully when my dog was attacked but unfortunatly she passed before I even got a chance to call

**Penny Lane** · April 7th, 2007, 08:56 PM

Originally Posted by PlayfulKisses

This has really been bothering me since I read about Snickers and the inability to locate someone on duty 24/7....so I googled for it in hopes of finding one nearby to post for her. AND YOU KNOW WHAT....there isn't one even CLOSE to Brownsville.

I know, right? I never realized how much of a problem this might be, but it really is.. Any ideas on who to contact to maybe get this fixed? Its the shittiest feeling in the world knowing your dog might be hurt and theres not a damn thing you can do about it til the morning.. I feel like crap, but thank god he's not seriously injured.. but I mean, it could have been more serious, you know.. what then?

**PlayfulKisses** · April 7th, 2007, 09:00 PM

If you visit your Vet regularly and have developed a relationship with him/her, I would ask if he responds to after-hour calls from a pager perhaps. I know even though I have an emergency clinic nearby, I feel like I know my Vet well enough that he would meet me at his office if the need ever arose (a true emergency that I would want him to personally take care of).

**Mira** · April 7th, 2007, 09:26 PM

Originally Posted by PlayfulKisses

This has really been bothering me since I read about Snickers and the inability to locate someone on duty 24/7....so I googled for it in hopes of finding one nearby to post for her. AND YOU KNOW WHAT....there isn't one even CLOSE to Brownsville.

Originally Posted by stylejunkiex

I know, right? I never realized how much of a problem this might be, but it really is.. Any ideas on who to contact to maybe get this fixed? Its the shittiest feeling in the world knowing your dog might be hurt and theres not a damn thing you can do about it til the morning.. I feel like crap, but thank god he's not seriously injured.. but I mean, it could have been more serious, you know.. what then?

I googled too just to see what the hell is up with that... one of the vets in his ad even says no after hours calls, or during office hours only or something like that. Is Brownsville a really small town?

**Penny Lane** · April 7th, 2007, 09:33 PM

Originally Posted by Mira

I googled too just to see what the hell is up with that... one of the vets in his ad even says no after hours calls, or during office hours only or something like that. Is Brownsville a really small town?

NO. Like it's not huge, but I would think it would be big enough to have at least some sort of public service directed towards emergency animal care.. population of almost 200,000 and there isn't ONE place that does this? I'm really appalled and kind of embarassed.

**shedevilang** · April 7th, 2007, 09:35 PM

I was thinking brownsville wasn't that small I live in a much smaller town but I'm not sure what's going to happen when the old vet retires because the newer vet in town will not accept after hour calls

**Mira** · April 7th, 2007, 09:36 PM

I'm shocked. That's just plain crazy and actually foolish. It would be interesting to learn the statistics of how many pets live in your metro area.

**moomies** · April 7th, 2007, 10:01 PM

You might need to locate some emergency vet place in a different town/city then. It's not like an emergency will be happening frequently, but when in an urgent situation, you will still want to give your pet the best treatment and care even if it means you might need to drive far some place in the middle of the night. It's better to know where you can go in advance than to panic the last minute. I wouldn't give up on searching.

**Tierra** · April 7th, 2007, 10:10 PM

I'm really glad to hear Snickers is alright!

**A*O** · April 7th, 2007, 10:12 PM

I still reckon the ASPCA would know, or even ask your regular vet. I can understand why many of them don't want to know about 24 hour services because I bet the majority of people who drag them out of bed at 3am are neurotic cat ladies whose Diddykins broke a claw. Our local 24hr place gets mostly run-over cats at that time of the morning.

**Penny Lane** · April 7th, 2007, 10:33 PM

Sadly, I really think it's because there might not be a market for pet emergency services here.. so many people just abuse their pets here or leave them injured and dont take care of it. I lived next door to a woman whose husband accidentally ran over their cat.. I still remember the cat yowling like you wouldnt imagine.. it sounded horrible. It went on for so long until finally another neighbor called Animal Control and had them come and get the cat.. it ended up being euthanized. Since Brownsville is extremely poverty ridden I dont think people have an incentive to take care of their pets.. unlike medical care for actual people, in which care Medicare or Medicaid takes care of that.. but, still.. for people like me who can actually afford pet care and have the concern to spend money on it.. what is there for us? I shouldnt, and Snickers definitely shouldnt, have to suffer just because the socioeconomic status of my hometown doesn't consider emergency pet care a high priority, if not a priority at all.