Sick pet visits

Booking one

If your pet can wait until later today or tomorrow, book online and choose a time. Online booking takes appointments from four hours out.

If you need to be seen sooner than that, telephone us. We will ask what your pet is doing and when it started, and that decides whether you come in today, go straight to an emergency hospital, or can safely wait for the next available appointment.

We hold some appointments back for the same day and there is usually room for a few more, though not every day. Call early if you can.

Go straight to an emergency hospital

If your pet is in trouble right now, go to the nearest 24-hour emergency hospital rather than waiting for an appointment with us. Two emergencies owners often miss are a male cat straining in the litter box and producing nothing, and contact with a Sonoran desert toad, especially once a pet is foaming at the mouth.

There is more on heat and hot pavement, rattlesnake bites and the Sonoran desert toad.

Worth being seen today

• Vomiting or diarrhea for more than a day, or any at all in a puppy or kitten
• A cat not eating for a day, or a dog not eating for more than two
• Limping, or not putting weight on a leg
• A painful, red or squinting eye
• Straining to urinate, or drinking and urinating noticeably more than usual
• A pet who is simply not themselves

Exotic pets

Rabbits, birds and reptiles hide illness until they can no longer hide it, so the threshold for calling is lower and the timeline is shorter. A rabbit who has stopped eating, a bird sitting fluffed and quiet on the floor of the cage, or a reptile who has stopped basking should be seen the same day. Exotic appointments follow Dr. McBroom’s schedule, so an urgent exotic case is worth a telephone call rather than an online booking. There is more on the exotic pets page.

What happens at the visit

A sick visit starts with the same head-to-tail examination as any other appointment. Where that does not answer the question, the next step is usually bloodwork or a urinalysis, and those are run in our own laboratory. A pet who comes in unwell can have blood drawn, run and interpreted during the same visit, so the conversation about what to do next happens while you are still in the room. Where imaging is the right next step, X-rays and ultrasound are done here as well.

Whatever is recommended is priced with you before it happens.

After-hours

We are not staffed overnight. When we are closed, a pet who needs care needs an emergency hospital, and there are several in this part of the valley. Our voicemail and this website are not a triage service, so please do not leave a message and wait for it.

Our hours and directions are on the contact page.