Emergency Veterinary Care

At River Oak Veterinary Hospital, we provide emergency and urgent veterinary care for pets during our regular hospital hours. It is always best to contact us in advance, but if you can't, we know that in emergency situations that isn't always possible. 

If we are unable to fit your pet into our schedule, we recommend that you visit the after-hours emergency vet location shown above. 

Our veterinarians see emergency cases during our regular business hours:

The following situations are examples of emergencies that require immediate care:

• Unconsciousness
• Injuries to the eye(s)
• Severe bleeding or bleeding that doesn't stop
• Obvious signs of pain or extreme anxiety
• Choking, difficulty breathing, or continuous coughing/gagging
• Fractured bones or severe lameness
• Seizures and/or staggering
• Bleeding from the nose, mouth, rectum, or blood in the urine
• Inability to urinate or pass feces, or pain associated with urinating or passing feces
• Severe vomiting or diarrhea; 2+ episodes in 24-hours
• Your pet has ingested something poisonous (such as antifreeze, xylitol, chocolate, rodent poison, etc.)
• Heat stress or heatstroke
• Sudden, no weight bearing lameness
• Extreme pain or extreme anxiety

Just like a human doctor's office, our veterinary hospital can have unpredictable wait times or busyness.

We aren't able to perfectly predict what cases we will see and when they will arrive. So if it is possible, call ahead to find out whether we are able to provide emergency care for your dog or cat.

If we are unable to fit an emergency appointment into our vet's schedule we recommend that you visit the 24/7 animal emergency hospital detailed above. 

Some veterinary emergencies require intensive overnight care. At River Oak Veterinary Hospital we are not a 24-hour staffed hospital.

Depending on the level of care your pet needs our doctors will discuss with you the level of care your pet may require and possibly have your pet transported to one of the 24-hour facilities for continued care. 

Our emergency veterinarians are highly experienced in caring for cats and dogs in urgent and emergency situations.