Cross Breeds

What happens to animals when the the vets close?

I mean do people stay at the vets all night to look after animals? Do they take some of the more serious case animals home with them? Or are the animals left alone all night?

Public Comments

1. Depends on the practice. Some have staff there overnight, some check in several times during the night, more seriously ill animals are often taken home by the vet or vet tech, or are checked into a 24 hour clinic overnight for observation.
2. I volunteered at a vets office for quite some time. Although the vet office had "business hours", there were still people there at varying times. I volunteered to come in late at night to check on all the animals. They didn't keep critical cases at our facility (if it was something severe, they simply transferred the dog to a pet hospital), so there was no major concern with that aspect of it. I just kept an eye on the post-surgical vitals of the pets, made sure they weren't licking their wounds, made sure their water bowls were filled, cleaned up any messes any of them had made in their kennels, cuddled any of them that were a little distraught and things like that. Do all places do that? I honestly don't know, but that's how things worked at the place I volunteered.
3. It depends on the clinic. My regular vet generally closes for the night but I know he occasionally goes back and checks on some cases before he goes to bed for the night to make sure everything is fine if he feels its warranted. Many nights though, no one is there and it really isn't needed. Most of the time, they are dealing with animals recovering from anesthesia and the main complications are these animals are often groggy, a bit drunk and sometimes either just sleep it off or some howl, pace or whine. These kinds of things are normal and expected and not dangerous but are scary or disturbing to owners, so the vets keep them overnight so owners don't worry and everyone can get some rest. Emergency vets where there are critical cases have someone there 24/7.
4. It all really depends. Some practices will have staff that check in, sort of like how there are night janitors, and others will just make sure that the animals are all set before they leave. It is possible that the more serious cases have someone stay there, but many of them don't, and probably view it believing they wouldn't have been able to stop anything from happening anyway.
5. most major metro areas in US now have emergency animal clinics. becuse most vet offices do not stay open past normal business hours. Where I live in Phoenix AZ, the emergecy clinic is manned 24/7. I had to take my pup there recently when he chewed up and swallowed plastic wrap from a CD. They took excellent care of him and got the plastic out of his throat. I was impressed with their skill.caring. but downside is they are very expensive and only took cash.....
6. As a Vet Tech, I can only speak for our facility and the emergency clinics in my area. Emergency clinics have staff on hand at all hours for emergency treatment of animals. Most staff may work in shifts, depending on the schedule. Most emergency clinics in my area operate on a walk in basis and are open from late hours in the evening - through the night - to the early hours of the morning, 7 days per week. The Vet clinics are open normal business hours. However, some surgical patients do have to stay overnight. We normally designate one person to care for the animals during the late night hours, rotating to other employees each day of the week. None of the animals are taken home with us because if an emergency situation were come up, we do not have the necessary equipment and supplies in our home to take care of the need. Plus, it is too stressful on a sick or injured animal to move them back and forth from the facility to our homes.