What do you do when it is after hours and you are having a ...

Veterinarian Emergency?
Several Lee County clinics offer 24-hour care when your pet needs it most
BY ELLA _NAYOR enayor@florida-weekly.com

Milo's small body was riddled with lacerations and puncture wounds.

Yet his tenacious little self fussed just as much over the medical care he received as he did the alligator that chomped on him near his Sanibel home recently.

And though Milo, a rat terrier, had to literally be sewn up from his tussle with the wily gator, he is doing fine after being treated at the Emergency Veterinary Clinic in Fort Myers.

Milo is one of many four-legged and two-legged pets to receive potentially life saving care at the clinic. The clinic which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month revamped its entire building last January with state of the art equipment and diagnostics including an ICU unit for pets.

The clinic, which is near the Edison Mall had to move last year from the Dragon Plaza after sustaining damage from Hurricane Charley in 2004.

? ER for pets? According to the Web Site mypetbusiness.com, people spend $34 billion on their pets each year. And today pets are not just considered for utilitarian purposes such as guarding chicken coops from coyotes or rounding up sheep.

COURTESY PHOTO Dr. Paul Martin, a staff veterinarian at the Emergency Veterinary Clinic in Fort Myers, listens to the heartbeat of Minnie Pearl, an English bulldog, last Sunday.

Nope.

Furry, feathery and scaly creatures are in many cases just as much family as the humans they live with.

And that means they are often treated with the same care and concern as people when they get sick or injured. As we would rush a beloved child or parent to the hospital when they fall ill - pet owners now tend to do the same.

But pets, like humans, don't always get sick or injured during convenient daytime hours when veterinarians are open for business.

Where to go

Though the Emergency Veterinary Clinic is one of several area clinics with night and weekend hours, it is the newest state-of-the-art facility. It includes high tech blood diagnostic machines, an ultrasound machine, oxygen lines and a customized Intensive Care Unit - one of only four in the U.S., said clinic manager Barbara Snyder. The refrigerator-sized ICU machine - which regulates oxygen and temperature - costs close to $100,000 alone.

"We do everything in-house," Snyder said.

The pet ER also features IV monitors and its own in-house pharmacy.

The walk-in clinic is open evenings, weekends and holidays, and averages about 400 pets a month. And like a human ER, the staff never knows what to expect and when.

"You're either slammed or slow," said certified vet tech Amy Kurz. "We see everything from alligator bites to snake bites. That's emergency medicine for you."

When emergency cases such as Milo's the clinic's staff flies into crisis mode - just like in a human ER.

Crash carts, trained staff and medications once only available for people await the clinic's furry patients.

Staff manager Terry Brown sighs when she thinks of one hectic night when one medical bay was being used to perform CPR on a dog and another to care for a severely injured pet.

And just like Human ERs tensions, financial worries and fears can run high.

The emotional toll

During a visit to the Emergency Veterinary Clinic on Saturday - a particularly quiet evening - the silence broke around 9 p.m. when a young woman rushed in with her pit bull/border collie mix.

The black and white six-month-old pooch named Panda allegedly swallowed a nail or something with a silver hue.

Panda's owner Heshey Ramirez, 20, fretted while staff talked soothingly to her spirited dog.

The Cape Coral resident patted Panda as she talked about how she originally rescued him from drug addicts.

"I can't lose him after all of that," she said.

But staff reassured the young woman and walked Panda to the back.

Ramirez said she is relieved knowing that the clinic exists.

"I was worried; how am I going to get through the night? I came right down here. It's perfect, it's right in the middle of everything."

Earlier on that same night a woman huddled her shaken Chihuahua after it fell out of her stopped car. The dog turned out to be fine.

But some nights are more difficult than others.

Snyder who runs the clinic said she recalled an incident when a young boy brought his savagely beaten dog - at the hands of his abusive father - for help. The staff vet saved the dog, which had among other things sustained broken ribs from being kicked, she said.

After the boy cried to the vet that the dog was all he had, the vet literally pieced every broken bone in his crushed body back together. He survived.

"It's heart wrenching," Snyder said. "It'd just like an ER in the hospital."

And despite the staff's Herculean efforts some pets simply will not make it. For sick or mortally wounded pets, a grieving room complete with serene pictures and a simulated fish tank is available.

For the vets the work is both rewarding and heartbreaking.

"It's tough, said veterinarian and clinic board president Milt McKelvie. "You just have to focus on the animal."

Vets work in shifts with techs by their side. There is even a bed available for clinicians to take a nap to stay alert.

Linda Boone, a staff vet said it is vital to have a pet ER available for the emergency cases and to monitor the clients of area vets when their offices close at night.

Financial woes

Aside from the emotional slings and arrows of dealing with injured and sick pets, there are the financial hardships that the clinic must deal with.

The base fee for a clinic visit is just shy of $80. That does not include treatments or pricey procedures such as Xrays, ultrasound diagnostics or surgery, according to Snyder. The average client should expect to pay between $150 and $300 on an emergency visit. A surgical procedure could run about $1,000.

Payment plans are not available, but the clinic does accept credit cards.

And though pet insurance is available, many folks don't have it or can't afford it.

In some cases where the client cannot pay, they are given the option of signing over the animal.

Though the clinic is a for profit business they want to keep the pet population as healthy as possible. Snyder said the staff works with clients to help them better understand the need for preventive care. Issues like heartworm, which can typically be prevented with a pill each month, are explained to clients.

Staff also goes over the importance of getting a primary vet for pets - rather than waiting for an emergency to happen.

"We want your pets to be healthy," Snyder said.
Information
>>What: Contact the Emergency Veterinary
Clinic, 2045 Collier Avenue, Fort Myers at 239-
939-5542.
>>Pet facts:
40 million US households own at least one
dog
Americans spend $34 billion on their pets
each year
47% of all US households own more than
one pet.
- Source: www.mypetbusiness.com