Getting vet advice over the phone

If your pet falls ill after hours, you may be able to forego a trip to the nearest emergency animal hospital and give your vet a call.

There are nearly 15 million pets in Canada, and these furry friends don't always get sick on the veterinarian's office schedule.

Calling your vet during the day may be simple, but what do you do when your pet needs help in the middle of the night? Some veterinarians offer an on-call service that allows you to connect with a professional in case of an emergency. However, this is not a standard service. You may need to look elsewhere to ensure that your pet's health is prioritized, particularly when the matter is urgent.

If your vet does not offer emergency advice during all hours of the day and night, you may have to phone other vets in your area to get help. Emergency vets are specifically available at all times for urgent cases. It's possible that you will have to drive your pet to an emergency clinic, but getting vet advice over the phone can be sufficient when surgery or medication is not needed immediately.

Helping out your pet with the advice from the vet is not always easy when the instructions are administered over the phone rather than in person, especially in an emergency situation. Here are a few tips on how best to handle the situation.

Panicking only makes things worse. You will not be able to properly follow the directions when you're busy worrying about whether your pet will be okay.

Stop what you're doing and listen carefully to the advice that the vet is giving you. Ask the vet to give you a minute while you get a pen and paper to write down the advice. Be sure that your notes are written clearly so you can understand and remember what to do after the call is over. Better yet: type them out with the phone pressed between your ear and your shoulder.

Be sure to take your time to help your pet stay comfortable and heal. Go through each instruction your veterinarian provided before moving on to the next one.

With careful attention to your veterinarian's instructions, you should be able to heal your pet, or at least relieve their symptoms until you can see your vet during regular office hours.