24/7 Emergency
General veterinary practitioners pride ourselves on helping pets through illness and injury. We walk with families through every stage of a pet’s life. From puppy biting through spaying or neutering to senior years, we’re there to help. Yet sometimes a patient needs a level of care beyond what we can provide in a traditional daytime practice. Thankfully, we are lucky enough to partner with CARE, and this emergency and specialty hospital provides our clients and patients with this kind of veterinary teamwork that leads to elevated care.
Case Study: A Poodle After a House Fire
Take the recent case where I partnered with CARE to treat an older poodle rescued from a house fire. She’d survived the blaze and, thankfully, seemed to be doing OK for the first day or so. Unfortunately, smoke inhalation had taken a devastating toll on her lungs.
By the time I examined her, she was struggling to breathe. Her oxygen levels were dangerously low. She had developed severe pneumonia from smoke exposure. She required continuous oxygen support, around-the-clock monitoring with advanced critical care, and attention from a team that could respond to changes in her condition at any hour.
Her owner had lost her home and was not prepared also to lose her best friend. So the dog went to CARE, where her fight for recovery began.
The next several days were not easy. Despite oxygen therapy, medications and intensive treatment, she continued to have setbacks. At many moments, her recovery felt uncertain, but her dedicated team at CARE never stopped looking for answers. They continually reassessed her progress, adjusted her treatment plan and kept the owner and me in the loop on her progress.
When she didn’t respond to treatment as well as we’d hoped, Dr. Jill Pascarella – an ER doctor at CARE with whom we frequently collaborate – used her extensive knowledge and experience to identify a different treatment and antibiotic strategy that proved to be the turning point in the patient’s recovery.
After nearly a week of hospitalization, oxygen support and intensive care, she finally began to improve. She was able to be weaned off of oxygen and sent home with her mom, who was grateful to go home with her best friend after losing so much.
Veterinary Teamwork Made the Difference
Cases like this remind me that veterinary medicine is a team sport. As general practitioners, one of the most important decisions we can make is recognizing when a patient will benefit from specialty care. The expertise, resources, and endless dedication of emergency and specialty teams make all the difference. (I often joke that I wish CARE would see me as a patient.)
This sweet poodle’s story is a testament to the advances in veterinary medicine and the doctors and technicians who refuse to give up. I am grateful to have partners like CARE, who help us provide the highest level of care when our patients need it most. Seeing her home, where she belongs, was the outcome everyone hoped for. This outcome was made possible by veterinary teamwork from a team committed to fighting for her every step of the way.
Charlotte Animal Referral and Emergency (CARE) is the pet version of a human medical center. It stays open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to supply a wide range of treatments. You can get not only emergency room care but board-certified work by specialists, once you have a referral from your primary care veterinarian. Please tour the practice at carecharlotte.com/tour.
