Emergencies

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Avon Lodge phone lines operate:
Monday – Friday 8.00am – 6.30pm
Saturday 8.30am – 1.00pm

Even if the branch surgery is closed, your call will be automatically diverted to our main Salisbury Surgery. Outside of the above times you will hear an answer phone message stating the Vets Now number.

Vets Now is a nationwide out of hours veterinary service ensuring you have 24 hour access to veterinary care.

The Vets Now vets and nurses are used to working weekend and night shifts and dealing with emergency situations, many being specially trained in emergency and critical care. Some of the Avon Lodge vets (past and present) cover some of the Vets Now shifts so you may see a familiar face or two.

Vets Now do tend to charge higher rates that Avon Lodge but this is because they are employing a team of staff working anti-social hours. Most vets will charge substantially higher rates out of hours.

As well as emergency appointments, Vets Now also care for our inpatients over the weekend. This means that if your pet is hospitalised with us and needs on-going veterinary care over the weekend, we will transfer him/her on Saturday lunchtime in our ambulance.

Vets Now will continue to provide you with progress updates and will either discharge your pet once well enough to go home or call you on Monday morning to arrange transfer back to Avon Lodge.

Please call us at 8.00am Monday morning if you need us to transport your pet for you.

Vets Now will usually recommend a follow up appointment with us so we can re-assess how your pet is doing and dispense any further medications that may be required. Vets Now always provide us with medical notes so we will be aware of any treatment your pet has had.

Vets Now Salisbury operates from Endells Veterinary Group which is on Endless Street, Salisbury. For full contact details and more information on Vets Now please click here.

During Avon Lodge hours please call us as soon as possible. We will always prioritise emergencies but please try to call us first so we are prepared for your arrival and can give advice on what to do in the meantime.

In many situations a basic knowledge of human first aid can be applied to animals e.g. applying pressure to a wound that won’t stop bleeding, but please DO NOT give any human medications. Animals have very different metabolisms and commonly used human medicines can be toxic and even fatal to animals!

The out of hours service is designed for emergency appointments only. If you are in any doubt as to whether your pet requires immediate medical attention or have any questions about a condition your pet is currently being treated for or medications your pet is on, please do call the emergency telephone number where a vet or nurse will be able to advise you and help you decide whether you should be seen for an appointment.

Please be aware that Vets Now do not usually have access to your pets’ medical records so please give them as much information as possible regarding previous illnesses or treatments that may be relevant to the current problem. It is a good idea to take current medications along with you to the appointment so the vet on duty can see exactly what your pet is receiving.

There are many different emergency situations. Common emergencies include:

Road traffic accidents / trauma
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Breathing difficulties
Severe lethargy or weakness
Severe or persistent vomiting and/or diarrhoea
A seizure/fit
An inability/straining to pass urine
A deep cut/wound
Uncontrolled bleeding
A painful eye
A broken limb
Persistent discharge from the vulva (females)
Difficulties or complications giving birth

If your pet is experiencing any of the above problems or if you are in any doubt as to whether your pet might need to be seen by a vet, please do contact us straight away. In most cases the sooner we recognise and treat an emergency, the better the chance of making a full and speedy recovery.

If something happens to your pet outside of the Salisbury area, try to call a local vet. In an emergency situation all vets should be happy to see clients who are not registered with them. They may well call us and ask us to fax medical notes to them which we will be happy to do.

If you can’t find a number for a local vet, but have our number to hand, please call us so we can provide you with some advice and find a number for a vet local to you.