After a short time the dog was doing fine. The owner called back a week after the emergency to tell me that this was her first experience with a pet emergency. She had no idea what to expect or what costs she might encounter. She thought it would be a good idea to write an article about pet emergencies. I have to say right up front that most pet emergencies could be handled by addressing signs of illness when they first appear.
Most emergency calls come from owners of pets who have been sick for several days.
I know that all pet owners want to avoid spending money for vet bills, and so they will wait to see if their pet will simply get over the problem. Too often this results in a more costly emergency visit. Problems addressed earlier are cheaper and easier to solve. There is an emergency fee added to the regular costs of examining a pet after hours. As I have compared it with the cost of getting any other trades person to respond to an emergency at say 10 p.m. in the evening, it is about the same cost.