Equine Planet offers a 24h Ambulatory Emergency Vet Service. There are too many situations for which it is not possible to wait, regardless of the time of the day in which they occur. We also operate an after-hours and weekend service to new clients needing evaluation of their animal.

If you are unsure whether your animal needs immediate assistance, or if you simply seek advice on a problem you feel worried about, that’s OK too. It’s always better to receive a little advice and reassurance than have to deal with a potential problem.

Below is a list of the most common types of emergencies that we receive throughout the year and for which immediate action is required:

• Bleeding
• Choking (food and saliva coming out the animal’s nostrils)
• Colic
• Continuous effort to defecate or urinate
• Diarrhea in foals
• Difficulties during birth (over 20 min), abortion and placental retention
• Loss of balance
• Noisy breathing or respiratory difficulty
• Penetrating wounds
• Poisoning
• Ocular pathologies

On the top of our list of emergencies are colics and lacerations/wounds.

A colic is a scary problem in horses and can be caused by many different conditions. It can become extremely severe in a short period of time, and sometimes even fatal. Please call right away to have your horse evaluated if it is showing signs of abdominal pain, as for example: no appetite, lying down and reluctant to get up, rasping, looking at its belly, sweating, restlessness, throwing themselves onto the ground, or rolling excessively.

From the moment it demonstrates the first signs of colic, it is essential to remove all of the food, walk with your animal, and don’t let it roll until you have spoken to us!

Lacerations/Wounds should be cleaned and sutured as soon as possible, ideally within 12 hours of the injury. Therefore it is extremely important to call us as soon as you are aware of the incident. Lacerations heal much faster and with less scarring when sutured in a timely manner, since the low contamination and vitality of the tissues are crucial for proper healing. It is advisable to disinfect and cover up the wound until we arrive.