[Budrow]

So sad there was not a vet available immediately for this horse...RIP.
Just curious: how many peeps have vets that are available in their immediate area for emergency service? I'm very fortunate that my horse is boarded in a very horsey area (lots of vets, besides my own) and about an hour from UGA Vet School.
I've thought about moving out into the "sticks" and having a farm of my own, but wonder about the vets. Would I be too far out for an emergency call? Or even a routine call? I know it depends on the area, but just wondering how those of you who don't have vets in your "backyard" deal with it? I'd be a wreck if I didn't have a vet that could come when needed...especially since I'm a nervous nelly to begin with.

[abbydp]

I am very very lucky that I literally have a vet in my backyard! But for those clients of this clinic that do not live so close, they go at a moments notice anyway. They have gotten a large number of clients from emergencies. I have used all of the local vets, either for my horse, or boarders' horses. This clinic is by far the best in terms of availability. There is always one on call, and one backing them up. I had a boarder's horse gushing blood from somewhere in his head, too much blood to figure out where. It was so much, he was leaving puddles everywhere, 2 inches in the feed bucket, a puddle on the doorway of his stall, flipped it all over himself, and had huge globs of clots hanging from his mouth. The owner's regular vet was called at about 7 on a Sunday morning. The response I got was "he probably won't bleed to death if it is in his mouth. It will take me 2 or 3 hours to get there, I just got up." I called my vet who had never treated this horse, had never met this owner and his response was "I'll be right there, 20 minutes." No questions asked, no problem. They respond that way to everyone. The only hinderance on time is driving distance.

[tuppysmom]

Our vet clinic is 20 minutes away by trailer, but they can be here in 15 or less in an emergency. With 7 vets on staff and a couple of interns they are covered 24/7/365.

[ttldr1]

My vet is on call 24/7 except he alternates weekends with two other vets in the area. One is literally less than a mile down the road from me (that is where my gelding spent the night getting fluids and meds to clear an impaction about a year ago) and one that is a pain to get to come out (tends to ignore the pager when it goes off on his weekends). When the ignore the pager vet is on call I do have a backup that actually comes in from GA and is on call 24/7. The thing that people have to realize is that if you don't have a good relationship with a vet chances are they are not going to be too willing to come out for an emergency. They do not know you from Adam. Don't know if you will pay the bill if they trudge out to your place at 3 a.m. Don't know your animals history.

I love my vets and take care of my vets. Call them to do yearly vaccinations, send them cookies for special occassions, keep the lines of communication open throughout the year even if I don't need them to come out, pay my bill in full at the time of service or as soon as the bill comes in (I even have a rolling credit with my regular vet as I had overpaid at time of service once and contunue to do so and he forgets to deduct the credit, so it just stays onthe books, drives his wife, who does hos books, nuts). Why do I do this? Because I want to rest assured that when I need him to come out at 3 a.m. when I have an issue, he will crawl out of bed and be in my yard within minutes.

[EventerAJ]

Lexington, KY. There is no better place to be for any equine medical problem--20 minutes from either Rood & Riddle or Hagyards. We are so spoiled here, best vets & farriers in the world. Emergency staff on call 24/7, will come out ASAP (even to the backwoods of Frankfort at midnight!). Add in other individual practitioners and Woodford Equine... you should be able to find a vet when you need one anywhere in 859/502 area code.

[twofatponies]

Around here there are a lot of horses (and a lot of fancy horses), so there are several vet clinics that specialize in horses and all of them have several vets on staff and do emergency coverage. There are also several equine hospitals where more complex surgeries and such can be done, within an hour or three's drive.

But interesting to note that of the dozen or so small animal vets within 30 miles only one is doing emergencies anymore (being small animals, you have to go there, they don't come to you). Used to be 5 years ago most of them that had more than one vet on staff did emergency coverage. Now only one does.

[Ghazzu]

From another perspective--I'm not practicing much at this point, as I have my hands full teaching.
I do a neighbor's barn--a backyard friendly little place-- a small amount of routine stuff, as the boarders are willing to let me bring students to pull the blood for Coggins tests and do vitals when we vaccinate in the spring, etc. There are several other practices which provide services to the boarders there in general.

Last summer, I pulled a Coggins test on one of the boarders' horses who was leaving to go out east of here on a lease.

Yesterday morning the owner called me to tell me the horse was now in a barn some distance *west* of here, and was apparently colicking.
She wanted to know if I could go see the horse.
As I had a full day of lab practicals to oversee, no, I couldn't. She's a lovely person, and I felt badly, but there was no way I could go.

She then asked if I knew anyone who did travel to that area, and I gave her several names.

*Please*--if you move your horse--line up a vet before you have a problem!

[Milocalwinnings]

I'm very lucky to have a great vet- he'll drop anything and come out if he's on call. If he is not on call, the practice he works for alternates shifts with other vets in the area... Most of them are great- there is one who is a large animal vet rather than equine who is sometimes sent on calls... and I have a problem with that because this guy doesn't know didily squat about emergency horse care (he couldn't tube a freekin horse (who was known to be easy to tube from past experiences), he couldn't give an IV shot..).
There is one other vet that alternates shifts that I won't use unless I absolutely have to- she's just downright rude and unpleasant to deal with, tries every excuse in the book not to come out and the one and only time I've used her for an emergency, she acted as if it was a huge waste of time... and I lost my horse because of it. I've known others who have had issues with her as well. My vet is awesome and gave me his cell number incase there is ever an emergency and she is the one on call. He knows I don't like her.

Loudoun County is big horse country and there are several practices with some really great vets (and a few not so great ones... but you'll find that anywhere you go)... I don't know what I'd do if I lived somewhere that didn't have a vet available for emergencies.

[FlashGordon]

It can be hard, and I've found that feeling out a few different vets and having back-up plans is best.

My vet is fantastic but lived faaar from where my horse was stabled. When we did have a serious emergency, she was on her way, but advised me to call one of the two vet practices that were closest to the barn. I was familiar with both vets, had used them both for routine things, and was able to make a quick decision as to who to call. Though my own favorite vet was my first choice, I was thankful that we had a back-up option.

The hardest thing is that Cornell is a good 2.5-3 hour trip. Close enough for diagnostics etc. but tough to get to in a real time-is-of-the-essence emergency. There is another clinic closer but they do not do emergency surgeries.

[Simkie]

I have relationships with SEVERAL vets--including the CSU vet school, the other large animal hospital in the area and a couple of individuals in practice. They're all good at different things...who I call first depends on what the problem is.

[dalpal]

Lexington, KY. There is no better place to be for any equine medical problem--20 minutes from either Rood & Riddle or Hagyards. We are so spoiled here, best vets & farriers in the world. Emergency staff on call 24/7, will come out ASAP (even to the backwoods of Frankfort at midnight!). Add in other individual practitioners and Woodford Equine... you should be able to find a vet when you need one anywhere in 859/502 area code.

Same here in Raleigh, NC....we have 4 equine practices in our area (and I am sure I am missing some of the individual mobile vets....
Triange Equine
3H Vet
Neuse River
Apex

Not to mention, we have NC State Vet School in our backyard as well.

I never thought much about that luxury until I had my first small animal emergency years back and they saved his life. They've also saved my mare from a flipped intestine colic.

I try to give everyone a bit of my business. 3H is my main vet, but Apex also comes to our barn and they were the ones who were available for an emergency colic call that I had this past summer, Neuse River has also done work for me, and my chiro is out of Triangle. This way, I'm a client at all of the clinics and know I can get someone out during an emergency.

[McVillesMom]

I'm fortunate to be near school, and also a student

FYI, if you need to locate a veterinarian in an emergency, you can call 1-800-GET-A-DVM or go to www.aaep.org - they have a list of equine veterinarians by state.

[amdfarm]

My friends and I are pretty fortunate (we're 7 miles apart from each other and often split trip charges for various things) in that we've known our vet for years and are friends w/ him, even prior to going to vet school. So he knows us and knows our horses. Needless to say we were thrilled when he decided to stay somewhat in our area. He's 30 miles away and has another vet (super nice gal) to help him, as he's sooo busy. If there's an emergency call on the weekend (they rotate) or after hours and you call the office, it's forwarded right to their cell phones and they answer. If they fly, they can get to my place in about 20 minutes.

If it's a major emergency, my small animal vet, less than 10 minutes away in the next town, will come and in the same town is a semi-retired large animal vet that basically just works the sale barn these days that will come. He's an old timer and not really reliable so we've not used him in YEARS.

We also have ISU about an hour away and another larger clinic that can do more extensive diagnostics and surgery that's a bit closer. They are great. I've used both.

[Thomas_1]

Mine's a 30 minute drive away from me.

However he passes my farm every day to and from his way to work.

[JSwan]

I am lucky to have many vets available.

But all take time to get here, more so in an emergency (middle of the night/holiday)

Which is why we performed emergency euthanasia on my goat, Yoda. 6am on a holiday - and he'd been suffering for hours before I found him.... no... I was not going to make him wait for relief. I made that mistake once with another animal and I'll never do it again.

[NancyM]

Well this has been a huge change for me recently. Up until six months ago, I had a selection of skilled horse vets all within 10 minutes of my farm, and played them like a fine piano. Now I have moved to a MUCH more rustic area, and things are much different. Fortunately, my tame vets that I have cultivated over the last 22 years will still fill my shopping list of requirements to treat my own horses as far as I can, and are only a long distance phone call away, but are no longer accessable in a physical sense as they were. I have yet to require a vet's presence here.

There is a large animal vet located about 20 minutes away. But evidently, this is considered a HUGE distance to travel. Call fee for a scheduled visit is purported to be $150 for this twenty minute drive. Neighbours get together to split this call fee for scheduled visits. Emergency visits are practically unknown, unheard of. One neighbour took a newborn foal in to the vet's clinic after it had been stepped on (terminal), it evidently was not an option to have the vet come out to her farm! It seems that an owner treats their own animals in emergency situations as best as they can, or ship (this closest "clinic" does not have facilities for keeping horses), or shoot the horse, which most of the neighbours are capable of doing for me should I require it. This is a required accepted part of living in a more remote area.

There is another vet an hour in the opposite direction, who had never heard of selling wormer by the case. Only by the tube! Full price, no full case discount, and the office didn't know how many tubes were in the case. Yikes. So much education of veterinarians needed, so many changes to make here! Cowboy/ranch country has much different attitudes towards a clients requirements in veterinary service than an area with a high population of show and racehorses. Big change for me.

I need a weanling colt gelded, that will probably be my first requirment of the local vet, in a shared, scheduled visit. I shudder at the thought! Perhaps I would be further ahead shipping him four hours back to my regular vet, haven't investigated it all yet. I am accustomed to paying $175 for this simple surgery, which takes 15 minutes to complete by any of the several skilled vets I have used in the past.

[Rancher]

I have one vet about 45 min away. Just one. If he doesn't answer his cell phone in the middle of the night I don't know what I would do then. Also it's HARD to get him to come out during the day because he is the only vet at the clinic. (he is also allergic to horses and tries to avoid them...or so I hear...). He tells people with cows who need c-sections that they HAVE to bring them in. I have been there a few times when cows have come in for that. He is a nice vet, very cheap....but in a real emergency I don't think I would use him. He doesn't even have an x-ray machine.

There is a vet college two hours away from here. If the horse was able to be moved I would probably just haul them in there.

Soon though I will be moving fairly close (45 min) to an AWESOME horse vet!

[greysandbays]

There's two vets "nearby", by which I mean that if they were free to come the instant I called, they would still be at least an hour away (unless they were already in the area, which according the Murphy's Law, they never are).

One is easy to get reach (cell phone thingie in his ear ALL THE TIME and thinks nothing of answering it in the middle of almost anything, at least during office hours)but kinda casual about what he considers an "emergency"; the other is a whole lot harder to reach (one man outfit who does like his hunting trips) but IF you can get him, he'll come on the fly (drives 80mph just about everywhere).

The nearest really sophisticated surgical center is three hours away in the best of traffic.

Human emergency help is a half-hour away for us and much longer than that for much of the county (IF they can even find you, which I wouldn't count on). It's "get tough or die" for human and beast alike.

There is, however, when no vet can be reached, there is something of an "underground" network of individuals with a bit of knowledge and experience who are prevailed upon to "practice veterinary medicine without a license" when the owner is too inexperienced/distraught to handle the situation. They don't go looking for it, but when it comes looking for them, they can't let an animal suffer on account of a stupid piece of paper when there truly is a little something they can do to improve the situation.

[Catersun]

I'm very blessed that the local horse vet who still makes farm calls literallly lives "Just around the corner" from me.

[saultgirl]

Our vet has a 45 minute drive to get to us... on a GOOD day... and I live in Northern Ontario. Highways are sometimes not available!