Tips for helping your vet in an emergency

1) Stay calm and give the person who answers the phone clear answers to their questions.  They are asking you these questions so we may better serve you.

2) Stay off of the phone once you call so we may call you back.  Please enable your phone to accept blocked numbers so we may reach you from whatever phone is fastest for us.

3) Please know your physical address as most of us navigate by GPS as it enables us to get on the road faster.  If there is a significant landmark please tell us, and if the on-call veterinarian has not been to your location before, please describe your farm to us so we may find it faster.

4) Keep the driveway to the barn free of tractors, cars, people, etc.  The closer we can get to the barn the easier it is for us.  Remember, we may need to make several trips to the car during the course of our visit.

5) Please have a well fitted and safe halter on the horse if you can do so safely. Many horses become far worse to catch when they see the vet coming.

6) We never complain about having better light or a bucket of clean warm water!

Equine Emergency Checklist

You can’t predict when an emergency will occur, but you can be prepared. Print and use this checklist to ensure you have the basics for your horse(s) in case of an emergency.

Equine Emergencies and Triage: What to do while you’re waiting for the vet.

Oakencroft is committed to doing what is best for horses and their owners and this includes being available at all times for whatever emergency arises. 

We feel that providing emergency service is an ethical necessity, and our clients agree.  Our large practice area means we always have two veterinarians on-call after hours.  One serves the northeast half of our practice and one serves the southwest which reduces travel time markedly.