Our veterinarians often encounter frantic pet owners whose beloved pets have ingested some sort of household toxin. In order to ensure your pet stays safe from poisons, we recommend all pet owners make sure to take the necessary precautions to prevent an animal from having access to anything that might be toxic.

Here are a few things to keep in mind to prevent your pet from ingesting something toxic.Remember, if you feel that your animal has eaten something toxic, it is best to bring it to our emergency vet right away.

‘Normal’ Food That Can Cause a Trip to a Pet Hospital

Surprisingly, some household poisons for pets are regular foods that are just fine for the two-legged human set. Often, people mistakenly feed their pets “people food” without realizing it is actually poisonous for animals. These foods can include chocolate, raisins, grapes, and anything that contains the sweetening chemical xylitol.

Safeguard Medications, Say Emergency Vets

Some of the most common household poisons for pets are human medications. Often, the little plastic shiny bottles are very enticing, and a pet can open them while playing with them. Some pets are attracted to the rattling sound they make, and others just want to get inside and will eat the pills, often with tragic results. Even ingesting a small amount of human medication can require a trip to our pet hospital.

Advice from Our Veterinarian: Know Your Plants and Trees

Plants and trees are often overlooked when puppy or kitty-proofing your home and yard. There are many strains of plants that are poisonous for both humans and pets. One common deadly poisonous plant is oleander, a beautiful flowering hearty and drought-resistant plant, but extremely toxic.

It is crucial to know your plants and trees and make sure that none of them are poisonous to dogs or cats. Make sure that you bring your dog to the veterinarian right away if it exhibits signs of poisoning, such as lethargy or foaming at the mouth.

At Emergency Veterinary Services of St. Charles in St. Charles, Ill, we serve pets and pet owners in Aurora, St. Charles, Geneva, Elgin, Geneva, and Batavia. We are open nights and weekends only, specifically to handle any emergency issue concerning your pet.

What steps have you taken to safeguard your pet against accidental poisonings?

How to Recognize Heatstroke in Pets

Earlier this month we watched the news as it showed us the devastating  8.9 earthquake that hit Japan and I couldn’t help but wonder “what is happening with the poor animals”. I couldn’t find any coverage so I started to do some research and found that there were dedicated groups out and about rescuing homeless dogs, cats and other animals that were left behind while everyone tried to find shelter.

One of these groups was ARK which stands for Animal Refuge Kansi. Back in 1995 there was another earthquake in Japan and ARK took in 600 animals, mainly dogs and cats but also rabbits and birds. You can read more about this group at  http://www.arkbark.net.

Here at home we are pretty fortunate to have dedicated people to administer emergency care to our beloved furry family members. Maybe it’s just me but when our weather gets brutal my heart will sink while I’m driving around St Charles or West Chicago and I see a stray dog or cat in the middle of a snow blizzard or even a heavy rain storm. You just want to pick them all up and take them in but alas we can only do so much.

That’s one of the reasons we are proud to be a part of Emergency Veterinary Services of St. Charles.  We are open all night long and can take care of your pet when you need us the most. Our hours are 6:00 PM to 8:00 AM the next morning and on the weekends we are open from Saturday at noon until 8:00 AM Monday morning! We are prepared to handle any emergency but it is always a good idea to call ahead so that we can set up the necessary equipment. We don’t take appointments and as in the human ER handle the most serious cases first. As you can see there are a lot of dedicated people out there to offer a helping hand when times go bad whether far away or close to home.

So the next time you are driving around on a dark and stormy night and you see some poor animal that looks like he needs help don’t forget we are here when others are closed, ready to provide the necessary emergency care. You will not only lift his spirits but also yours knowing you helped out an unfortunate furry friend.

 For any pet emergency call us at 630-584-7447. You will be glad you did.

Any questions?  Please respond to this post.

Here at Emergency Vet Services of St.Charles, our veterinarians and veterinary staff believe that you emergency vet care should be held to the same standard of service as your regular care provider. We genuinely care about your pets and after each pet health evaluation we will fully explain all of your available options and take the time to answer any questions you may have. Our emergency animal clinic is open nights, weekends, and holidays and we pledge to provide your pet with outstanding service while keeping rates low. We strive to provide professional and advanced veterinary medicine and surgery, even at 3:00AM, but we still have some of the lowest emergency vet rates in the area!  

Today we are unveiling our new blog feature which will allow us to keep you informed about the latest news in pet health and general preventative home care. Please feel free to subscribe to our RSS feed above so that you can be automatically updated whenever we post a new topic.

At Emergency Vet Services of St.Charles, we are here to answer your questions and evaluate your pet’s health when common issues come up like vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding, injuries, sneezing/coughing, toxic ingestion, allergic reactions, and any other unusual symptoms you may see in your pet.  Pet owners come to our clinic from all around Chicagoland and we commonly see pet owners from Aurora, Elgin, St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia, West Chicago, Carol Stream, Winfield, Wayne, Bartlett, Hanover Park, Streamwood, Lily Lake, Virgil, Elburn, Maple Park, Sycamore, Burlington, Genoa, Hampshire, and North Aurora. 

At Emergency Vet Services of St.Charles, we welcome you and your pet! If you have any questions about your pet and our services, or if you're not sure if you need to come in, please don’t hesitate to all us nights, weekends, and holidays at 630-584-7447!