Common emergency FAQ’s:

1. What happens when I have an emergency with my pet?

2. What do I do if it is after hours and I have an emergency with my pet?

3. Does your clinic offer emergency hours?

4. What happens when my pet is boarding and they become ill or injured?

To help address these questions our emergency protocols are described below:

Chatfield Veterinary Hospital is not classified as an emergency hospital and we are not fully equipped to handle all types of emergencies. We will always do our best to provide treatment for emergencies during our hours of operation, but in some cases, where time is of the essence, we would not want a true emergency to have to wait to be seen. In the event we are unable to render emergency care for a patient we may refer them to an ER clinic so they may be seen right away.

We are not open for 24-hour care and may not be able to provide emergency services beyond a certain point in our day. If it is near the end of our day when we receive an emergency call we will try to assess the emergency and determine if it something within our capability to treat or if it may need more attention than we can offer. If it needs more attention than we can offer this is another instance where we will refer the patient to an ER clinic. In the event we are not equipped to handle the emergency, we will explain this to you. We would like to avoid having you bring your pet to us only to be transferred to another facility. We will try to help you make the decision of what will be the best for your pet to get treated as quickly as possible.

If your pet is boarding with us and an emergency arises we will absolutely provide care for them to the best of our ability. We do not expect  you as our client to try to coordinate care while you are away. We will always try to contact you first to determine how you would like us to proceed with treatment. This is why it is important for you to fill out a boarding consent form that informs us how you would like us to handle emergencies should they arise and what to do in the event you cannot be reached. However, we do not have staff available 24/7 so if something happened overnight it would not be handled until a staff member arrived again in the morning.

**If you believe your pet needs emergency care outside of our normal business hours, please call or go to one of the following hospitals:

VRCC (Veterinary Referral Center of Colorado) 
(303) 874-7387 
3550 S. Jason St, Englewood, CO 80110

Colorado Veterinary Specialists & Animal ER  
(303) 794-1188
221 W. County Line Rd, Littleton, CO 80129

Deer Creek Animal Hospital   
(303) 973-4200   
10148 W. Chatfield Ave, Littleton, CO 80127