First off, we need to state who all is in our on call rotation. In our rotation schedule, there are six veterinarians you may reach on any given week of being on call. They are as follows:
1. Haley Clark with Leesburg Animal Hospital
2. Shannon Shepard with Leesburg Animal Hospital
3. Dick Hydrick with Gardner and Hydrick and Sylvester Animal Hospital
4. Allen Gardner with Gardner and Hydrick and Sylvester Animal Hospital
5. Kelly Anderson with Gardner and Hydrick
6. Charles Land with Countryside Animal Hospital
Each of these veterinarians are on call from a Monday evening at 5:30 to the following Monday morning at 8:00. The next veterinarian in the rotation schedule will then begin that Monday night. Dr. Shannon only sees clients at her Leesburg office. Dr. Haley will see clients at the Leesburg office or the Gardner and Hydrick office in East Albany. Dr. Hydrick, Dr. Gardner and Dr. Anderson will ONLY see clients at the office in East Albany. Dr. Land will ONLY see clients at his office in Sylvester. Now, having explained all this it becomes evident that if you are in need of an emergency veterinarian, you may be taking your pet to one of three locations...Leesburg, Albany, or Sylvester. I am aware that it may be frustrating to take your pet to an office you are not entirely familiar with, but it is what it is. You see, we are all veterinarians with our own offices and comfort zones. We have families and lives outside of our work. In order for us to continue to provide emergency services to our clients and to have a good quality of life, we have formed a roation schedule that works out well for us. It is truly our hopes that we do not have to see an animal on emergency. The absolute truth is we would rather not get up in the middle of the night or on the weekend, but if it is necessary, we will. Along with this duty comes a fee. You can expect to be charged an emergency fee of around $125. This fee may increase as the night goes on, because as you can imagine, any veterinarian would rather see a sick patient at eight o'clock at night rather than two o'clock in the morning. So if you think you may need assistance before 8 a.m. the following morning, just go ahead and call. It may turn out that the veterinarian on call can talk you through your problem, give you some things to do at home and get you through to the next day so that you avoid the extra fee and he/she avoids the extra work.
Who should you call?
So, if you have an emergency you are to call 229-432-3462. If you do not have this number readily available, you can call any of the offices to get the emergency number; it will be on the answering machine. The people who answer your emergency call are not veterinarians. They have never worked in a veterinary setting and for all I know may not even have so much as a gold fish for a pet. They are not there to answer your questions or give any medical advice. Nor are they there to be cussed or yelled at and made to feel incompetent. They are simply there to find the on-call veterinarian and to put you in touch with them. You may have to hang on for a few minutes.
Who should do the calling?
The person who is with the sick animal and making the decisions about the course of action to be taken is the person who should do the calling. So many times it happens that the husband has instructed the wife to call the vet and undoubtedly the wife ends up being the messenger between the husband and the vet. THIS IS VERY FRUSTATING AND TIME CONSUMING!!! Husbands, I know the wife is the "doer" in the family. That is the norm, but if you are making the decisions about what action is to be taken with the family pet, just get on the phone and talk to the vet. There is no need for the wife to be the echo of me and you.
What information is necessary?
Usually this can be summed up in a few words. You can simply say, "My dog is having seizures," or "my cat has a terrible cough and constant sneezing." This will prompt the veterinarian to ask a series of questions that he/she feels are necessary to begin to assess the situation and the condition of the animal. It is not necessary to give unnecessary information or to tell stories about one's pet. We do not need to know that normally Spike lays on his red bed after he eats supper, but tonight he chose to sleep on the green bed. We do not need to know that you found him on the side of the road or that you chose to pay $800 at the pet store for him. Tricks and idiosycracies are not necessary to the diagnosis of your pet's ailment. Keep it simple; keep it related to the clinical signs...vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, limping, etc.
What should I expect?
Keep in mind we do not have a crystal ball nor do we have a magic wand. We can not and will not make a diagnosis over the phone. By you giving the clinical signs, we can make a presumptive diagnosis and help you decide if your pet needs immediate attention. If you feel that no matter what, your animal needs to be seen. That is what we are here for; we will meet you at one of the above listed offices. If you choose not to come in and to wait until in the morning, do not get angry if the animal's condition worsens or does not turn out favorably.
Most of the time my week on call turns out well. For the most part, clients are very grateful someone is available to help them in an after hours emergency situation. It just so happenned this week kind of brought out some beligerent people...maybe it was the heat...maybe it was the rain...maybe it was Phillip Phillips coming to town and J. Lo spottings. Who knows...just know we are here for