Urgent Care & Emergency Services

Urgent Care Services are available at our hospital. Our highly trained nurses will be on-site 24-hours-a-day to administer treatments and monitor hospitalized patients overnight. In addition, our veterinarians are on-call after midnight each night for emergencies, and when not on-site, are updated regularly by our nurses in regard to hospitalized patient progress.

What is Urgent Care?

FAH Urgent Care services differ from our normal daily schedule and also from our overnight emergency services. We started Urgent Care services as an extension of your primary care veterinarian’s office (when they are closed) but you find yourself in need of immediate care for your pet. Yuma desperately needed a service that bridged the gap between the evening hours, when primary care offices closed, and when they opened again the next day.

Urgent Care pricing

Because we have a team here at the hospital until midnight, the cost of an Urgent Care appointment is much lower than our on-call emergency services that begin at midnight, and require bringing in staff to handle your concerns. If you think your pet may need urgent care, you can save yourself time and money by attending to the situation promptly, before midnight. Contact the hospital for more information and an exact quote.

How it works:

When your veterinary office closes, our office remains open with our Urgent Care staff and veterinarian in place until midnight. If your pet needs assistance, call our hospital at 928-342-0448. One of our Urgent Care team members will help assess your situation, give you a same night appointment time, and may suggest you come in immediately. Keep in mind that Urgent Care appointments are seen in order of urgency, not in order of arrival or when you called. Also, due to limited staff during these hours, Urgent Care is not for wellness exams, prescription refills, food sales or other daily business hour requests.

Emergency Services

We see emergencies and walk-ins throughout the day, for both new and established clients. We also provide emergency care after midnight, daily, to both new and established clients. One of our highly experienced doctors is on call every night, 365 days a year, to assist with your emergencies.

What should I do if I have an after-hours emergency with my pet?

1. Stay calm. Animals can sense if you are upset and may become more fearful, distressed, or even aggressive if you panic.
2. Call ahead to Foothills Animal Hospital at 928-342-0448. You will reach our answering service which will connect you with one of our veterinary technicians or doctors. They will be able to advise you and give you instructions specific to your situation. If our clinical staff believes your situation is serious and cannot wait until regular business hours, they will ask you to proceed immediately to the hospital. We are located at 11769 S. Frontage Rd. in the Foothills of Yuma.
3. Upon arrival, be prepared with basic information about your pet – like type/breed, age, the nature of the problem, time the problem happened, and any changes that have occurred since the initial onset of the problem.

24/7 Emergency

Like people, pets seem to need medical attention at odd times, like in the middle of the night or on the weekends. If your pet is sick or injured day or night, we are here to help, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Is it truly an emergency?

Not every illness or injury is an emergency. Many medical situations are non-life threatening and can be handled during regular business hours. Conversely, some conditions require immediate medical attention. So how do you determine when your pet’s condition is severe enough to call the hospital for after hours emergency help?

It can be difficult to determine situations that can wait until our hospital is open. Your pet may act very ill after simply eating something disagreeable. On the other hand, a small piece of chocolate can be life threatening to a pet that seems mostly healthy after ingesting it. A pet limping after a fall may only require rest to fully recover. However, in the case of some traumatic injuries, serious, unseen internal harm may exist that could require immediate treatment. You may need a medical professional to distinguish the difference. So if your pet is sick, in obvious pain, or does not feel well in general, we recommend you call for an evaluation by one of our qualified technicians or veterinarians. They will be able to determine whether your pet’s condition requires immediate action or it is safe for you to wait until regular business hours for an examination.

Here are some situations that could indicate the need to seek urgent treatment:

• Unconsciousness
• Bleeding in volume, uncontrollable bleeding, or bleeding from a body cavity
• Foaming at the mouth
• Hit by car
• Seizure or tremor
• Unresponsiveness
• Lethargy
• Blue, purple, or pale gums or tongue
• Cat open-mouth breathing
• Poisoning (ingestion of snail bait, rat bait, anti-freeze, pills, medications, vitamins, chocolate, or any other suspect substance)
• Ingestion of a foreign object
• Your pet has been involved in an animal attack
• Bite wounds
• Spider or insect bites
• Paralysis
• Respiratory emergency
• Cardiac emergency
• Diarrhea
• Allergic reactions
• Dehydration
• Lacerations
• Fractures
• Burns
• Heat and cold emergencies (heatstroke, excessive panting or salivation, shivering, etc.)

Currently, there are no 24-hour emergency veterinary hospitals in the Yuma area. The nearest 24 hour emergency veterinary hospitals are:

• Pet Emergency & Specialty Center (619) 462-4800 in La Mesa, California
• 5232 Jackson Drive., Suite 102-105

• Veterinary Specialty Center Tucson (520) 795-9960 in Tucson, Arizona
• 4909 North La Canada Drive

• VCA  Animal Referral & Emergency center of Arizona (480) 898-0001 in Mesa, AZ
• 1648 North Country Club Drive