Emergency Vet

Norwich Night-Vet is the only dedicated Emergency Service for pets in the Norwich area providing 24hour emergency care with a veterinary nurse and surgeon staying on site. We are available for referrals from member practices throughout the night, weekends and Bank Holidays.

Our aim is to provide a genuine A&E service for pet owners in the Norwich area

Our staff answer in-coming calls directly and straight away will arrange for the animal to be examined at the surgery. This ensures delays are kept to an absolute minimum.

Norwich Night-Vet operates from the “Taverham Vets” surgery which is prominently located opposite the entrance to Taverham Garden Centre, on Fir Covert Road in Taverham The surgery is modern and spacious with easy and safe car-parking. The building won a British Hospitals Association Design award in 2007

Effective management of medical emergencies can be demanding and complex, requiring the specialised equipment based at the surgery. Where a person suffers a heart attack or is run over they are automatically sent to hospital A&E for their specialist facilities and care. Likewise appropriate care of animal emergencies by the Norwich Night-Vet staff necessitates animals to be at the surgery. This is why attending emergencies away from the surgery is not usually in the animal’s best interests.

A vet and a Veterinary Nurse work together. By staying on-site they are readily available. They are also able to monitor in-patients effectively and provide care tailored to the individual. Since we aim to be able to deal with any emergency situation, we have an extensive range of specialist equipment. This includes two operating theatres, x-ray, ultrasound scanner and endoscopes (cameras for looking inside the body).

We have a fully equipped in-house laboratory. This enables us to perform a wide range of blood tests and obtain results within minutes, which is extremely useful in investigating acute illness.

Our Charges

Emergency cover is costly to provide and so examinations carry a surcharge. We do require settlement for all services at the time of treatment. We accept cash, cheque and credit/debit cards.

In times of emergency, pet insurance comes into its own. There is no NHS for pets, so we strongly recommend good quality pet insurance (we are however unable to accept direct payment from insurance companies).

Where your pet requires further procedures or hospitalisation, you will be provided with a full estimate

• Norwich Night Vet has been successfully running since 2008 and is the only service of its kind in Norfolk.  We provide a dedicated veterinary emergency service covering much of the area in and around Norwich.
• A vet and veterinary nurse experienced in emergency medicine are on-site and available 24/7 365 days a year providing “through the night” care for hospitalised inpatients as well as being available to see any new emergency cases.
• The surgery has an extensive array of specialist equipment to facilitate emergency treatments, some of which may not be available at general practices.
• We manage hundreds of emergencies every year and this familiarity enables us to manage cases as effectively as possible.
• We can call on the expertise of vets with post-graduate qualifications in several disciplines

SOME COMMON QUESTIONS:

• Why has my vet delegated emergency care to Norwich-Night Vet? Over the last 20 years the scope and sophistication of treatments available for pets have increased greatly. The nature of vets’ daily work has changed too such that the old scenario of a vet working an intensive 11-12 hour day followed by a night “on call” followed by a further long day is no longer practical for the vet nor in the best interests of their patients.
• What care can I expect for my pet? The role of the emergency service is to provide sufficient care to get animals safely and comfortably though the emergency period until such a time that your own vet can take over. NNV effectively finishes at 8.30am Monday-Friday so we cannot provide continuity of care after this time unless the patient is unfit to travel back to your own vet.
• Is someone watching my pet at all times? A Veterinary Surgeon and Veterinary Nurse are on-site all the time and the Norwich Night Vet staff decide upon the level of supervision needed on a case by case basis.  They will balance the needs of an individual with that of a number of other patients and the need to see further emergencies and even perform operations during the emergency period.  
• Do you keep me and my practice informed? Yes of course. We aim to provide regular updates regarding your pet’s condition, the plan for the hours ahead and costs. Notes are sent to your practice and we often will telephone them about complex cases  
• Is it possible for you to tell me exactly what treatment will cost? The very nature of emergency conditions are that they can be unpredictable. We can only estimate approximate costs but these have to be revised on a frequent basis.
• Do we accept direct insurance claims? No. Unfortunately due to the NNV work being done out of normal working hours administrative problems prevent us from doing this.
• Do you bill my own practice? No. You need to pay us by the completion of our treatment.
• If my pet is hospitalised, what happens to my pet when NNV finishes at 8.30am? Pets either go home to their owners or are transferred back to their own practice if medically fit to travel. Exceptionally animals will stay here but are then managed by a different team of vets and nurses to NNV.
• My vet has yet to diagnose what is wrong – are you going to? We limit our diagnostic investigations to what is appropriate for the severity and stability of the medical condition of the animal during the emergency period. Where possible we try to leave investigations to your own veterinary surgeon.
• Is the Norwich Night-Vet service a specialist ‘referral centre’? No. Specialists are experts in just one discipline and do not tend to work in general practice. However we are confident that NNV would compare very favourably with any general practice emergency service in the country. If we feel a specialist opinion is needed in the emergency period then we would discuss referral from us with you.
• After treatment by NNV, can I register with Taverham Vets? The Emergency Service relies on co-operation between us and the practices using NNV. We have an agreement whereby animals cannot be seen by Taverham Vets for a period of 6 months from the time of the NNV treatment.  This agreement is strictly enforced.