New out-of-hours night vet service opens in Kildare town

A new emergency out-of-hours veterinary service for pets has opened in Kildare town called MiNight Vet Emergency Care.

Located at Grey Abbey Veterinary Hospital, the service is a first of it’s kind in the country.

“This is the first of its kind,” said vet and manager Brigid McGing.

“We are owned by CVS which has 300 practices in the UK and Northern Ireland and this is the first in Kildare.

“The idea is to provide a top class service to pets and their owners. As vets we are obliged to provide a 24 hour service, but it is often difficult to get people to work it if they have been working all day so this is a specific night service for that purpose.

“The vet and nurse will be here right throughout the night for all emergencies.”

The service, which began last week, has already dealt with a few critical cases.

“We’ve had a few emergencies already,” she added.

“We had a puppy with acute diarrhoea. A pup can die with it so that had to be monitored. We had a cat injured on the road and had to get a leg amputated.

“Both are doing really well since. We might have dogs having fits who are brought to us. The vet and nurse are here through the night from 7pm to 8am the following morning.”

The majority of pets treated will be able to go home straight away.

If a pet does require an overnight stay MiNight Vet service promises it will be well looked after by their friendly, caring team of veterinary professionals.

MiNight Vet Emergency Care said the team will keep all pet owners fully informed of the pets’ progress and the cost of treatment being received. They will discharge the pet as soon as they are well enough to travel, which in most cases will be the following morning.

“We also provide services to other vet practices — for example if a vet practice elsewhere has an emergency we can take the patients here. We have a lab, we can run full blood tests, we have a digital X-ray machine, and we can provide ultra sounds.

“We also have full surgical equipment and expertise. We have access to second opinions with our network in the UK which is just a phone call away.”

According to Brigid, neighbouring practices can sign up with them and their clients can also avail of the out-of-hours service.

“We will email a full report to the vet the following morning and we will take care of the animal over night.”

She explained that oftentimes for pet owners it is having that reassurance that seeing a vet can give when a pet is poorly.

“Very often people just need reassurance from us, an examination and advise. They don’t always need surgery or emergency treatment however we are here if they do. We are a separate set up to the day service at Grey Abbey Veterinary Hospital.”

The idea is to bring the pet to the hospital, however if the vet feels they cannot be moved, they will do their best to provide a home visit

The vets will work with the pet’s daytime practice to ensure that the pet receives the best care — day or night.

The service includes free telephone advice, a well-equipped emergency clinic with a vet and nurse on site at all times providing emergency treatment at a reasonable cost.

All vets are trained to provide pets with the very best emergency care in a caring and friendly environment.

A follow up phone call and full copy of notes detailing results of all tests performed and treatments given will be sent to your daytime vet the following day.