Eastern Maine Emergency Veterinary Clinic

09/22/2024

There seems to be higher than usual skunk activity this fall. If your pet is sprayed by a skunk... please do not bring them to our clinic for a bath! Although it is a terrible experience and your pet won't be happy... a spray from a skunk rarely requires emergency veterinary attention and we can't provide emergency skunk baths.

The skunk scent can be spread by water. Using a commercial skunk odor removing shampoo is recommended. You should avoid spraying down your pet with water until the shampoo binds to the skunk spray and then rinse off with water. If you are unable to get commercial shampoo, there are some home remedies that can be safe for your dog. (https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/de-skunking-your-dog)

Avoid getting shampoo or home remedies near the eyes.
If your pet is unable to open their eyes or has redness/squinting in one eye, this may warrant a veterinary visit.

If your pet was bitten by the skunk or the skunk was very aggressive and attacking. your pet, please contact your veterinarian or your local animal control officer. Skunks carry rabies and this could be a public health concern.

If your pet is vomiting after a skunk spray, they may have taken a direct hit into the mouth. If they are unable to stop vomiting, this may require veterinary attention.

09/22/2024

Good morning,
We are still running short staffed due to illness. Please be patient with the staff that is working hard to accommodate as many emergencies as possible. Please remember that we are a triage based emergency clinic. We will see patients in the order of medical urgency.

This means even if you arrive at 9am, if your pet has a triage green or priority 3 issues, it may be a long wait time while a patient who is triage red or priority 1 who arrives at 11am may be seen before your pet.

We also try to prioritize end of life care so that families who have made this difficult decision do not need to wait any longer than possible.

If you are located south of us, please consider going to one of the other southern emergency clinics. Thank you for your patience while we navigate this weekend!

09/21/2024

‼️‼️‼️we are at capacity with a high load of critical inpatients and will need to close to out patient care‼️‼️‼️

Please call Maine Veterinary Medical Center and Portland Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Care for any emergency care. We are very sorry for the inconvenience but made this tough decision for patient safety.

09/21/2024

Are you visiting our beautiful state of Maine? Are you on your way for a relaxing vacation in Acadia National Park? Stopping to take a photo with the Duck of Justice in Bangor? Planing to enjoy some lobster? Did you bring your four legged family member to explore our state as well??

Well, we just want to let you know that we have porcupines. They look really cute and you might want to get closer to take a photo or better yet a selfie??? Sometimes your dogs ( and on rare occasions your cat) might ALSO want to befriend this new creature.... please don't let them!

Porcupines are active at dawn and dusk. Walk your pet on a leash or at least check the yard before letting them out. Porcupines don't believe in barriers such as fences, they could be IN your yard. If you are letting your dog out at dawn or dusk, consider leash walking them.

Porcupines do not shoot their quills, that's a myth. Your pet has to touch them. Sometimes dogs will touch them just to see what they are and come away with a few quills in their nose or muzzle. Other times they want to take a taste of these unique critters and come away with a mouth full of quills. Sometimes, they just go in for the kill and come in looking LIKE a porcupine themselves.

Porcupines quills have barbs on the end and WILL NOT back out. They will continue to move forwards in the way they stuck your pet. If that means into the chest or lung or heart... it can happen. Quills on the chest and abdomen are emergencies. It can turn into a fatal issue. Quills in the mouth, if swallowed, can lead to puncture of the GI tract. The barbs hurt when you yank them out. And please don't cut them!! Cutting them just makes it harder to pull out and allows them to bury themselves fully more easily!

You can't see quills on x-rays or CT scan. Once they are buried, it's super hard to find time! Although it is a special Maine experience to have a pet with quills... most people give it a zero star review. We hope this doesn't happen while you are visiting our beautiful state but if you need us, we will be here!

09/20/2024

Edit: ‼️‼️🦠🦠🦠due to staff illness, we will be closing our doors to out patients and focus on our inpatients after 9pm tonight! ‼️‼️🦠🦠🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮

It has been a busy week of emergencies ( full moon vibes?!) and we just wanted to remind you that we are an emergency room. Arriving right at opening doesn't mean you will be seen right away. We see things based on how sick your pet is. A stable patient that arrived at 5pm may not be seen until 10pm while a dying patient who arrived at 9:45pm may be seen before 10pm. We do our best to see patients as quickly as possible.

You may also see that we post things like " we are at capacity". Capacity can mean several different things. Sometimes we literally run out of room. Other times it's because we have many critical in patients and we have met the staffing to patient ratio that allows us to be safe and give adequate care. Sometimes it's because we have about 12 to 16 hours worth of surgeries to do and we know we can't take anymore on. As we move into another weekend, please stay safe and if you need us, call ahead so we can better anticipate your pet's needs!

09/20/2024

‼️‼️due to staff illnesses, yup multiple, we will need to likely close to Incoming patients by 9pm tonight. We will be open from 5:30-9pm to patients and then need to focus our limited staff on admitted patients. We are working on finding relief help on the overnight but the back to school germs are real! ‼️‼️
Midcoast Animal Emergency ClinicMaine Veterinary Medical CenterPortland Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Care would be alternatives overnight.
PetMedic Urgent Vet Care Clinic - Freeport may have same day urgent care for you today.

09/20/2024

We just heard about some exciting news in the Bangor area. There is now a in home hospice and in home euthanasia ONLY veterinarian serving this area. We do our best to accommodate all end of life situations and make the process as peaceful and stress free as possible. When it's possible we will meet you outside but for some families, in home care would be ideal. We just wanted to spread the news since we are rejoicing at this option for our patients.

We also heard that the there is a new mobile veterinary service in the Dexter area! We are told that a lot of people can't get in to see veterinarian. We a new veterinarian in the area, we hope that some of you can find your forever vet! Welcome to these doctors and their teams and thanks for providing care to animals in our area!

https://www.facebook.com/heartofmainemobilevet

House call veterinarian offering in-home euthanasia and hospice care for pets in Maine. Let your pet's final moments be stress free at home.

09/19/2024

Do you know how much it costs to provide routine care for your cat or dog? Preventative care is important to keep your pet healthy and happy. As a member of your family, emergencies and illness in your pet is very stressful. It is a stressful emotional time. It can also be a stressful time due to the financial burden as well. Making a medical decision under pressure for your pet is hard enough WITHOUT the pressure of thinking about the finances. We do our best to come up with plan A, B, C, and more to make sure we come up with the right plan for your pet AND your family.

That being said, if you are purchasing a puppy or kitten keep a few things in mind.
Am I purchasing this animal from a responsible breeder? Did mom get her vaccines and dewormed during pregnancy so my new pet has a good start to life? Did they get their first round of vaccines? Were they dewormed properly so when the stress of moving to my home triggers a little diarrhea, it won't turn into an emergency room visit due to a poonami of worms?Did they use flea and tick prevention on mom and dad so I don't have to worry about flea anemia and tape worms in my new family member? A blood transfusion, even for a kitten, can be over $1,000. Do you want to forgo paying for a puppy for specific look and breed and adopt a dog or cat that is already spayed and neuter from a shelter? If not, do you have enough saved to spay and neuter appropriately since intact dogs and cats get into more fights and need more emergency room visits? ( this is statistically true!) Do you want to keep your cats indoors to avoid cat fights and bites? Can you spay your dog in time to avoid a pyometra or uterine infection that is life threatening and can cost 2500-3500 for surgery?

We see a lot of families struggling in our lobby. We see a lot of good intentions gone wrong in our patients. And it breaks our hearts too.

A news letter from our friends at the Bangor Humane Society triggered this post. Here is some good information from them about what it costs to get a puppy or kitten ready for adoption. T

09/18/2024

Glamor Shots at EMEVC:

Can you spy the foreign body in this x-ray? This dog got into the garbage and chewed up the first item but swallowed this one whole when he was caught by his family.

Yup, it's a corn cob. Corn cobs can pass if chewed up into small enough pieces. An entire corn cob MIGHT pass through the Gi tract of a large dog but often gets stuck along the intestinal tract. IV fluid therapy may assist in moving it along but sometimes surgery is required.

If you have a dog that would rather swallow it's prize WHOLE, than give it up to you, try to approach them with an olive brach treat. Offering to trade for a treat may seem to be counter productive since you don't want to reward this behavior BUT it may save you a trip to the ER.

09/17/2024

If you have a non urgent matter, please call your regular veterinarian or try to make a same day sick appointment with PetMedic Urgent Vet Care Clinic - Freeport. We may be seeing a higher volume of pets due to this closure. We are the furthest north after hours clinic in the state, if you live south of us, please consider driving to Portland Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Care or Maine Veterinary Medical Center.

09/15/2024

We are starting to see hunting related injuries in dogs at our clinic. Many are you are well versed in hunting safety with your dog but it's never a bad idea to make sure your first aid kit is ready, you know where the closest veterinary ER is located, and you are prepared.

09/14/2024

We are officially at capacity for in patients and out patient care. Based on our staffing and current patient load we are unable to take anymore emergencies. We will do our best to stabilize patients as we can but at this time are AT CAPACITY.

09/14/2024

We have emergency surgeries that will be taking us most of the day today and are very very very short staffed. We will be doing our best to stabilize and treat patients. Please expect longer than usual wait times. If you have a patient that requires hospitalization, we may ask you to drive south for a better staffed hospital to provide the medical care your pet requires. We will continue to see as many patients as possible but do have limitations. Please call ahead if possible. If you are located SOUTH of us, please consider going to Portland Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Care or Maine Veterinary Medical Center or Midcoast Animal Emergency Clinic so we can continue to serve the northern part of the state.

09/14/2024

It's that time of year when we all need to wear our hunter orange while out on walks. This includes our pets! Vest's and bandanas are helpful, especially if you are letting them roam off leash.

09/14/2024

ATTENTION:

We will have limited ability to see critical patients after 8pm tonight due to staffing. Please call ahead prior to your arrival. We are fully staffed until 8pm so if you feel that something is going on with your pet, please try to come see us while we are fully staffed!

You may be asked to drive south of us to Portland Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Care, Maine Veterinary Medical Centern or Midcoast Animal Emergency Clinic

09/11/2024

09/09/2024

Local artists are showing the pets the 💓 this month! We have The Glass Feather and Maine's Natural Inspirations who donated some of their lovely art for The Giving Tree! We have multiple paw prints in various colors that the students at The Glads Feather made for us!

09/07/2024

Neurologic signs can be very scary and worrisome in our pets. One of the "best case scenarios" for a pet with sudden onset neurologic signs would be THC or ma*****na exposure.

Since the legalization of ma*****na in Maine, we have seen a huge spike in pets with accidental exposure. It doesn't take much to affect a cat or dog but luckily, ma*****na is rarely fatal.

Acting drunk, walking funny, overly sensitive to noise/lights/movement, dribbling urine, can all be due to THC.

We are able to use a urine test that is designed for people but the THC excreted by dogs is more fragile and will often give a false negative. If we ask if there is any chance of THC exposure, we really don't care nor do we judge, we just want to make sure we don't have to talk about the scary alternatives.

09/06/2024

Every fall, we see suspected Leptospirosis cases. This is a bacterial infection that your dog can be vaccinated against. When patients acquire this infection, it can lead to elevated liver and kidney values. When left untreated, can turn fatal. We often see a spike in cases during the fall. If you have not vaccinated your dog for this disease, please discuss options with your regular veterinarian.

09/04/2024

One of the five after hours clinics in the state is closed tonight. This means that we may be seeing a higher than average volume of patients. Please have patience with our staff. If you pet is a triage green, please consider seeing your vet tomorrow or making an appointment with PetMedic Urgent Vet Care Clinic - Freeport tomorrow. Maine Veterinary Medical Center and Portland Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Care are open tonight as well so if you live south of us, please consider driving south. Midcoast Animal Emergency Clinic is CLOSED.

09/04/2024

We posted last week about how we are seeing a lot of neck swelling and chin swelling in dogs. We recently have seen a spike in stick injuries as well.

Sticks be the unknown culprit of neck swelling and abscess formation but can also lead to other injuries. We recently had a dog with a stick across the roof of it's mouth. Luckily dad noticed and brought him over right away. We were able to remove it without incident. However, if it had been left in place and not discovered for several days, it could have caused ulcerative changes and damage to the gums, roof of mouth, and teeth. This can also happen with small bones or pieces of plastic. In severe cases, pain medications and sedation may be required to remove the object due to pain.

Another thing we saw this past weekend was a dog who impaled herself in the back of the throat with a large stick. Mom and dad were not only quick to react but could see the damage in the back of her throat. Luckily, the stick did not hit any vessels or glands. We see this sort of injury every few years. Most of the time the dog is running with the stick poking into the mouth instead of across the mouth. If you see your dog doing this, try to get them to slow down, drop the stick and play with something else. If you are out doing gardening work or cleaning up the yard, having them on a leash to quickly stop them from running can also be helpful.

If you suspect your dog has a stick related injury, it may require a sedated oral exam, chest x-rays, and potentially an endoscope to visualize the injury.

Clinical signs of injury can be pawing at the mouth, bleeding from the mouth, excessive drooling, holding their neck in extension, swelling below the jaw or sudden onset of bad breath. If you are worried about a stick injury, please seek medical attention.

09/04/2024

Thank you to The Glass Feather for doing this! If you haven’t taken a class in the gorgeous studio, it might be just what your soul needs. Thank you for supporting the pets and strays in this area!

Once you have taken a beginner class.....did you know you can come make paws to donate to the giving tree at the Brewer Emergency Vet Clinc. I supply the glass, tools, space and pattern. You just have to buy the solder and copper foil. 100% of the paws proceeds goes directly to help pets in need. Every 20 paws made I will take them over to hang in the lobby for sale!
Please come make some paws! ♡
Go to theglassfeathercove.com to sign up for classes!
♡, Heather

09/03/2024

Today is world beard day and two of our pups wanted to show off their beards! Jonesy went for an Irish look while Zander went for a Santa/distinguished gentleman. The employee cats declined to participate in beard growing today!

09/01/2024

We are here and working as quickly as possible to get through all the emergency patients. We are currently at capacity and are bringing in patients as we have space for them. Thank you for your patience and if you have a stable patient, please expect long wait times. We may be reaching capacity for hospitalized patients due to kennel space. If you are south of us, please consider going to Midcoast Animal Emergency Clinic, Maine Veterinary Medical Center, or Portland Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Care.