Steel City Emergency Vets

07/31/2024

We have an exciting announcement!! Steel City Emergency Vets is officially open 24/7! 🎉

07/03/2024

We’re here if you need us! We hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July! 🇺🇸🎆

04/22/2024

As the public-facing part of vet hospitals, the receptionist often bear the brunt of pet owners frustrations but rarely receive credit or thanks. Without them, vet clinics would come to a standstill. They often juggle multiple clients during a high stress time, field tons of calls, take care of all paperwork, and check each patient in and out!

Here, at Steel City, we believe we have the best team of receptionist. Help us thank them for all they do!

Happy Veterinary Receptionist Week! 🐾🤍

03/07/2024

01/31/2024

Please be patient with us, over the next few days, as we learn our new phone system! If you have issues getting through to someone, reach out by private message on our page!

Thank you for your understanding!

12/20/2023

We, here at Steel City Emergency Vets, hope you have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Should you need us during the holidays, we will be open.

12/05/2023

The phones are currently down at this time.

We are open, fully operational, and taking in patients.

Please call our back up cell phone: +1 (205) 734-5416 if you have any questions.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

10/29/2023

Pawsitive Case of The Month - Spin-off Series!!

What Did They Eat?!

In this new edition of our Pawsitive Case Series, we will be playing a game. Let’s see who can guess what the foreign body is in the abdomen. First person to comment with the correct answer will get the right answer will receive a Steel City T-shirt!

Here’s a little background on the case as well as some helpful hints.

Meet Vivi!

Vivi is a 2 year old Labrador, you could say she’s a bit of a gambler. She came in to see us on a Sunday for vomiting. We asked her if she ate anything she shouldn’t have, but she gave us her best poker face. You could say she played her cards close to the vest. We started off with some bloodwork, which was largely unremarkable. The x-ray showed a large round structure in the small intestine. Apparently nobody taught sweet Vivi when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em, because whatever she ate, was stuck and causing an obstruction.

Due to the size of the object, we recommended Vivi undergo an exploratory laparotomy (abdominal surgery) to go in and remove the foreign object. Dr. Katie Schmidt had a serious talk with Vivi’s owner. She explained that when the chips are down, you have to play your cards right and go into surgery to remove the foreign object. Vivi’s owners agreed, and Dr. Schmidt was able to get sweet Vivi into surgery immediately. Surgery was a success; the foreign object was removed through a single enterotomy (incision into the small intestines). Vivi’s recovery went well and hopefully she will learn to hedge her bets next time.

10/04/2023

Let's make the world a better place and spread kindness!!!! We could all use a little extra kindness.

10/01/2023

Happy National Black Dog Day from all of us at Steel City ER Vets!!!!

10/01/2023

***Our phone lines are down!!*** We are working to get them restored. Please reach out via email: [email protected]

09/30/2023

Show off your super smart furry friends! Show us all the pictures and videos of your pet's best tricks! We want to see them!!

09/16/2023

Responsibility matters to them. Let's advocate for dogs together!

09/14/2023

Da da da da da da da da da....Rip! (Sang in the 'Bluey' theme song)

Meet our warrior case, Rip.

Rip is a three year old male neutered blue heeler, like our favorite kid show, Bluey! Like Bluey, Rip can get into some mischief. His most recent mischievous episode involved a run in with a car that left him with a luxated right hip, a broken left ankle, a torn ligament in that same ankle, and lung contusions.

Our boy Rip is a fighter though! On presentation, the hip was able to be replaced back into the socket under anesthesia and the left leg was splinted to provide support for that back foot by Dr. Wes Stephens.

Rip was placed on IV antibiotics for his skin abrasions, heavy duty IV pain medication for his orthopedic injuries, and IV fluids to help with shock and maintain his hydration over the course of his time in hospital. Around 40-50% of traumatic hip luxations do well with popping them back in to place and don't require surgery to correct the injury.

Unfortunately for our little dare devil, Rip's right hip had other plans. Approximately four days after the hip was replaced, it popped back out if socket. Dr. Katie Schmidt discussed Rip's surgical options with the owner, including a femoral head osteotomy (FHO).

An FHO is a procedure where the head and neck of the femur are removed, which essentially removes the ball portion of the ball and socket joint that is the hip. This allows for the hip to form a false joint (pseudoarthrosis), which prevents bone on bone rubbing which is very painful.

Rip's owner agreed to do the FHO, which was a success. Dr. Schmidt was able to perform the surgery within a few days. Rip received excellent pain control, including a long acting Bupivicaine injection called Nocita. Rip has some physical therapy exercises to do at home to keep the surrounding musculature nice and strong. We are happy to report he is at home recuperating with his family.

09/10/2023

The hounds get some extra love today!!!

09/01/2023

Show us all your ginger kitties on their special day!!!!!

08/28/2023

Remembering all those furry friends that leave permanent prints on our hearts.

08/26/2023

Any excuse to show more love to the dogs!!!! Hug them and pet them a little extra today!

08/18/2023

Meet Sprout!

Sprout is 6 month old male neutered Bambino. His hobbies include eating wet food and having urinary troubles. Sprout suffers from something called “feline lower urinary tract disease” or FLUTD, which causes difficulty urinating and can lead to blockages in the urethra, especially in male cats. If a urethral blockage occurs, this can be fatal if not treated immediately.

Sprout was showing all the classic urethral blockage symptoms, he was going in and out of the litterbox straining to urinate and yowling in discomfort. Unfortunately for Sprout, this was not his first rodeo. He had already been diagnosed with idiopathic cystitis, and had been dealing with blood and debris in his urine, before coming to us at Steel City Emergency Vets. Initial treatment for a urethral blockage typically includes sedation to place a urinary catheter as well is IV fluids and pain medication to help relieve the obstruction and flush out the bladder for roughly 48-72 hours. Sprout underwent this treatment, however, within a short time after removing his urinary catheter, his urethra blocked again.

Dr. Katie Schmidt discussed a surgery that could be performed to help prevent these blockages in the future with Sprout’s mom. The procedure is called a Perineal Urethrostomy or a PU for short. This procedure helps to create a larger urethral opening to allow for thicker sediment to move through without blocking. This procedure does not cure the underlying condition of FLUTD, but it does help prevent a urinary blockage which can be fatal in cats if left untreated. Sprout received a PU with Dr. Schmidt and was discharged home two days later. We are happy to say, Sprout is recovering well and getting a lot of extra love!

08/17/2023

We appreciate all cats and clients at Steel City but show us your beautiful black cats on their designated day!!!

07/31/2023

🚨 Important Announcement!! 🚨

07/31/2023

Show us your favorite mutts!!!!

07/18/2023

Last day!!!!

07/17/2023

Steel City showing off their own but we want to see yours too!!!! Comment with pictures of your pet tattoos.

07/16/2023

Who grew up watching the movie Jaws?!

07/15/2023

Show us your beautiful horses!!

07/15/2023

Day 5 SHARK WEEK!

07/14/2023

Shark week funny!!!