Pacific Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Hospital

02/13/2025

Meet Oshi, the majestic Ragdoll 💙. He presented to in very critical condition, severely dehydrated, comatose, and with an intestinal blockage. Our ER doctors🩺, Drs. Rose and Slabaugh, jumped into action to stabilize him, and Dr. Luckring, our surgeon, successfully removed a large hairball from his small bowels, which caused the intestinal blockage.

Oshi was still very sick after surgery and the entire emergency team, including ICU nurses, Drs. Nohava, Hynek, Taylor, and Sia worked tirelessly for the following 10 days. Oshi faced shock, sepsis, and systemic inflammation. He required a feeding tube to help with his nutrition, plasma transfusions, and a urinary catheter as he continued to be too weak to move. Nursing care was crucial for Oshi, and the ICU techs provided exceptional care. 💕✨

Six days into his hospitalization, Oshi began to sit up, eat small amounts of food on his own, and showed signs of life 🌟. After 10 days of critical care, thanks to his dedicated family and the team’s relentless efforts, he was finally able to go home.

We recently saw him at a 2-week recheck appointment, and he’s doing wonderfully! Go, Oshi! 💙💙💙

01/22/2025

Unfortunately our phone lines are currently down. This is temporary and we will update you when the lines are back up and running. In the meantime, we are open for regular appointments and walk-in emergencies.

12/25/2024

From all of us at PacVet, we wish you a joyous holiday season! 🎄🐾 Our hospital is open and our dedicated team is here for you and your furry friends should you require our assistance. Your pet’s well-being is our top priority, even during the holidays. Stay safe, and know that we’re just a call away. Happy Holidays from all of us at Pacific Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Hospital! 🐶🐱❤️

11/28/2024

Buckwheat is ready for Thanksgiving 🦃. He tore his Achilles tendon and needed to have his ankle fused (arthrodesis). So now, he gets to wear a cast to protect the repair, but that’s not a reason to not be festive 🎉.

Buckwheat also wants to remind everyone that we will be open for emergencies on Thanksgiving Day.

11/05/2024

Can you guess the diagnosis of this little guy just by looking at him? This cat has a striking feature that can be seen with a particular congenital condition.

10/22/2024

Update: the power is back and the hospital is open!!

We are currently experiencing a power outage and therefore our hospital is closed at the moment. We are hopeful that we will be back and running by tomorrow morning. We apologize for any inconvenience. In the meantime if your pet is experiencing an emergency here are some hospital to contact:

-VEG (Pleasant Hill & San Ramon)
-Sage
-OakVet
-BAVS
-VCA Encina
-Iron Horse
-Pets

10/18/2024

Happy National Veterinary Technician Week! Please join us in celebrating our wonderful, hardworking, and dedicated staff and honoring their commitment to compassionate, high-quality, veterinary care for all our patients.
 
This week recognizes the invaluable contribution that veterinary technicians make to the field of veterinary medicine. These dedicated professionals are the backbone of our veterinary healthcare teams providing compassionate care and technical skills that are second to none.

Thank you for all your hard work 💕🐾🐶🐱

04/27/2024

Dear Pet Owners,
 
We hope this message finds you and your furry, feathery, scaly friends in good health and spirits.
 
On this World Veterinary Day, we want to take a moment to recognize and appreciate the hard work and dedication of veterinarians around the world who keep our pets healthy and happy. World Veterinary Day aims to highlight the contributions of veterinarians to animal health, welfare, and public health. It also aims to raise awareness of the importance of veterinary medicine and the role of veterinarians in ensuring the health and well-being of animals and humans alike.
 
We invite you to join us in expressing gratitude to your veterinarian for the care they provide to your pets. Whether it’s a routine exam or a life-saving surgery, your veterinarian plays a critical role in keeping your pet healthy and comfortable. Every message of thanks will go a long way in showing our veterinarians that you value their hard work and dedication.

04/22/2024

🌎🐾 Celebrate Earth Day every day! 🌿♻️ Drop off your empty Royal Canin food bags at our front desk for recycling through TerraCycle and help us reduce pet-related waste. Join us in nurturing our planet for a brighter, greener future! 🌟
Help us spread the word by sharing this post.
 
*Only Royal Canin empty food bags are accepted at this time.*
 

04/21/2024

Happy Bulldogs Are Beautiful Day! Whether French, American, or English, bulldogs all have a few things in common, a wrinkly face and a short snout. Recently, the popularity of these snub-nosed dogs has skyrocketed, resulting in more people breeding these dogs without careful consideration or awareness of the potential health and welfare consequences of certain physical characteristics. Many of these dogs go on to develop brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS), a condition that causes breathing difficulties. BOAS results when the shortened snout makes the soft tissue in the nose and throat too large for the available space, obstructing the airway from the nostrils to the trachea. It is typically a combination of stenotic (narrow) nostrils, elongated soft palate, and everted laryngeal saccules. This interferes with a dog’s ability to breathe normally and impairs a dog’s ability to exercise, play, eat, and even sleep. Unfortunately, there’s a normalization around symptoms of these breeds, but any kind of respiratory issue shouldn’t be normalized just because a dog is brachycephalic. There’s no reason a bulldog shouldn’t be able to run around and breathe easily.
 
Recently, the OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals) has instituted a Respiratory Function Grading Scheme for brachycephalic dogs as one of its health screening tests. The scheme intends to improve understanding of the condition, increase awareness, and ultimately reduce the incidence of BOAS. The program helps conscientious breeders set themselves apart and offers the opportunity to have a veterinarian examine their dogs and certify whether they have normal respiratory function. If the dog has a certain level of respiratory difficulties, the dog should be bred with caution or even excluded from the breeding pool. https://t.ly/dzJZJ
 
In the meantime, if your bulldog is having difficulty breathing, snores a lot, or seems to suffer from sleep apnea, we recommend consulting with a Veterinary Surgeon. There are surgical options that can help improve your bulldog’s ability to breathe including shortening the soft palate, removing the laryngeal saccules, and widening the nares. https://t.ly/d2kf3

04/17/2024

Meet Ivan (The Great), a Huge and very Majestic Main Coon💙. He came to see us for pelvic limb lameness and was diagnosed with avascular necrosis of the femoral head. This is a condition in which the head of the femur (the ball part of the hip joint) loses its blood supply and develops necrosis (the bony tissue dies) and the hip becomes painful. Ivan underwent a femoral head ostectomy (FHO) a surgery that removes the femoral head (➡️ see x-rays of his hips before and after surgery (pictures 4 &5)). We are happy to report that he has been doing fantastic since surgery, he received the green light to get back to vigorous activity to rehab his new “hip joint” and is still huge and majestic. 🐾✨

03/18/2024

Meet Gator, a young pup 🐶 who had a misadventure and broke his tibia (shin bone 🦴). surgery team fixed his fracture with a plate and screws. We are happy to report that he is doing great at home and has almost doubled in size. Swipe ➡️ to see Gator 2 weeks later. He’s grown so much!!! 🐾

03/01/2024

Do you have towels and blankets that are not being used and taking up space in your closets? Please consider donating 🙏 them to our hospital 🐾. With all of our sweet patients 🐶🐱, we go through a lot of towels and blankets in a day 😅.

02/26/2024

PSA from Sebastian 🐾 - Stay away from the trash 🗑️ kids, it’s not worth it!
This little guy rummaged through the trash and found a corn cob 🌽. Unfortunately, the corn cob got stuck in his small bowels, and Sebastian had to undergo emergency surgery to have it removed. We are happy to report that he is doing well and he is home recovering from surgery 💙. (14/10 will probably do it again)

02/24/2024

Meet Zeus🐈‍⬛. This handsome fella was diagnosed with idiopathic chylothorax.
Chylothorax is a fairly rare condition in which lymphatic fluid or chyle accumulates in the thoracic cavity, the space between the lungs and thoracic wall. The chyle leaks from a small vessel called the thoracic duct and this causes difficulty breathing. Trauma or heart disease can cause chylothorax however in most cases no causes are identified, and the condition is called idiopathic, just like in Zeus’ case.
After a CT scan with contrast to help localize the thoracic duct, Zeus was taken to surgery to have it ligated. This is a small vessel, especially in a cat, and therefore blue contrast is injected into an abdominal lymph node to help highlight the duct in the thoracic cavity. Pictures 2,3,4 show the lymph node injection, the highlighted blue duct, and the ligated duct with small clips.
We are happy to report that Zeus is now 2 weeks post-surgery and doing fantastic at home. 💙💙💙

02/22/2024

Do you take your dog on a daily walk? 🐾

Walks are about more than exercise — for dogs, only hanging out in a backyard is like reading the same book again and again.

02/09/2024

At , our doctors work together to bring the best care to our patients 🐾

Our Internal Medicine and Surgery teams worked together to help Xino, an 11-month-old pup 🐶 who has been regurgitating after eating for most of his life. Xino was first evaluated by Dr. Wood, our Internal Medicine Specialist, who diagnosed a persistent right aortic arch (PRAA) via CT-Scan and esophagoscopy.
A PRAA is a vascular ring anomaly. Typically, the right aortic arch disappears after birth; but when it does not, it entraps the esophagus (like a strong hug) as the puppy matures, making it difficult for the puppy to eat.
Dr. Luckring, one of our Surgeons, took Xino to surgery to ligate and transect the abnormal vessel, while Dr. Wood was performing an esophagoscopy to confirm the complete release of the compressed esophagus. 🎉💕

12/31/2023

🎉 From all of us at , we are wishing you a Paws-itively Happy New Year! 🐾 May 2024 bring joy, good health, and countless tail wags to you and your furry friends. 🎊
🏥 Remember, we’re here for you 24/7, even during the festivities. In case of any pet emergencies, our dedicated team is ready to provide top-notch care. Your pet’s well-being is our priority, today and every day. Cheers to a year filled with love, laughter, and the unconditional companionship of our beloved pets! 🐕🐾