Critical Care for Companions
As part of our critical care services, the veterinarians at our Long Island specialty and emergency hospital maintain a critical care unit (ICU) for pets that require intensive treatments, therapies and monitoring until their condition stabilizes.
Along with providing state-of-the-art emergency care, critical care works in conjunction with each specialty service at VMCLI to provide peri-surgical and anesthetic support, as well as consultation for all hospitalized patients.
We ensure that patients in our critical care unit have clean and comfortable kennels, as much privacy as possible and all of the medical and friendly attention they need and deserve.
Our veterinarians provide immediate emergency services to pets, monitor their condition and support their recovery through our critical care services, including:
- 24/7 monitoring for pets in critical condition
- Electronic patient monitoring equipment to track your companion's vitals
- Comfortable and sterile ICU where your pet can rest
Board-Certified Veterinary Criticalists
A criticalist is a specially trained veterinarian dedicated to treating life–threatening conditions. These specialists have performed at least three years of intensive training in emergency and critical care medicine.
Critical Care Conditions
Critical care services are needed for any veterinary health issue that demands consistent monitoring, treatment and therapies over an extended period of time - whether that be hours, days or even weeks.
The following are some examples of health issues that may require care in our ICU:
- Respiratory failure
- Sepsis (extreme immune response to infection)
- Multi-trauma patients (severe physical injuries)
- Recovery from a major veterinary surgery
- Venomous snakebite
- Congestive heart disease
Critical Care Services at VMCLI
Our veterinary critical care specialists provide a variety of services for including:
- Consultation, diagnostic evaluation, & treatment of critically ill or injured patients
- Pediatric and geriatric pet care
- Advanced intravenous fluid and electrolyte treatments
- Mechanical ventilation & supportive care
- Cross–matching & blood transfusion medicine
- Peritoneal and pleural dialysis for toxin removal or kidney failure
- Total & partial parenteral (intravenous) nutrition for animals unable to eat
- Feeding tube placement for enteral nutrition
- Balanced analgesia for trauma patients
- Advanced, telemetric monitoring of ECG, pulse oximetry, blood pressure, & capnography
Veterinary Critical Care FAQs
Read the most common questions our Long Island veterinary team gets about our critical care services.
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What does a criticalist do?
Our veterinary critical care specialists provide primary case management, or supervision and guidance for the emergency doctors in the evaluation, specialized monitoring, and intensive treatment of your critically ill or injured pet.
Your pet's criticalist will make recommendations for, and administer advanced life support measures as well as advocate for you and your pet during these times.
Our criticalists have your pet's best interests in mind as they assist you with making an informed decision and help you understand the results of any diagnostics and results completed through the emergency veterinarian, specialists and your primary vet.
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What is the difference between emergency veterinary care and critical veterinary care?
While veterinary critical care and emergency services have some overlap – both deal with seriously ill or injured animals – there are some important differences between these two services.
Veterinary emergency services treat pets that are suffering from a serious, potentially life-threatening and acute illness or injury that requires intensive and immediate care.
In comparison, veterinary critical care services also deal with serious illness and injury, but do so in cases where animals require 24/7 monitoring, complex treatments and crate rest in a medical environment to help them recover.
So, while veterinary emergency services at our clinic may transfer our patients to critical care after initial triage and treatment, not all emergencies will require critical care.
Likewise, in situations where a pet has undergone major planned surgery, they will require critical care to remain stable and begin their recovery without ever having been a veterinary emergency case.
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When do your critical care services operate?
The critical care services at Veterinary Medical Center of Long Island operate with a full veterinary team on-site, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to help provide treatment and attentive monitoring of your companion's health.
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How long will my pet have to remain in critical care?
A critical care unit at a veterinary hospital works somewhat similarly to a human hospital – we are usually able to offer an estimate for the length of time that your pet will stay with us, but factors may arise that impact that timeline.
We aren't able to predict if and when your pet's condition will change or a complication will occur, but rest assured we will communicate with you as much as possible about any changes in your companion's condition while in our care and what that means for the duration of their stay.
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Can I call the hospital to check up on my pet?
Yes, you can get in touch with us to check in on your pet's health and status while they are in critical care at our facility.
Rest assured, though, that if there is any problem or change in your pet's condition, we will contact you right away if there are any changes in your pet's condition.
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Will you keep in touch with our primary care veterinarian?
Yes, throughout your pet's stay, we will be sure to update your primary vet as needed and stay in communication to ensure that your pet receives the best care possible.
Upon release, we will provide your primary care vet with your pet's medical history and files to ensure your pet receives seamless, integrated care when they return home and are seen by your vet for routine care and checkups.
24/7 Emergency Care
Is your pet experiencing an emergency?
Our compassionate veterinarians are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for all emergency medicine and triage needs at the Veterinary Medical Center of Long Island.