Compassionate care · Always here
When your pet needs urgent surgical care, our team is ready. Experienced surgeons, complete on-site capabilities, and the kind of compassion your pet deserves during the scariest moments.
If your pet is facing a surgical emergency, you are probably somewhere between fear and urgency right now. That feeling is completely understandable, and we built our practice to meet the moment with steady hands, clear communication, and genuine care for your pet's wellbeing.
Pet Emergency Center provides on-site emergency surgical services for dogs, cats, birds, and exotic pets across South Florida. Many surgical emergencies progress quickly. The time from arrival to diagnosis to surgery at our hospital is often measured in minutes, not hours. That difference matters.
Our team is experienced across a wide range of urgent surgical needs. If your pet's situation is not listed below, call us anyway. We will help you figure out what they need.
Dogs and cats swallow things they should not: socks, toys, bones, string, coins, and worse. When an object gets lodged in the stomach or intestines, surgery is often the only way to remove it safely. Acting quickly can prevent far more serious complications.
Especially in large, deep-chested dogs, GDV is a twisted and distended stomach that requires immediate surgical correction. It is one of the most time-critical emergencies in veterinary medicine. If your dog has a bloated belly and is retching unproductively, call us now.
Deep lacerations, bite wounds from other animals, and injuries from accidents often require surgical cleaning, debridement, and closure to heal properly and prevent infection. Bite wounds in particular frequently look small on the surface while concealing significant damage underneath.
When a mother cannot safely deliver her puppies or kittens naturally, a C-section can save both her and her babies. If your pet has been in active labor without progress for more than an hour, call us.
Sudden internal bleeding, often from a ruptured spleen or abdominal tumor, presents as collapse, weakness, pale gums, or a distended belly. These cases require emergency surgery to stop the bleeding and stabilize the patient.
Especially life-threatening in male cats. If a urinary catheter cannot resolve the obstruction, surgical intervention may be required. Do not wait on a straining cat who cannot urinate.
A severe uterine infection most common in older, intact female dogs. Untreated pyometra is fatal. Emergency spay is the definitive treatment and is most successful when caught early.
Fractures, penetrating wounds, hernias from impact, and other trauma often require surgical stabilization before recovery can begin. We coordinate diagnostics and surgery in the same visit so your pet does not lose time to transfers.
We handle many other procedures on a case-by-case basis, including emergency eye procedures, mass removals that cannot wait, and soft-tissue emergencies specific to exotic species. When in Doubt, Call us.
Emergency Surgery should not feel rushed. Even when minutes matter, the quality of what happens in our operating room depends on the deliberate, careful approach our team takes with every patient.
Led by Dr. Seth Kiser, our team has performed hundreds of emergency surgeries across species. Every case is approached with the same level of attention and care, whether your pet is a Chihuahua or a Great Dane.
We have in-house diagnostics, a fully equipped surgical suite, and a supported recovery area under one roof. Your pet does not need to be transferred to another facility in the middle of a crisis.
Every patient is carefully monitored throughout anesthesia and surgery. Blood pressure, oxygen saturation, heart rate, respiratory rate, and temperature are tracked continuously. Anesthesia protocols are tailored to your pet's age, species, and condition.
Surgical patients receive multimodal pain management before, during, and after procedures. Pets heal better when they are comfortable, and comfort is not a nice-to-have. It is part of good medicine.
You will know what we are doing, why we are doing it, what it costs, and what to expect afterward. Before surgery. During long procedures. After surgery. We keep you in the loop at every stage.
We never rush into surgery. Our first priority is understanding what is happening. This may include blood work, imaging, IV fluids, and stabilization before any procedure begins. Making the right decision takes a few minutes. Skipping that step can cost everything.
Once we understand the situation, we sit down with you (or speak over the phone if you are not at the hospital) and walk through the plan, the estimate, and your options. No one is taken into surgery without clear communication and your informed consent.
Once you are informed and we have your go-ahead, our surgical team takes over. For longer procedures, we will call you with updates so you are not left wondering.
After surgery, your pet recovers in our hospital under careful observation. Depending on the procedure and your pet's condition, they may stay for hours or overnight. Recovery monitoring is continuous, not periodic.
When your pet is ready to go home, we walk you through everything: medications, activity restrictions, incision care, feeding changes, and what to watch for. You will leave with a written discharge plan and a direct line to call us if anything changes.
Your pet's recovery does not end when they leave our hospital. Most surgical patients return to us for suture removal, incision checks, or follow-up exams. We schedule those visits to work around your schedule, and we send a detailed case summary to your primary veterinarian so they can continue care seamlessly.
If complications arise at home, we are a phone call away. Weeknights, weekends, holidays. The team that performed the surgery is the team you reach.
If you are a referring daytime veterinarian sending a patient to us for emergency surgery, we treat your referral relationship with the same care we give the patient. We communicate promptly with you about the case, return the patient to you for follow-up when appropriate, and send complete surgical notes and post-op protocols so your team has everything it needs. We are here to support your practice, not compete with it.
Emergency Surgery is rarely planned, and we understand the financial stress that can come with it. Before we proceed with any major procedure, we walk you through a clear estimate of what it will cost and what it covers. No hidden fees. No surprises after the fact.
If cost is a concern, talk to us. We Work with Families wherever we reasonably can, and we can point you toward financing options that may help. Many of our surgical patients first came to us after visiting a more expensive specialty hospital. We are proud of that.
We walk you through the estimate before we proceed. You decide what happens next, not us.
Our surgical team is experienced with a wide range of species. That includes birds, reptiles, and exotic pets in emergency situations where most hospitals in South Florida cannot help. If you have a non-traditional pet facing a surgical emergency, call us.
Rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, rats, ferrets.
Have a question we have not answered here? Call (954) 772-0420. Real conversations, no judgment.
Call our Fort Lauderdale hospital. Walk in. Or, if you are still trying to figure out whether surgery is the right next step, book a telehealth consultation and talk to one of our veterinarians first.