Critical Care Service

What is a Veterinary Criticalist?

Just as very sick humans require specialized care, critically ill veterinary patients can also benefit from care that has oversight from a veterinarian with extra training. A veterinary criticalist is a boarded specialist who has complete three years of specialized training in dealing with life threatening and/or complex disease processes. You can learn more about this specialty by visiting the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care’s website.

What services are provided?

♦ Highly specialized team consisting of diplomates in emergency and critical care (ECC) as well as seasoned emergency veterinarian with ECC oversight
♦ Specialized fluid plans
♦ Enteral and assisted feeding nutrition plans
♦ Continuous infusions of pain-relieving medications, prokinetics (metoclopramide), and other necessary medications
♦ On-site blood banking for dogs and cats
♦ Oxygen kennels that have temperature and humidity controls
♦ In-house diagnostics can be performed rapidly and interpreted in real time, including blood gas analysis, lactate, glucose, electrolytes, chemistry values, and complete blood counts
♦ Continuous patient monitoring
♦ Defibrillation
♦ Cardiopulmonary cerebral resuscitation

How are pets monitored in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)?

♦ Similar monitors to those utilized when a patient is under general anesthesia are utilized in the ICU, allowing for continuous monitoring of heart rate/rhythm (ECG), blood pressure (doppler, oscillometric), pulse oximetry, and body temperature
♦ Through the utilization of a percutaneous measuring device (Free Style Libre), continuous blood glucose monitoring is possible
♦ Serial lab work is checked on patients to ensure that their fluid and other therapies are tailored to their needs
♦ Vital parameters are checked serially in the hospital to screen for patient stability and response to therapy

Meet our Criticalists:
Nicole Trenholme, DVM, MS, DACVECC, DACVAA
Melissa Edwards, DVM, DACVECC