Emergencies

Ensuring help is always there

Emergencies during surgery hours 

If you have a veterinary emergency please call the surgery on 01608 642547.

Emergencies outside surgery hours 

If the call is outside normal working hours you will be directed to our emergency call centre who will take your details and contact the duty vet, who will call you back as soon as possible to discuss your case in detail, make an initial assessment and arrange to see you if necessary.

Please ensure that the contact number that you have given is made available and free until the vet calls you back.

There is always a vet on duty to help you. 

Emergencies outside of normal work hours are seen at our veterinary hospital on Banbury Road in Chipping Norton.

Please be aware that the cost to us of providing care is much greater outside of normal work than it is during normal work hours. Therefore, we have to charge extra. 

Where we are:

Banbury Road
Chipping Norton
Oxfordshire
OX7 5SY

Tel No. 01608 642547

How to find us

Useful Information

  • Emergency examinations outside of normal working hours:

    7pm – 11pm: £245.00

    11pm – 7am: £320.00

     

    Any advice or consultations completed over the telephone out of hours may be subject to a charge of £61.50.

    This is the cost of the initial examination and there may be further costs for additional treatments or tests. There is also additional cost if the vet needs to come to your house rather than seeing your animal at the veterinary hospital.

    If you would like an estimate, or are concerned about the cost of treatment, please discuss this with the duty vet at the time of the examination.

  • If you don't have access to transport, Animals at Home Cotswolds provide a pet taxi and ambulance service -  07447 085165.

    Some of the local taxi firms are happy to help with the transport of animals to the vets for treatment.

     

    Excelsior taxis in Chipping Norton 01608 643721 or 07833 473436

    PH taxis on 01608 643808

    Pete's Taxis on 07854 179673

    Bloxham Taxi 01295 722190 or 07964 053055 (Bloxham)

     

    The Villager bus is happy to stop at the vets. They are happy to take any animal small enough to sit on people's laps or under their seats, as long as they are well behaved. Unfortunately they cannot take larger dogs.

     

    The duty vet can make house calls, but most emergencies need to be seen in the hospital to enable swift and complete treatment to be given. The quickest way for this to happen is usually for you to bring your pet to us. House calls, out of hours, do incur additional costs.

     

    We can use the practice's ambulance to pick up your pet, for a fee.

     

    If you are unable to move your animal, or it has been injured or is in pain, speak to the duty vet before attempting to move them. Animals that are in pain may behave unpredictably and can bite.

  • If you find a sick, injured or distressed pet, please contact the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.  If the animal need urgent treatment, also contact your local vet.

     

    If you find a stray, apparently healthy dog please contact West Oxfordshire District Council on 01993 861000. They will give you advice on how to proceed.  By law, all dogs should be microchipped, so most stray dogs can be reunited with their owners.

     

    If you find a healthy but apparently stray cat, this RSPCA webpage gives advice on how to proceed.  Many cats are microchipped and so can be reunited with their owners.  However, many are not, and if they have no collar and tag, it is very difficult to find their owner.  We suspect that many of the cats bought to us that have no microchip or tag are not actually stray - if they are friendly, appear healthy and are not thin our advice is to put them back where they were found as they may well go back to their home.  Otherwise, they will probably end up in a rescue centre and being rehomed while their actual owners will have lost their cat.

     

    If you find a stray pet of another species, please contact either the RSPCA or your local vet.

  • If you find an injured wild animal please call the vets and also the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999 . The RSPCA will give you a reference number to help cover the costs of first aid.

     

    Please exercise extreme caution when approaching or handling injured animals, whether wild animals or pets, as they may behave unpredictably or aggressively.

     

    Also, be very careful of handling ill or injured bats. A very small proportion of bats in the UK (most of which have been Daubenton's bats) carry lyssaviruses which are rabies viruses. In 2002 a man working with bats in Scotland died after being bitten by an infected bat. In 2006 a sick bat found in Abingdon, that later died, was found to be infected with lyssavirus. Most infected bats do not show signs of the disease. If you must handle a bat, wear thick gloves. If you require further advice, please call the Bat Conservation Trust's Bat Helpline - 0845 1300 228.  The Bat Conservation Trust's website provides more information here.

     

    If you find a young bird on the ground, unless it is obviously badly injured, please DO NOT pick it up.  It is most likely being cared for by its parents.  Yes, it might be at risk from local cats or other wildlife - that is the way the world is, but on average such birds are likely to be far worse off if you interfere.

     

    We do not normally charge for the initial treatment of injured wildlife.