Pet ICU - Critical Care Animal Hospital

Pet ICU nurse with brown dog, an animal urgent and critical care center

About Pet ICU

Similar to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a human hospital, Pet ICU is a purpose-built animal intensive care unit and is one of the only stand-alone dedicated animal ICUs in the country. Your pet will be in the care of Dr Ellie Leister and the team of intensive care vets and nurses. Our Pet Intensive Care Unit team look after critical patients 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

With the added advantage of being located in the same building as Animal Emergency Service and Veterinary Specialist Services, your pet will have access to the highest standards of emergency and critical care. This includes a team of emergency vets, critical care nurses, and vet specialists.

With medicine, surgery, and advanced diagnostics such as cardiology all together in the same place, your pet will benefit from the highest standard of care by our team of vet professionals. Your pet’s care and comfort is our primary focus. We’ll be by your pet’s side, devoted to monitoring and responding to their needs.

What Pet ICU does

Our team provides intensive care and monitoring of pets with medical emergencies. We also care for pets who are recovering from a trauma or surgery. Patients in ICU require many specialised treatments, such as:

  • Critical care and monitoring
  • Nutritional support
  • Oxygen support
  • Life support (mechanical ventilation)
  • Pain management
  • Blood and plasma transfusions
  • Post-operative care

Our patients, much like human patients, sometimes need life-saving blood transfusions. We run a blood donor program to ensure this previous resource is available to help pets recover. If you are interested in your pet becoming a donor, please submit your interest through our online form.

Dog on mechanical ventilator in Pet ICU

Why would a pet need to visit Pet ICU?

Your pet may need to visit us if they are critically unwell and require close monitoring and treatment of any wide variety of conditions. This could range from severe trauma to complex medical conditions requiring intensive care.

If your pet has ingested a toxin or is suffering from tick paralysis or a snake bite, we provide life-saving mechanical ventilation (assisted breathing) and treatments.

We’ll also help your pet during their post-operative recovery and care. This is particularly the case for pets who have undergone complex surgeries or those considered to be at high risk of developing complications.

Having a critically ill pet can be overwhelming, so we’ll be here to provide you with as much information as you need. We’ll update you on your pet’s condition regularly with photos and text messages, and you can speak to us at any time.

Please contact Animal Emergency Service Underwood for more information about our services.