ER and Critical Care

Upon arrival at LeadER in Cooper City, the emergency and critical care team will triage your pet. We will determine patient status and provide immediate attention if it is required, such as treating a bleeding wound or providing oxygen for pets having trouble breathing.

Unfortunately, we do not treat birds or other exotic pets; however, we will direct you to an animal hospital in the Fort Lauderdale area that does provide such care.

Once the veterinarian has evaluated your pet by performing a physical exam, we will present you with a diagnostic and treatment plan. Options for tests such as x-rays and blood work, hospitalization, and treatments will be discussed.

LeadER’s emergency and critical care service is unique: We make it convenient for your primary veterinarian to transfer your pet to one of our specialists for advanced diagnostics and care. Sometimes the diagnosis is available and your pet will be transferred to one of our specialists for advanced care. However, sometimes your primary veterinarian cannot find a diagnosis and will refer you to a specialist to determine the problem. The emergency and critical care team will evaluate, admit, and transfer the patient to a specialist the next business day. Once transferred, the specialist and his/her team will contact you regarding your beloved pet.

Regardless if your pet has to stay in the animal hospital or is treated on an outpatient basis, we keep your primary veterinarian up-to-date on your pet’s progress. We provide you with copies of records, test results, and a jump drive with x-rays. We also email copies of the visit, recorded observations, and tests results to your veterinarian.

ER Services

LeadER’s emergency and critical care service offers the finest veterinary services for dogs and cats that are injured or ill. There are veterinarians on premises at all times.

The hospital is fully equipped with an ICU, surgical suites, triage area, laboratory, and radiology suites (2). In addition to routine blood testing, our critical care team also performs blood gas analysis, acid-base analysis, coagulation (blood clotting) testing, and cardiovascular monitoring (EKG, blood pressure, central venous pressure).

Our emergency and critical care service is supported by our critical care team, which includes a board-certified critical care specialist.

Specialized services offered by our critical care team include: Post-operative care and monitoring and short/long term mechanical ventilation.

LeadER Animal Specialty Hospital’s ICU team in Cooper City is the heart of our animal hospital and ready 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any emergency. Our team triages all patients that are emergencies, recovers surgical patients, performs treatments on all hospitalized patients, and takes care of all critically ill patients. The ICU is set up so we have a full view of all the patients around-the-clock. At any time, our referring veterinary hospitals may transfer pets to our ICU for continuous care.

Here are some of the features:

Equipped with syringe pumps, pulse oximetry, and capnography
Fully stocked with blood, plasma, and platelets
Access to telemetry, ultrasound, and oxygen cages

Other ICU features include:

Ventilation

Mechanical ventilation is for patients that are having difficulty breathing and maintaining a proper oxygen level in their blood. Our critical care team make sure all patients on the ventilator are closely monitored. We have three ventilators available (two that mix room air with oxygen and one that delivers oxygen only). Our animal hospital is equipped for long-term ventilation for patients with respiratory issues like pneumonia, lung disease, neck injuries, and any patient that cannot maintain a proper oxygen level.

Isolation

The isolation room at our animal hospital in Cooper City is for any patient that has an infectious disease, which is contagious to other patients. Our emergency vet doctors and nurses wear protective gowns, gloves, and masks so as not to pass any disease to another patient. This room is located away from contact with other patients and is monitored very closely because these patients require a lot of attention. We also have a monitoring screen in the ICU that allows us to keep a close eye on them at all times.

LeadER Animal Specialty Hospital in Cooper City is fully stocked with two chemistry machines, CBC machine, coagulation machine, and the ability to transfer all lab work into the computer. Our animal hospital has a dedicated nurse in or lab every day, Monday to Friday until 5pm, and then our emergency team runs all the blood work from that point. We do send some blood work out to local labs for testing; but everything that can be run in our lab we do, for quicker results.

Our in-house capabilities, such as CBC (complete blood count), biochemical evaluation, urinalysis, various fecal evaluations, and a variety of toxic screens, allow for thorough initial pet evaluation. In addition, as these diagnostics are performed in our animal hospital, the results are available that same day allowing for rapid determination of the next step for your pet. These tests are available 24 hours per day/7 days per week.

In addition, we also have an in-house, certified veterinary technician to perform more advanced blood smear evaluations the same day. Working with our staff doctors, our veterinary technician is able to gather more information that is not always reported by in-house machines—allowing for more complete evaluation of your pet’s condition.

The veterinary technician at our animal hospital in Cooper City offer an extensive array of same-day diagnostics, and offer the same services during evening and weekend hours.

LeadER offers in-house diagnostic capabilities performed on a same-day basis including:

Automated CBC
Comprehensive chemistry profile and partial profiles
Spun PCV with total protein
Coagulation profile: APTT and PT
Complete peripheral blood smear evaluation
Manual platelet count
Manual reticulocyte count
Buffy coat evaluation
Slide agglutination test
Intestinal ova and parasite test; fecal centrifugal flotation and direct smear
Fecal occult blood test
Complete urinalysis
Ear cytology, fecal cytology, skin tape preparation cytology
Heartworm antigen snap test/Ehrlichia
Microfilaria check (via buffy coat, blood slide)
Ketone levels (blood and urine)
Lactate levels
FeLV/FIV snap test
Ethylene glycol test
Blood typing
Blood major crossmatch
Dermatophyte cultures
Parvovirus snap test
Canine PLI test (snap test) Feline FPL

In addition, our animal hospital in Cooper City has developed close working relationships with diagnostic laboratories (both commercial and universities) across the country for a variety of additional advanced diagnostic testing options.

What to do in case of an emergency

What is an emergency? We feel that anything which causes a pet owner to be alarmed enough to contact us is important. It’s always better to be cautious when it comes to your pet’s health.

If you are concerned about your pet, please contact us at 954-437-9630.
Remain calm. Alert a family member, friend, or neighbor about the situation. You may need help from that person to transport the pet to our animal hospital in Cooper City.
Inform our staff about your pet’s condition over the telephone before you arrive.

Some common emergency tips

Bufo Toad Poisoning
These toads cause heart and nervous system problems. Symptoms include: drunken behavior (staggering, falling over), excessive drooling/foaming from mouth, and seizures.
- If your pet is not seizing and is conscious, rinse the mouth with running water by placing a sink sprayer or garden hose in the corner of the mouth.
- Do not try to make your pet drink or force water down your pet’s throat.
- Do not give your pet any other liquid or food, only water.
- If your pet is seizing, unconscious, falling over, or becomes very stiff, come to our animal hospital in Cooper City as soon as possible.
Pets exposed to poison or medication
- Call our hospital, you may be directed to contact Animal Poison Control (1-888-426-4435, fee charged) or you may be directed to give something to induce vomiting.
- Be prepared to bring your pet to the animal hospital in Cooper City. Certain toxins and drugs have antidotes, which our emergency vet team can administer.
- Always bring the packaging or vial that the suspected substance was kept in. The label will provide information such as the main ingredient and its concentration.
- If your pet’s skin was exposed to a chemical or insecticide, bathe your pet using dish soap and water.
Pets that are vomiting or having diarrhea
- Call the hospital, you may be directed to remove your pets’ food/water.
- Excessive vomiting and diarrhea can cause dehydration, which requires medical attention. Be prepared to bring your pet to LeadER.
- Do not give your pet any over-the-counter medication such as Imodium unless directed to do so by a veterinarian.
Pets that sustained trauma
- Approach injured pets with caution; they may bite anyone when in pain (including their owner).
- If your pet cannot walk, use plywood, blankets, or an ironing board as a stretcher to move your pet.
- Place clean towels over any open wounds and apply direct pressure to any bleeding wounds.
- Never place a tourniquet unless directed to do so by a veterinarian.

Common household items to avoid

Dogs

No grapes or raisins – It can cause kidney failure.
No onions or Kale – It can cause anemia.
No chocolate or caffeine – It can cause tremors and seizures.
No sugarless gum or sweeteners – These products contain Xylitol, which causes severe hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).
Human painkillers – Dogs metabolize these drugs differently than people. Only give medication prescribed or directed by a veterinarian.
Sago palm – Any part of this decorative landscaping, especially the seeds, are deadly.

Cats

Lilies – All parts of the flower are poisonous and lead to kidney failure.
Degreasers/Antifreeze – It can cause kidney failure/death in both cats and dogs.
Tylenol – One regular strength tablet will kill a cat; it causes their blood to loose its ability to carry oxygen.
Spot-on/topical flea killers – Some of these products are mistakenly placed on cats when they are labeled for dogs only. Overdose causes tremors and seizures.

Ventilation

Isolation

What to do in case of an emergency

Common household items to avoid

Dogs

Cats

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What to do in case of an emergency

Common household items to avoid

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