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Critical Care

(Coming Soon)

Critical Care at Cerro Alto

Just like people, severely ill or injured pets can require intensive, around-the-clock care to stabilize and manage their condition. In these situations, a veterinary critical care specialist, or criticalist, plays a vital role in your pet’s recovery.

Criticalists undergo years of additional training in emergency medicine and critical care after veterinary school, qualifying them to manage a wide range of complex cases. At Cerro Alto, our ICU is led by a board-certified veterinary emergency and critical care specialist.

Conditions that require critical care

Some of the most common conditions we see that require critical care include:

  • Acute shock (when the body can’t maintain adequate blood flow to vital organs)
  • Arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms)
  • Blood loss, severe anemia
  • Breathing difficulty
  • Burns, smoke inhalation
  • Organ failure and other serious complications from underlying disease
  • Post-surgical complications
  • Seizures
  • Toxin ingestion
  • Traumatic injury

In addition, postoperative critical care may be warranted after certain surgeries.

The critical care services we provide

Our veterinary critical care specialists use today’s most advanced technology and techniques to give severely ill pets the best chance at recovery. These include:

  • 24/7 monitoring in our state-of-the-art ICU
  • Blood transfusions, and hemodialysis and apheresis (forms of blood purification)
  • Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and post-cardiac arrest care
  • Fluid therapy beyond basic hydration
  • Mechanical ventilation
  • Pain management
  • Respiratory support including high-flow nasal oxygen therapy
  • Toxin/poison ingestion management

Questions?

Simply call us at (805) 457-8724 any time, day or night. We’re always here for you and your pet.

Meet our Critical Care team