Key takeaways:
At Vets Now we’re celebrating 25 years since launching a new model for dedicated out-of-hours emergency veterinary care in the UK.
What began as a single overnight service in Glasgow has grown into the UK's largest dedicated emergency pet care provider.
Advances in Emergency and Critical Care (ECC) medicine have transformed how emergency patients are diagnosed and treated.
Changing pet ownership trends have influenced the types of cases our teams see, from flat-faced breeds to the lasting impact of ‘lockdown puppies’.
As veterinary medicine continues to evolve, we're committed to continuing to innovate and help shape the future of emergency and critical care.
It was the year of the shocking events of 9/11, the launch of Wikipedia and the arrival of the first iPod. Artificial intelligence was still largely the stuff of science fiction. For the UK veterinary profession, 2001 also marked the arrival of Vets Now and a new model for dedicated out-of-hours emergency care. Twenty-five years later, we're celebrating a major milestone. What started as a pioneering idea has grown into the UK's largest dedicated out-of-hours emergency care provider, with two major hospitals, more than 60 clinics and over 200,000 small animals treated every year. Over the past quarter of a century, we've helped shape the development of emergency and critical care medicine in the UK. As we look ahead to the next 25 years, we're committed to continuing to innovate and advance emergency veterinary care. Where it all began Founded in Glasgow in 2001, Vets Now was the brainchild of veterinary surgeon Richard Dixon, who understood first-hand the pressures of being constantly on call. He recognised that vets and nurses couldn't be expected to work a full day and then continue providing the highest standard of care throughout the night. His vision would go on to transform how emergency veterinary care is delivered when daytime practices are closed. Arlene Connor, now Hospital Director at our Glasgow hospital, was working as a veterinary nurse at the PDSA clinic in the city when Vets Now first began operating there. "It was a totally new concept, with no one else in the country offering out-of-hours cover for nights and weekends on this scale," said Arlene. "In those days it was just one vet and one nurse on duty. We would have emergencies from clients at all the first opinion practices who used us, as well as the PDSA clients. "As it was essentially an A&E service for pets, the shifts could be pretty wild. "During the times where we weren't expecting cases to arrive, the vet and I would take it in turns to have rest periods. One of us would take the phones, and one of us would take the patients in. "We had two phones to man, and I remember dreaming of the different phone ring tones in my sleep."
The growth of Emergency and Critical Care
As Vets Now expanded across the UK, so too did emergency and critical care medicine.
Our Stoke-on-Trent clinic became one of a growing number of locations providing dedicated out-of-hours care.
Senior vet Sarah Ambler had spent 17 years working in mixed practice before joining the fast-paced world of emergency medicine on the clinic's opening night.
Looking back, she remembers how different emergency practice was in those early years.
"At the time ECC wasn't even a discipline, so we were basically GPs doing what we could with the knowledge we had," said Sarah.
"We didn't have all the high-tech equipment we have now, so there were no blood tests or different monitoring. It was all just down to your clinical ability."
The evolution of ECC has transformed the options available to veterinary teams, helping improve outcomes and enabling clinicians to manage increasingly complex cases.
How pet owners' expectations have changed
Alongside advances in veterinary medicine, we've also seen significant changes in the expectations of pet owners.
Our Telford clinic, based at Gladstone Vets in Hadley Shopping Centre, is one of our longest-established clinics and celebrated its 20th anniversary last year.
Like our other clinics, it opens each weekday evening for emergency treatment and remains open throughout the weekend when local veterinary practices are closed.
Over the years, pet owners have increasingly embraced the availability of immediate, high-quality veterinary care outside normal opening hours.
"Just as we've become a 24-hour society for shopping, banking and lots of other things, the same is now the case for pets," said Fiona Scrimshaw, Principal Nurse Manager.
"When we first opened, many people would be reluctant to call, but now they aren't prepared to wait.
"In addition to the obvious emergencies, many owners want to get some reassurance. Some even say it's just more convenient for them to see us during the night."
The changing face of the patients we see
Pet ownership trends have also influenced the types of emergency cases our teams encounter.
In recent years, flat-faced breeds such as French Bulldogs have become increasingly popular. For a period, they represented a significant proportion of the patients arriving through our doors.
"For a while, flat-faced breeds made up a very noticeable proportion of the cases coming through the doors," said Fiona.
"Their anatomy can make them more prone to issues such as breathing difficulties and skin fold problems. We're also seeing more Dachshunds, and their longer backs can leave them at greater risk of spinal problems."
The effects of the pandemic puppy boom are also beginning to emerge.
The BVA estimates that 3.2 million households acquired a puppy during the first year of the pandemic, and many of those pets are now entering a life stage where age-related health conditions become more common.
"Suddenly there's a vast amount of pets of that age group starting to have problems and that's making us busier," said Karen Booth, Senior Vet at Telford.
"We're seeing dogs who are getting older and having dental issues, arthritis and potentially heart and renal problems."
Saving lives in ways that weren't possible 25 years ago
The advances seen across veterinary medicine over the past quarter of a century have transformed what emergency teams can achieve.
"We are definitely able to save lives that simply wouldn't have been possible 25 years ago," said Karen.
"We can give oxygen, do blood tests and lots of other things to give immediate answers to tailor our treatments.
"So, we can make quicker decisions which is vital. The whole veterinary world has changed in the past quarter of a century.
"We used to have to wait for X-films to develop, now we can analyse them instantly and get other expert opinions in the middle of the night if necessary.
"Our ECC team are also much more experienced and there are so many things we can do that couldn't even be imagined when Vets Now began."
Perhaps nowhere demonstrates that progress more clearly than our Glasgow hospital.
Today, the hospital is home to specialist teams across oncology, internal medicine, orthopaedics, soft tissue surgery, diagnostic imaging and Emergency and Critical Care.
"We have one of the largest ECC specialist teams in the UK and highly trained ICU staff available 24 hours a day," said Arlene.
"We treat over 15,000 pets every year and many of them are the sickest of the sick. Patients coming to us are surviving now that wouldn't have made it in the past."
The hospital now employs 150 colleagues across three floors and is at the forefront of pioneering life-saving treatments.
Among the treatment options that would have been unimaginable when Vets Now was founded is Therapeutic Plasma Exchange (TPE) therapy, while our specialist teams continue to use their expertise and advanced equipment to diagnose increasingly complex and challenging cases.
Looking to the future
While we've made significant strides over the past 25 years, we believe there's even more to come.
"We've made huge strides in veterinary medicine and there's so much more, like renal dialysis, that I think will change over the next 25 years," said Arlene.
"But it's always about making a difference for the animal."
As we celebrate our 25th anniversary, we're incredibly proud of how far emergency and critical care has come. But we're even more excited about what the future holds and how we can continue to innovate, support the profession and improve outcomes for pets when they need us most.
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