The Bottom Line
In summary, this book is a good reference tool, and would make a gift for the RV'ers and traveling pet lovers in your life.
Pros
- Easy to read and locate information quickly
- Nice pet photos throughout the book
- Good additional information on common toxic/non-toxic plants
- Additonal coverage of veterinary teaching hospitals and services provided
Cons
- Hospital location and hours may not be up to date, as businesses change
- More information about each facility would be helpful (user reviews, animals treated, etc.)
- Captions or subtitles under pet photos would be nice
Description
- State-by-state listing of veterinary emergency facilities in the US
- Veterinary Teaching hospitals
- Emergency travel and evacuation
- Suggestions and reminders for using veterinary emergency care
- Toxic and non-toxic plant information
- Pet, Vet and Health Record pages
Guide Review - Book Review: Pet ER Guide - by Melinda Lord
For people who travel often with pets, this book would be great to have at your fingertips. The author mentions the importance of calling ahead -- veterinary clinics are businesses, and may move, change their phone number, or go out of business.
As many people are probably aware, not every area in the United States has a dedicated emergency veterinary facility. When in doubt, please call local veterinary offices for after-hours emergency information.
This is important even for people who are not traveling, as evidenced by the many posts in the Veterinary Medicine forum, asking for after-hours help because their vet office is closed. Please call, and if the office is closed, they should have a voice message containing information about who to call/where to go for emergency assistance.
There is one featured "testimonial" from a viewer who utilized pet emergency care. I would have enjoyed reading more of these "true life" stories, and if possible, viewer reviews of the facilities as well. (Understanding, of course, that most people don't shop for emergency care, but it would be nice to know other viewer experiences.)
A handy tool is at the back of the book: Pet, Vet and Health Records. This is perfect for the traveler. Perfect too, for anyone who has trouble keeping information all in once place (such as myself!). I know that when I am getting ready for a trip, I have so much to do and pack that the "obvious" things, like making sure pets have up-to-date ID tags (with cell phone numbers) and remembering health record information, are easily overlooked. This book keeps the information all in one place.
