After-Hours Urgent Care Vet Clinic Opens In Sarasota

SARASOTA, FL — UrgentVet, the first dedicated urgent care clinic for pets, opened the doors of its new Sarasota location Thursday.

Located at 501 N. Beneva Road, just off Fruitville Road, UrgentVet’s central location is accessible for residents living in communities throughout Sarasota County, including the beaches, the company said in a news release.

The new clinic will be UrgentVet’s eighth nationally and the sixth to open in Florida. There are locations in Tampa, Brandon, New Port Richey, Gainesville and Orlando. Founded in 2015, UrgentVet also has two clinics in the Charlotte, North Carolina area.

UrgentVet fills the pet care gap that exists between traditional daytime veterinary practices and specialized 24-hour emergency hospitals, providing affordable after-hours relief on weeknights, weekends and holidays year-round, the company said.

The clinic will be open Monday through Friday, 3 to 11 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. On holidays, it will open from noon to 8 p.m. No appointments are necessary.

On average, an UrgentVet bill is about 40 percent less than what a pet parent might pay for comparable services at a veterinary emergency room, the clinic said.

Like what you're reading? Invite a friend to subscribe to free Sarasota newsletters and real-time email alerts.

Since the clinic only treats after-hours emergencies, pet parents should continue to take pets to their primary care veterinarians for wellness care and routine visits.

With all of its clinics, UrgentVet aims to develop strong relationships with neighboring primary care veterinarians, a practice that the new clinic staff has already started. After a pet’s visit, UrgentVet delivers lab work and X-rays with a referral letter to that pet’s veterinarian within 24 hours so that they can be informed and schedule a follow-up visit at their location, the clinic said.

The new Sarasota clinic itself is 2,457 square feet with a total of six exam rooms—two for large dogs, three for small dogs and one exclusively for cats—in addition to a separate comfort room. Other features include an in-house diagnostic lab, digital X-ray machine, ultrasound and cloud-based medical record-keeping software, UrgentVet said. The large dog rooms contain state-of-the-art lift tables, which also double as a non-slip scale, that lower to the floor for easy access for dogs who may be too heavy to pick up.

UrgentVet’s stress-free experience for pets is enhanced by the clinic design and special training the staff receives. All veterinarians and support staff are “Fear Free Certified Professionals,” which means they’re skilled in caring for both the pet’s physical and emotional well-being, the company said.

In addition, there are separate dog and cat waiting areas for pets and their parents to avoid what might be anxiety-inducing situations. All exam rooms have dimmable lighting for anxious animals, relaxing music to soothe the pets and each member of the staff wears sprayable pheromones for a calming effect.

“Each part of our process is intended to reduce tension and fear in both the pet and pet parents in situations that aren’t comfortable for either of them,” Dr. Jim Dobies, UrgentVet founder, said. “We want pet parents in the Sarasota area to know that they can trust us to deliver compassionate care in their pet’s time of need.”