316-788-1000

Same Day Appointments | Advanced Surgeries | Immediate Support

Urgent & Emergency Veterinary Services At El Paso Animal Hospital

When your pet is in crisis, minutes matter. You shouldn't have to wait for availability or worry your pet’s care will come too late. El Paso Animal Hospital is fully equipped to handle veterinary emergencies without referrals, from immediate stabilization to advanced surgery, right here in Derby.

Urgent Care with Personal Attention

Critical decisions about your pet’s care should be made by doctors, not a corporate board. An independent hospital with our own on-site surgical suites and comprehensive diagnostics, we provide the comprehensive care of a corporate specialty center with the transparency and personal accountability of a family vet—if your family vet had a team of seven experienced veterinarians with a combined 150+ years of experience between them.

Whether you’re a regular patient or a new face with a pet in crisis, we’re here for you.

What Happens When You Arrive For An Urgent Care Appointment

  • Immediate Triage The moment you walk in, our medical team performs an initial assessment to determine the urgency of your pet’s condition.
  • Stabilization If your pet is in pain, struggling to breathe, or in shock, we move them immediately to our treatment area for life-saving support, such as oxygen therapy or IV fluids, before beginning a full diagnostic workup.
  • Rapid Diagnostics Once your pet is stable, we perform any necessary digital imaging and bloodwork on-site and typically have results within 30-60 minutes.
  •  A Clear Plan of Action Our doctors review results and discuss next steps with you directly. Whether the solution is medical management, specialized surgery, or overnight monitoring, we ensure you have a clear, transparent plan for your pet’s recovery you can pursue here with our practice or with your family vet.

Emergency Dog and Cat Surgery

El Paso Animal Hospital is a regional destination for complex surgical procedures in the Wichita area. Our hospital-level surgical suites and experienced medical teams allow us to perform life-saving and corrective procedures many general practices cannot. In addition, we’re one of the few independent hospitals in the south-central Kansas region performing high volumes of specialized orthopedic surgeries such as TPLO.

We’re highly experienced at handling the moments no pet owner wants to experience:

  • Foreign Body Removal: Surgical extraction of life-threatening obstructions (like toys or socks) that your pet ate or swallowed.
  • Emergency C-Sections: Immediate surgical support for mothers and litters in distress.
  • Mass Removals and Wound Care: Advanced treatment for traumatic injuries, lacerations, and concerning growths.
  • Life-Saving Gastrointestinal Surgery: GDV (bloat) stabilization and repair and more.

Emergency Dog and Cat Surgery

El Paso Animal Hospital is a regional destination for complex surgical procedures in the Wichita area. Our hospital-level surgical suites and experienced medical teams allow us to perform life-saving and corrective procedures many general practices cannot. In addition, we’re one of the few independent hospitals in the south-central Kansas region performing high volumes of specialized orthopedic surgeries such as TPLO.

We’re highly experienced at handling the moments no pet owner wants to experience:

  • Foreign Body Removal: Surgical extraction of life-threatening obstructions (like toys or socks) that your pet ate or swallowed.
  • Emergency C-Sections: Immediate surgical support for mothers and litters in distress.
  • Mass Removals and Wound Care: Advanced treatment for traumatic injuries, lacerations, and concerning growths.
  • Life-Saving Gastrointestinal Surgery: GDV (bloat) stabilization and repair and more.

Does My Pet Need Emergency Care?

It’s often difficult to know what constitutes a true emergency, or something that can wait. The following situations always require immediate care:

  • Collapse
  • Known or suspected toxin ingestion
  • Snake bite
  • Bloated abdomen, especially if accompanied by unproductive retching
  • Inability to urinate or defecate
  • Bleeding that persists longer than five minutes
  • Wounds sustained from a fight
  • Inability to stand or walk
  • Dragging the back legs
  • Open-mouth breathing in cats
  • Hit by car
  • Gunshot wound
  • Heat stroke
  • Broken bone
  • Seizures
  • Allergic reaction
  • Difficulty breathing
  • Excessive vomiting (i.e., more than three occurrences in 24 hours, or vomiting lasting longer than 24 hours)
  • Persistent diarrhea (i.e., more than three occurrences in 24 hours, or diarrhea lasting longer than 24 hours)
  • Foreign body ingestion

Not sure if your cat or dog needs urgent veterinary care? Just give us a call and a member of our team can help you figure out what’s urgent, and what can wait.

Call Now
316-788-1000

Transparent Veterinary Care That Fits Your Budget

Financial stress should never be the primary barrier to saving your pet’s life. As an independent practice, we keep our costs fair and our billing transparent. We will never move forward with treatment without providing and explaining a clear estimate. And we offer flexible payment options like Scratchpay and Care Credit for simple, transparent payment plans.

Care Doesn’t End at Close of Business

Our goal is to stabilize your pet, provide the necessary treatment, and return them to the comfort of your home as quickly as possible. In most cases, pets remain in our care, with doctors and veterinary technicians providing continued monitoring as needed. If a pet’s condition requires a level of continuous, intensive monitoring that cannot be safely supported beyond our hospital hours, we will work directly with you to determine the best next steps to ensure your pet’s ongoing care

Emergency Care FAQs

No. You do not need a referral from another veterinarian to seek care here. While we don’t require appointments for urgent cases, we do recommend calling us on your way so our medical team can prepare for your arrival.

Our hospital is equipped to get answers in minutes, not days. We provide digital X-rays and high-end ultrasound imaging, as well as a full laboratory for internal blood chemistry, hematology (checking for infection or anemia), and electrolyte panels (checking for dehydration or shock).

Quite possibly. Bloat (Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus, or GDV) is a life-threatening emergency where the stomach twists, and it is fatal without immediate intervention. Unlike many general practices that must refer these cases out, we are equipped to provide immediate stabilization and perform life-saving surgery right here in our hospital to correct the twist and save your pet’s life.

Yes. A sudden “pop” followed by a pet being unable to put weight on a leg is often a sign of a torn ligament (ACL/CCL). While not always life-threatening, it is an urgent mobility crisis that causes significant pain. Because we are a regional destination for TPLO surgery, we can quickly diagnose the injury using on-site imaging and get your pet on a surgical schedule to restore their mobility, often much faster than a specialist referral center.

Absolutely. We view ourselves as a partner to your family veterinarian. With your authorization we share all diagnostic results, surgical reports, and treatment notes with your regular clinic to ensure they have everything they need for your pet’s long-term follow-up care.

Not always, but it is one of our most powerful tools for “unseen” emergencies. While X-rays are best for bones and foreign objects, we use ultrasound to look at organ function and internal fluid or to perform quick “heart checks” when a pet is in distress.

To maintain our independence and high standard of care, payment is due at the time of service. However, we will always provide a clear, transparent estimate before beginning treatment. If you need to break up the cost of a major surgery or emergency, we offer flexible, pet-specific financing through Scratchpay. Learn more about our payment options

Although we are not a 24-hour facility, our doctors and veterinary technicians routinely stay late to provide continued care when medically appropriate. In most cases, pets remain with us overnight and are closely monitored based on their individual needs. Our decisions are always guided by the health and well-being of your pet. If a pet requires continuous, intensive 24/7 monitoring that cannot be safely provided, we will act accordingly and discuss next steps with you to ensure the highest level of care