Sick Pet Visits

When Something’s Off With Your Pet and You’re Not Sure What to Do

You know how it is. Your dog ate normally yesterday. This morning he’s just… lying there. Won’t touch his food. Not his usual self.

Or your cat threw up once, and you’re doing that mental calculation: is this the “cats throw up sometimes” version, or the “I should call someone” version?

That in-between space is where most pet owners spend a lot of time. Not clearly an emergency. Not clearly nothing. Just that low-level worry that sits with you all day.

This is exactly the kind of situation a sick pet house call is built for.

We come to you, assess what’s going on, run diagnostics if we need to, and either give you the all-clear or figure out what needs to happen next. No loading a sick animal into a car. No waiting room. No starting from scratch with someone who’s never met your pet before.

What Counts as a “Sick Visit”

Pretty much anything that made you pick up the phone. If you’re calling because something changed and you’re not sure what it means, that’s what we’re here for.

Common reasons people reach us for sick visits:

GI issues. Vomiting that’s more than once or twice. Diarrhea that’s gone on more than a day. Not eating when they normally eat everything in sight. Blood in stool or vomit.

Behavior changes. Lethargy that’s out of character. Hiding. Unusual aggression or confusion. Not wanting to be touched somewhere they normally don’t mind.

Respiratory or urinary signs. Labored breathing. Straining to urinate or going more frequently than usual. Crying out when they try to go.

Wounds or swelling. A lump that appeared recently. A wound that doesn’t look right. Swelling anywhere that wasn’t there before.

“Just not right.” This one’s real. Sometimes you’ve had your pet long enough that you know something’s off before you can point to what it is. Trust that. It’s worth a call.

Obviously not every one of these is a crisis. But a lot of them are worth having someone look at. Sooner is usually better than later with animals.

What We Can Do in the House

Here’s the thing about mobile vet sick visits: we don’t just show up with a stethoscope and good intentions. We bring the tools.

Portable digital x-ray. We can image the chest and abdomen, all four limbs. No power outlet needed. If your dog is having a GI issue that needs imaging, we can do it right there on your kitchen floor.

Portable ultrasound. Useful for soft tissue evaluation, organ assessment, fluid detection. Things you’d otherwise need a clinic for.

Full lab work. Blood panels, urinalysis, fecal checks. We send everything to our outside reference lab and get results back fast.

Prescriptions on the spot. If we know what’s going on, we can treat it that day. Most medications can be called directly to your pharmacy. We also have a dispensary at our Lantana facility for cases where we need something immediately.

Physical exam. Thirty-plus years of hands-on experience with dogs and cats. We’re going to find things in an exam that are easy to miss when an animal is stressed and fighting a table in a clinic. Your pet is calmer at home. A calmer pet is easier to assess accurately.

“The fact they come to you is such a wonderful service for ailing or older pets,” wrote Jennifer Medler in a Google review. “My dogs are much happier in their own home than in an office and I don’t worry about them getting sick from other animals.”

That second part matters, by the way. A sick animal sitting in a waiting room with other animals is exposed to whatever those other animals have brought in. Your immune-compromised or already-ill pet doesn’t need that.

The Hybrid Part: When It Needs More Than a House Call

Most sick visits can be handled at home. That’s the honest answer. But not all of them.

If what we find on the house call points to something that needs our facility, we tell you straight. No vague referrals to someone you’ve never met. We own a surgical facility at 301 E Ocean Ave in Lantana, and we’re the ones who handle what happens there.

So if a sick visit turns into a diagnosis that needs surgery, a procedure, advanced diagnostics, or hospitalization, the same team takes you through it. Benjamin Servidio put it simply in his Google review: “They saved my cats life yesterday and I will be forever grateful for them and their hard work.”

That’s what continuity of care actually looks like. You’re not starting the story over with a new provider at the moment it matters most.

When to Call Immediately vs. When to Schedule

This is worth being straight about. We do sick visits, but we are not a 24-hour emergency service. There are situations that need an emergency clinic right now, tonight, and I’d rather tell you that clearly than have you wait when waiting is the wrong call.

Call us to schedule a sick visit when:

• Your pet has been off for a day or two but is stable
• Symptoms are concerning but not escalating rapidly
• You want something assessed that changed recently
• Your regular vet can’t see them for days and you don’t want to wait

Go to an emergency clinic immediately if:

• Suspected bloat or abdominal distension in a large breed dog
• Difficulty breathing or blue/grey gums
• Collapse or inability to stand
• Suspected poisoning or toxin ingestion
• Trauma from a vehicle or animal attack
• Uncontrolled bleeding
• Seizures lasting more than two to three minutes
• Straining to urinate with no output (especially male cats – this is a true emergency)

When in doubt, call us at (561) 493-3860 and describe what you’re seeing. We’ll tell you honestly whether it’s something we can handle with a house call or whether you need to get to an ER right now.

Senior Pets and Sick Visits

Older dogs and cats deserve a specific mention here. Changes in an aging pet can mean more than they would in a younger animal. Sudden loss of appetite in a 13-year-old dog isn’t “probably nothing.” Lethargy in a senior cat that normally meets you at the door is worth a call.

The other thing about senior pets is that getting them to a clinic when they’re not feeling well is genuinely hard. Mobility issues, arthritis, cognitive changes that make car rides disorienting. A sick visit means they get assessed in their own space, without the physical and emotional toll of transport.

If you have an older pet and something changed, trust your instincts. That’s what we’re here for.

Multi-Pet Households

One more practical note. If you’ve got three pets and the sick one is hard to separate, or you’re not sure if the others were exposed to whatever’s going on, we can assess everyone in the same visit. It’s logistically a lot simpler than trying to coordinate multiple clinic trips when one animal is already not feeling well.

Scheduling a Sick Visit in Palm Beach County

We serve all of Palm Beach County, from Jupiter and Tequesta in the north to Boca Raton in the south, including West Palm Beach, Wellington, Lake Worth, Lantana, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, and surrounding communities. Western boundary is Westlake and the Acreage.

Call (561) 493-3860 or book at allabouttownpethousecalls.com.

When you call, be ready to describe:

• What you’re seeing and when it started
• Whether your pet is eating, drinking, urinating, defecating normally
• Any recent changes in environment, food, or exposure to other animals
• Current medications or supplements

The more we know before we arrive, the better prepared we’ll be.

All About Town Pet House Calls serves Palm Beach County from Boca Raton to Jupiter, including Wellington, Lake Worth, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lantana, and surrounding communities. Surgical facility: 301 E Ocean Ave Ste 5, Lantana, FL 33462. Phone: (561) 493-3860.