Emergency Vet Near Me in Encino: What to Do When Your Pet Needs Help Today

When your dog or cat is suddenly sick or hurt, every minute feels urgent — and the first thing most pet parents do is search “emergency vet near me.” If you’re in Encino or anywhere across the San Fernando Valley, here’s exactly what to do right now, how to tell whether it’s a true emergency, and how our team can see your pet the same day.

First: stay calm and call ahead

The single most helpful thing you can do in a pet emergency is call before you drive over. A quick phone call lets our team prepare for your pet’s specific problem, tell you what to bring, and have a room ready when you walk in — which can save critical time on arrival.

While you call, keep your pet warm, quiet, and as still as possible. Don’t give any human medication (many are toxic to pets), and don’t try to induce vomiting unless a veterinarian tells you to.

Is it a true emergency? Signs your pet needs same-day care

Some situations genuinely can’t wait until next week. Contact us right away — or head to the nearest open clinic — if your dog or cat is showing any of these:

• Trouble breathing, choking, or non-stop coughing
• Repeated vomiting or diarrhea, especially with blood
• Ate something toxic or dangerous (chocolate, grapes, medications, a foreign object)
• Not eating or drinking, extreme lethargy, or collapse
• Suspected broken bone, deep wound, or heavy bleeding
• Straining to urinate (a life-threatening emergency in male cats)
• Seizures, disorientation, or a sudden change in behavior
• Bloated, hard belly or unproductive retching (especially in large-breed dogs)

When in doubt, call. A two-minute phone conversation is always better than waiting and hoping — and we’d far rather reassure you than have you wait too long.

Same-day urgent care at Encino Pet Hospital

Encino Pet Hospital & Emergency is built for exactly these moments. We offer walk-in urgent care, daytime emergency triage, and same-day sick visits — staffed by experienced veterinarians, 7 days a week. Because we run an in-house lab and digital imaging, we often have answers in under an hour instead of sending you elsewhere and waiting days.

That means for the vast majority of urgent problems — GI upset, ingestions, limping, ear and eye issues, wounds, sudden illness — you can be seen, diagnosed, and treated in one visit, right here in Encino.

Learn more about our Emergency & Urgent Care →

Our hours (and what to do after we close)

We’re open every day, 7:30 AM to 7:00 PM. If your pet has an urgent problem during our hours, call us and come in — no appointment needed for urgent cases.

We want to be upfront so you’re never caught off guard: we are a same-day / daytime urgent care hospital, not a 24-hour overnight ER. If an emergency happens in the middle of the night, please go to a 24-hour emergency facility, and then follow up with us the next morning — we coordinate closely with specialty and after-hours partners across LA so your pet stays in expert hands every step of the way.

Serving Encino and the whole Valley

Pet parents come to us from Encino, Sherman Oaks, Tarzana, Studio City, and Woodland Hills — we’re right on Ventura Blvd, easy to reach when minutes matter.