Critical Care Service

Our Services

The Small Animal Critical Care Service at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at Ohio State provides state-of-the art care for animals with severe and life-threatening injuries or illnesses and for many patients recovering from surgery. We are there to make your pet comfortable when you can’t.

Service Highlights

• Advanced and specialized nursing care 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
• Life support technology such as breathing machines (ventilators) and dialysis
• Behind the scenes specialist evaluation and consultation with your specialist veterinarian
• Palliative care options for families struggling at end-of-life

Appointments & Office Hours

Your veterinarian will consult with us whenever needed. Our care team provides support to every patient admitted to the critical care service. If you would like to access our palliative care service, please speak to your veterinarian directly and ask for a referral.

What to Expect

Our service operates nearly completely behind the scenes. You may not meet us personally, but we take the trust you have placed in us seriously. We work tirelessly at all hours to ensure that your pet receives the best care we can offer. For a few limited very severe situations, our care team will step in to assist you and your primary clinician. In those situations we will outline all of the available treatment options and assist you in making choices regarding the care of your pet.

If you find yourself struggling with decisions regarding euthanasia when your pet is at the end-of-life, we can also offer palliative care options for you to consider. See our Honoring the Bond program, a pet owner support & counseling service.

Special Equipment & Technology

• State of the art ventilators for some kinds of breathing failure
• Dialysis care for some kinds of kidney failure
• Heart, lung, blood pressure and vital signs monitors
• Electric defibrillators for use in some kinds of cardiopulmonary resuscitation

Common Conditions & Procedures

Many patients recovering from surgery or anesthesia and need pain control and extra monitoring. Patients with serious medical illnesses.

Clinicians

Critical Care Faculty

• Shane Bateman, DVM, DVSc, Associate Professor-Clinical (Chief of Service)
• Edward Cooper, VMD, Assistant Professor-Clinical
• Amy Butler, DVM, Assistant Professor-Clinical

Emergency/Critical Care Residents

• Ann Peruski, DVM
• Michelle Goodnight, DVM

Payment

Payment is due at the time of service. Read more about our payment policies.