PULLMAN — On this particular day in November, they begin arriving at 8 in the morning with their pets: dogs (a lot of dogs), cats, a Quarter Horse, sheep, a rabbit, cows, a parakeet, a ferret and a python. The bigger animals have a separate entrance, and stalls.
This is Washington State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital, which saw 10,600 patients in 2022. That’s a lot of critters.
When you talk to the pet owners who’ve come here, they’ll inevitably tell you: When your pet is in trouble, there’s no better facility than this one.
It’s not your local vet that has a $2 million linear accelerator that aims radiation at cancer tumors with pinpoint accuracy. It’s one of a handful of veterinary teaching facilities in the country certified as Level I by the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society, providing emergency care 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. About 4,000 to 5,000 of the patients seen at the hospital annually are emergency cases. (Pet owners don’t need an appointment for emergency care, but for specialty services, a referral from their regular veterinarian is required.)