24/7 care

24-Hour Emergency Care

MVS maintains a fully staffed emergency, trauma and critical care facility that accepts both walk-in and referral emergencies. We specialize in emergency medical and surgical care of small animals, especially patients requiring more intensive and long-term critical care management.

We are proud to be a certified through the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society (VECCS) as a Level II Certified Facility. This means we meet set guidelines published by VECCS that include but are not limited to:

  • Having 24-hour acute care with a medical staff that has the necessary training to provide emergent and critical patient care
  • Having blood products and emergency medications available for immediate use
  • Being capable of providing nutritional support through a feeding tube

To learn more about our VECCS Certification, you can click on the logo below.

Services & Procedures

  • Canine and feline blood bank available
  • Complete laboratory diagnostics which allow immediate blood test results.
  • Immediate emergency medical imaging.
  • Emergency surgical procedures including wound repair, GDV, C-section, foreign body removal, and abdominal exploratory.
  • Endoscopic retrieval of gastric foreign bodies
  • Complete in-hospital pharmacy with specialized inventory.
  • Advanced patient monitoring techniques for emergency/critical care and surgery.
  • Telephone consults with your veterinarian 24/7/365.
  • The emergency service works closely with MVS’ other veterinary specialists in: Surgery, Internal Medicine, Ophthalmology, Dermatology, Neurology and Oncology.
  • Sorry, at the time we do not see exotic species (cats and dogs only).

When should I seek emergency care?

While not every emergency is on this list, here are many symptoms we consider to require emergency care:

  • Acute blindness
  • Allergic reactions
  • Bleeding from the eyes, nose or mouth
  • Blood in urine or straining or unable to urinate
  • Difficulty breathing
  • Disorientation or collapse
  • Distended/swollen abdomen
  • Ingestion of (or suspicion of swallowing) poisons, antifreeze, medications or household cleaners
  • Massive bleeding from a wound
  • Non bearing weight on an individual limb
  • Physical trauma or animal attack
  • Seizures
  • Signs of extreme pain such as whining or shaking
  • Squinting or painful eyes
  • Unconsciousness
  • Vehicular trauma
  • Vomiting and/or diarrhea
  • Weak or unable to use hind limbs

If you are concerned about your pet at any time, call us at 608-274-7772 and a nurse can discuss your pet’s symptoms.

Dr. Carrie Calhoun graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine in 2014 and knew that she wanted to be an emergency clinician. She completed a rotating small animal internship in emergency, medicine, and surgery in Seattle, Washington before joining our team at MVS.

Dr. Calhoun lives in Fitchburg with her golden retriever/Great Pyrenees mix named Charlie. In her free time, she enjoys running, paddle boarding, hiking and traveling.

Dr. Jim Graham is a Wisconsin native; being born in Hudson and growing up in Whitewater. He moved to St. Cloud, Minnesota for high school and spent a year of that in Maceio, Brazil! Dr. Graham attended Carelton College for his undergraduate degree and then the University of Minnesota for veterinary school. He joined the MVS team in 2021.

In his spare time, you can find Dr. Graham spending time with his family and friends and enjoys being outdoors and playing guitar.

After obtaining his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Iowa State University in 2010, Dr. Matt Keller worked in small animal emergency private practice for 12 years. He has a special interest in trauma, surgery, and wound management.  He pursued additional surgical training through a small animal surgical internship in Phoenix from 2019-2020.  Dr. Keller joined the MVS team in 2021 and provides both emergency surgery and clinical care services.  

When he’s not at work, Dr. Keller spends much of his time enjoying the outdoors and can be found hiking with his cat, Stella, or working on his farm in Iowa.  

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