Brandon UrgentVet Bridges Gap Between Family Vet And ER Service

BRANDON, FL — UrgentVet, the first dedicated urgent care clinic for pets, has opened the doors to its second Tampa Bay clinic, conveniently located in the BayCare HealthHub at 2446 Bloomingdale Ave., Brandon.

The clinic officially began welcoming sick and injured pets and their anxious owners on Monday, just months after opening a clinic in Westchase. This is UrgentVet's fourth clinic nationally.

UrgentVet's mission is to fill the widening care gap between traditional daytime veterinary practices and specialized 24-hour emergency hospitals, providing affordable after-hours service on weeknights, weekends and holidays year-round.

“The reception we received with our Westchase clinic was incredible, and we’re so excited to be opening up our next location in Brandon to serve pets and pet parents across Hillsborough County,” said Dr. Jim Dobies, founder of UrgentVet. “We specifically sought out Brandon because we know it’s a very family- and pet-friendly community, and the opportunity to secure space in the BayCare HealthHub just reinforced our decision to open a clinic here.”

Just like the Westchase location, UrgentVet-Brandon will be open from 3 to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and noon to 8 p.m. on holidays.

The vision behind the UrgentVet practice model is to provide dogs and cats with trusted after-hours acute care just like urgent care for humans. Pet parents in the Brandon area should continue to take pets to their primary care veterinarian for wellness care and routine visits, but UrgentVet-Brandon offers an option when the regular vet is unavailable.

UrgentVet clinics routinely treat vomiting, diarrhea, lacerations, wounds, and skin and ear problems among many other presenting complaints.

On average, an UrgentVet bill is about 40 percent less than what a pet parent might pay for comparable services at a veterinary ER. No appointments are necessary, and pet parents can even check in online and request that the clinic send a text message when it’s time to come in.

UrgentVet’s stress-free experience for pets is enhanced by the clinic design and special training the staff receives. All veterinarians and support staff are “Fear Free-Certified Professionals,” which means they’re skilled in caring for both the pet’s physical and emotional well-being.

In addition, there are separate dog and cat waiting areas for pets and their parents to avoid what might be anxiety-inducing confrontations. All exam rooms have dimmable lighting for anxious animals, relaxing music to soothe the pets and each member of the staff wears sprayable pheromones for a calming effect.

The clinic itself is 2,500 square feet with six exam rooms—two for large dogs, three for small dogs and one exclusively for cats—and features an in-house diagnostic lab, digital X-ray machine, ultrasound and Cloud-based medical record-keeping software. The large dog rooms contain state-of-the-art lift tables, which also double as a non-slip scale, that lower to the floor for easy access for dogs who may be too heavy to pick up.

With all of its clinics, UrgentVet aims to develop strong relationships with neighboring primary care veterinarians, a practice that clinic staff has already started in Brandon. After a pet’s visit, UrgentVet delivers lab work and X-rays with a referral letter to that pet’s veterinarian within 24 hours so that they can be informed and schedule a follow-up visit at their location.

“For many pet parents, the trauma of watching a pet become ill or injured is devastating, so our goal is always to provide compassionate care in a way that makes both pet and parent feel comfortable,” Dr. Dobies said. “The bond between a pet and its primary care veterinarian should be deep, and we wouldn’t ever want to replace that. We just want to be there whenever a pet parent needs us.”

A third Tampa Bay UrgentVet location is slated to open later this year in New Port Richey. In addition, development is well underway for several other locations throughout central and north Florida that will grow the company’s footprint substantially across the state.