No Overnight Staff at Vet Clinic

So the clinic I go to recently wanted to keep my grandpa's cat overnight so they could work on grooming her early the next day. She suffers from very painful arthritis and had tons of knots in her fur that needed to be shaved out very delicately. I had taken the cat in that day for an exam and considered leaving her overnight. I eventually decided against it for numerous reasons including the fact that there is no one there overnight. A few days later there was an article in the newspaper about how there had been a burglary at the clinic the night that they had wanted to keep grandpa's cat overnight. This leaves me wondering something:

Why are there so many vet clinics that do not have overnight staff when animals stay overnight? Is it a financial decision or do they think it's just not needed? I especially can't understand why they wouldn't have someone stay overnight when they insist upon keeping a sick animal there overnight. What if something happened, like if the animal stopped breathing or tore out it's stitches or something like that?

And while we're on the topic, maybe someone could give me some opinions on something that happened a few years ago.

One day my regular vet insisted I bring my sick cat in for an emergency appointment (she was just as worried about the cat as I was). She needed to go pick up her kids so she asked the other vet there to examine my cat. The other vet decided, after the exam that he wanted to keep the cat there overnight. I asked if anyone was going to be there and he said, "no." I politely declined and this vet became rather upset and acted like I just made a horrible decision. Now, if no one was going to be there overnight and the cat was very ill, why on earth would I want to leave him there alone? It made far more sense to take him home and stay up all night with him in case he needed to be rushed to the ER.

Does anyone have any idea as to why this vet would want me to leave the cat there when no one was there? And then become rude and upset when I decided not to leave him there? I have a few ideas as to why the vet behaved like this, but I really would like to hear what others think. Maybe someone here who has worked in a veterinary clinic might know something I'm overlooking and could let me know what it is.


Thanks for any replies and advice you can give me. I may not be able to respond to this thread for awhile, I don't always have internet access.

My vet does not have overnight staff.  It is a small practice. 

I do not know the procedure for very ill animals.  I have a feeling my vet or a tech comes by late to double check on everyone.  And I don't doubt that if it was a very bad case, they would be there very late attending to the animal.

There are 24 hour vet clincs that are staffed around the clock.

But I think your run of the mill clinics do not have overnight people.  Probably done on as needed basis.

lilblu said:

Does anyone have any idea as to why this vet would want me to leave the cat there when no one was there? And then become rude and pissy when I decided not to leave him there?

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Money. They charge for overnight stays. It is likely a lucrative part of many vet's business.

farleyv said:

But I think your run of the mill clinics do not have overnight people.  Probably done on as needed basis.

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I think so too.  When my RB kitty Chynna had her dental, she was in serious condition afterwards, and they had someone stay overnight to watch her and another kitty there that was in a bad way.  But I think it everyone is stable, they tuck them in at night and leave them alone.

I don't understand why you would have to leave a cat overnight just for a grooming?  The clinic I to opens early so you can drop your cat off around 7:30.

The other thing that concerns me is people board their pets at some of these clinics - if there is no one there overnight watching them, I wouldn't even consider boarding my cats under those circumstances.  Of course, I wouldn't board them anyway, but that's another issue. 

I think what they do at the clinic I go to is if the cat is very ill they'll send them a place that's staffed overnight, but I don't know that for sure. If it came to that, I'd make darn sure first, because I would rather have the cat with me and take them to the EVet if it came to that.  There is a hospital that's staffed 24 / 7 and that's where Cindy had her surgery and had to stay for 3 days.

Natalie_ca said:

Money. They charge for overnight stays. It is likely a lucrative part of many vet's business.

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Not necessarily. My vet likes to keep spays/neuters overnight, but doesn't charge anything for it. And if the owner can't drop the pet off early enough in the morning, he also prefers to have them drop off the pet the night before, also no charge. And nobody is there at night, so I have no idea why he prefers to have them stay there :dk:. I always insist on taking mine home the same day.

There is no overnight staff at the clinic I use, the last staff leaves at midnight, and someone comes in at 6 a.m.. When Queen Eva was in the hospital for a week I spoke to the tech just before midnight every night, and asked that the morning staff call me after rounds with a report. It helped ease my mind. Queen Eva had to stay there, she needed daily care and blood checks that I could not have done at home, and her condition was too precarious for her to be moved for the first few days.

If an animal should require round the clock care and could be safely transported, the pet would be moved to Cornell (2 hours drive).

However, many vets will go in on their off hours to check on patients. I know my vet does. I know she went in and checked on Queen Eva a couple of times, around 5 a.m. I saw the notes in her chart.

When we adopted Mooch and Noodles we were using the vet on our military base; so I had to find an off base vet to spay them.  I don't believe he had overnight staff but I did have to drop them off the night before.  He lives next door to his practice so he may very well do rounds.  He also treats farm animals so he does some driving between patients.  When I picked them up after their spay there was a cow in a pen outside.    

I use a vet closer to home now; a girl I graduated from high school with actually.  It's a good size practice with 2 locations.  But I don't know that they have overnight staff.  There is a local emergency vet that is open after hours.  Most of the vets in the area take turns staffing it at night and on the weekends.  But it's not like any animals are transferred there for just the overnight hours.