6 Phone Numbers Every Pet Owner Should Have On Hand
Life as a pet owner is unbelievably rewarding, but it can also be stressful! Your pet relies on you not only to provide food and shelter but also to keep him/her safe in whatever comes your way. Make sure you’re prepared for anything with this list of phone numbers every pet owner should have on hand!
If you’re new to the world of pet ownership, Congratulations!
Welcome to one of the most exciting, hilarious, heartwarming and frightening journeys of your life. Experienced pet owners reading this know exactly what I mean.
Unfortunately, our pets don’t come with an owner’s manual. Wouldn’t that be convenient? Instead, we have to do our best to learn on the go while discovering any resources that we can along the way. It can be a lot!
I have an accident-prone dog; I know firsthand that you can’t always prevent a situation from happening… Even if you pet-proof your whole home to the best of your abilities, they will somehow find that one small detail that you overlooked!
Don’t worry, today I’m coming to you with my list of important phone numbers every pet owner should have readily available.
With these numbers, you will have qualified professionals just a phone call away regardless of what antics your pet may get up to.
Print out these numbers and stick them up on your fridge so that every family member can access them if needed. If you are travelling and hire a pet sitter, print this list and provide it to them along with your pet care instructions.
It’s always better to be prepared!
Here Are 6 Phone Numbers Every Pet Owners Should Have Close At Hand!
#1 – Your Veterinarian
The relationship between a pet owner and their veterinarian is SO important.
Whether you’re stressing about a potential injury or simply reaching out to make an appointment for your pet’s next rabies vaccine, this is a phone number that you’re going to use often. Why waste time having to look it up every time?
#2 – Nearest 24/7 Emergency Clinic
If your veterinarian is also a 24/7 emergency clinic, you can skip this. Otherwise, you’ll need to do your research and find which clinic is nearest to you.
If your pet has an accident outside of your vet’s normal hours and requires care, you’re likely already stressed and worried. Why add to that stress by leaving yourself frantically searching to find somewhere that you can go?
Not only should you post the phone number, include the clinic’s name and address to make it easier to find in a hurry.
Related: ‘Be Prepared With This DIY Dog First Aid Kit’
#3 – Pet Poison Helpline (1-855-764-7661)
If your pet has ingested something that they shouldn’t or come in contact with a toxic or dangerous substance, you want answers as quickly as possible. Precious moments can make a difference…
The Pet Poison Helpline is a service available to residents of Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean.
This number will put you in touch with an expert quickly if you are dealing with a poisoning situation and is open to pets of ALL species.
There is an ‘incident fee’ applied ($59 USD), however, that price is small compared to what you may be facing if poisoning or toxic exposure isn’t addressed as quickly as possible! This service is available 24/7.
#4 – Local Animal Control
No one wants to think about what happens if your pet were to go missing, but it’s a scary reality that man pet owners have faced. You may go into panic mode, leaving you wondering what to do next – so here’s a way that you can make it a little easier.
Having your local animal control number on hand will allow you to connect with them quickly and easily to check if they have picked up your pet already.
In addition to an incident involving your own pet, you will want to contact your local Animal Control if you notice another animal loose in your neighbourhood. They may even be attracted to your yard due to your pets.
#5 – CANADACHIP Recovery Database (1-800-396-1896)
Another important tool in the event that your pet goes missing, the CANADACHIP Recovery Database is a hotline and national database of microchip information.
Offered by the Canadian Kennel Club, the CANADACHIP program offers microchips for companion animals through veterinarians and breeders.
While it is not the only recovery service, the various databases work carefully together in order to help get your pet home quickly and safely. In the event that you do need to speak with a different database, they are happy to connect you.
Related: ‘Looking For A Pet Sitter? 9 Tips You Should Consider!’
#6 – Pet Travel Information (1-877-241-0184)
If you are considering taking your pet along on your next trip, this number (and the PetTravel.com website) is SO valuable!
Founded by a pet-loving travel agent (and his pup), the business has now grown to include a larger number of employees ready to answer your pet travel questions. They are referred by both the CFIA here in Canada s well as the USDA south of the border.
Whether you’re concerned about the rules of pet airline travel or searching for a pet-friendly hotel, give them a call.
What important numbers are listed on your fridge? Can you think of any additional phone numbers every pet owner should have readily available? If so, share them in the comments section!
This is great, I honestly wouldn’t have considered most of these to put in my phone. All we have is the vet and the groomer!
Unfortunately I’ve had to learn some of these from experience. Let me tell you, the search to FIND the closest 24/7 emergency vet REALLY adds to the stress when your accident prone dog hurts herself! lol I laugh now because she’s fine, but Dav has given me MANY scares over the years.
We do not have an furry pets of our own but we do have family pets, so we’ll be passing this on to our families! Thanks for sharing!
Jessica & James
Thank you!
This is so smart!! Definitely worth sharing with my friends with pets. I didn’t even know about some of these. Thank you for sharing!!
It is SO important to be ready for the unexpected!
Thanks for sharing this great resource. When an emergency happens, time is of the essence and it is important to have these numbers handy.
Exactly! When seconds counting, having those numbers readily available is HUGE!
Great britt, as usual wonderful and useful article, very much informative suggestion for pet owners for saving these six phone numbers…
Thank you!
Wow! Pets have their own emergency agencies! Pets are so well taken-care of these days.
There are some GREAT resources out there!
I must admit, apart from the vet and the cattery, I don’t have any other pet-related numbers on hand – apart from our neighbour who looks after our two remaining cats when we go away. I guess as a dog owner, especially if your dogs travel with you, then details for a national emergency centre near you are much more important. Great suggestions, Britt, really useful, thank you! Lisa x
Some of these, like the pet poison helpline, are numbers you often don’t think about until you need them and then it’s FAR more stressful looking for them! I will never forget the weekend Dav hurt herself outside of our normal vet hours and the search to find the nearest emergency clinic open 24/7. It doesn’t take away the stress entirely, but it would have been FAR less stressful if I didn’t have to look that up at the time lol
Looks like a very useful list of numbers to have if you have more common pets, but I wonder if you have more unusual pets, like snakes, if you’d need a slightly different set of numbers to make sure your pets are equally safeguarded. I wonder if my country even has a pet poisoning helpline
I believe that most of them would apply regardless of the pet – however you may have to be more specific. For example, if you’re getting the number for your closest emergency vet clinic, you’d have to make sure that it’s the closest that accommodates that kind of pet.
I am happy that I have all these numbers saved on my phone. <3 very helpful especially for emergency cases…
You can never be too prepared!
You can never be too prepared when you have a pet. We have two dogs and the unexpected happens always at the least convenient times. Thank you for the insightful advice.
Yes! My Dav girl actually ran face first into the side of a futon the first year I had her… she sliced her muzzle on a screw or something from the futon and it took 3 stitches!!! You just never know…
This is such a good list! As a pet owner myself, I fully agree with all of these. Although I’m unsure if we have a pet poison phone number here in England!
I would hope that there’s something! You never know when a pet might get into something they shouldn’t – after all, they are like toddlers, they put everything in their mouths lol
I will add these to my phone for sure! We have two cats and two guinea pigs and I want to be sure they stay safe and healthy.
You never know when you’re going to need a number – and seconds can count in an emergency!
Thank you for reminding me to save all of these numbers! Last thing I would want to do in an emergency is tear the house apart looking for them.
That’s just it – You may never need them, but do you want to be scrambling to find them if something DOES happen?
Just like humans, pets need an emergency plan. This is good info to know.
Exactly!
This is a very good list of numbers. I do have a very clumsy cat, but so far I haven’t had to act on any of his mishaps.
I have a clumsy dog, so I’ve definitely made use of the after hours emergency clinic lol
These are definitely numbers that I have on my list and ones that any pet owner should have. Thank you for sharing.
You just never know when you might need them…
Oh this is such a nice idea, we usually save phone numbers of our emergency contacts for personal use, thanks for reminding that we should too for our loving pets.
Thank you!
As a new pet owner, this is a really useful post. I would feel terrible if something happened to my pet and I didn’t have the resources to deal with it.
In some cases, having the numbers readily available really could make all the difference!
We have the vet but that’s it! I never thought about poison control or the nearest emergency vet! Thank you so much for this reminder.
In most cases, I think we overlook it until the time comes that we need it. I know that I never thought of the emergency vet until my accident prone Dav decided to slice her muzzle open while playing one day lol
In case of emergency these numbers are so useful.
They really can help take some of the stress out of an otherwise rough situation.
I always leave a LONG list of numbers for my dog sitter when we’re gone. Thankfully I work at the clinic that my furkids go to so basically I tell them to call one of my coworkers for help. Thanks so much for sharing this with all of us!
I am that person too, I have a full page of different numbers on the fridge just in case!
This is a great resource! I’ll be putting these numbers up on our refrigerator today. Thanks!
Thank you! Can’t be too careful!
What a great idea to gather this information together and have it displayed and available on the fridge. Often we all have these types of contacts there for us (human members of the family) so why not our pets? Such a good thing to do so that we don’t waste time looking for this when we need it the most. Before reading this post, I didn’t even know there was a pet poison helpline, so that’s also good to know.
Exactly – We can’t prevent all accidents from happening, that’s why they are called accidents, but we can be prepared to deal with them!
I didn’t realize they had a pet poison hotline. I would have loved to have this earlier when my dog downed a lot of chocolate a long time ago. Would have been so useful.
It’s a great way to lower the stress level a bit – sure, it’s not going to alleviate the worry entirely in that situation, but getting that professional advice quickly and easily will definitely help!
We don’t have any pets but this is really thoughtful and will definitely keep in mind if we do.
Definitely the kind of information that it’s good to have right from square one.