Carolina Veterinary Critical Care

04/20/2025

🐰💐Happy Easter Lowcountry! We are opened and staffed today in case of any vet emergencies that should impede on your family plans. Give us a call at 843-706-9200 If you need us!

➡️ Remember to avoid having your pets around chocolate.
➡️ Watch those Easter baskets with the “grass” as they can easily become an obstruction if your feline family member gets a hold of it.
➡️ Stay away from feeding any high fat foods including pork, ham or bacon to your canines.
➡️ Check Ingredients for certain candies for xylitol and caffeine.
➡️ Company bring you a lilly? Place It outside and away from where your cats can reach It.

04/17/2025

Easter Lillies! Not only do we worry about chocolate ingestion and xylitol toxicity around Easter but one of the most dangerous and critical situations you and your cat could be in is Lily ingestion.

According to PetPoison and all toxicologists, Lilies are beautiful flowers and smell wonderful but are highly toxic to cats. Ingestion of even miniscule amounts of “true” lilies (Lilium or Hemerocallis species) may cause drooling, vomiting, anorexia, lethargy, and potentially fatal kidney failure in cats.

But what if my cat only chewed on the trimmings before the flowers were put in the vase? Or the pollen got on the cats fur and then they groomed themsleves? ALL PARTS of the plant are considered toxic; the stem, leaves, flowers, pollen, and even the water if they are in a vase.

Just remember… “No Lillies For Kitties”

For more information on “true” Lillies and flower alternatives, visit https://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/uncategorized/no-lilies-for-kitties/

🐾 🐶🐱Save our number in your phone for easy access to 24 hour emergency vet care 843-706-9200

04/15/2025

🐰🍫With Easter preparations happening for the next few days, it is important to remember, YES chocolate ingestion is a serious thing and does need medical intervention. And YES the type of chocolate really does matter. And YES, our staff would enjoy any untouched chocolate to lift their spirits!

🤔Why so serious? The long and short of it is, chocolate contains an ingredient known as theobromine which has the potential to cause hyperactivity or agitation, an increase in heart rate, muscle tremors and seizures. Additionally, some sugar free/low sugar candies do contain xylitol which can become a critical situation for your pet very quickly as it causes a rapid release of insulin which then leads to low blood sugar. If an animals blood sugar is too low to be regulated, it can cause extreme lethargy and seizures as well as acute liver failure.

If you suspect or saw your pet get into the Easter candy, it is important to note the type of candy and give us a call and head our way. By calling ASPCA and our clinic, our veterinarians will team up with board certified toxicologists to determine the best method of treatment for your dog or cat.

🐾🐱🐶Save our number in your phone for easy access to 24 hour emergency vet care 843-706-9200

January 10 if National Bittersweet Chocolate Day and we’re taking it as an open invitation to eat some delicious chocolates! Unfortunately, our furry friends cannot take part in the fun, and if they do, it can be life-threatening. Here’s what to do if your pet gets into chocolate.

04/12/2025

Spring has sprung and with that comes a warning about Leptospirosis, a disease caused by infection with Leptospira bacteria.

All dogs are at risk of leptospirosis, regardless of age, breed, lifestyle, geographic location, time of year, and other factors. The following situations can increase that risk:

➡Exposure to or drinking from slow-moving or stagnant water sources, like ponds, rivers, lakes, or streams
➡ Roaming on rural properties (because of exposure to potentially infected wildlife or farm animals or urine-contaminated water sources)
➡ Exposure to wild animals (especially rodents) or farm animals, even if in the backyard
➡ Contact with other dogs (such as in urban areas, dog parks, or boarding or training facilities)

For more information on the signs of leptospirosis, how to prevent it, and more visit: https://bit.ly/4l4VuOn

04/11/2025

Caught in the act!! Lots of kisses, all around for this cutie during her ER visit. We are all in this field because of our love of animals and hope that photos like these help ease owners minds that their babies are in good hands with us! Our technicians are knowledgeable, skilled and full of love for their patients.

03/21/2025

While we don’t love when we see same dog come to the ER a second time, we were so happy to see this handsome man and his wonderful family, feeling much better than he was the first visit and as happy as ever!

02/11/2025

PSA 🐍: thanks to Harley and his dad, we wanted to announce snake season is upon us!

Well it happened…first snake bite of 2025 goes to Harley who was as sweet and happy as ever and had no idea half his snout was swollen. This sweet boy came in last night after his Dad noticed his nose becoming more and more swollen over the last hour prior to arrival. On exam a puncture wound was found.

🐍 avoid tall grass, leaf piles and pine straw including undee bushes and moist areas.

🐍 monitor your pet on those last potty break before bed. A lot of snake bite cases happen late at night.

If you believe your pet was bit by a snake, identifying the type of snake can be important to decipher the best course of action or treatment. Since we live in an area with multiple pit vipers do your best to see if you can spot which of those nope ropes bit your pet. The more dangerous ones ie: water moccasin and rattle snakes will need immediate medical attention as the toxin they release on their bites can be fatal.

Luckily Harley did not have any other symptoms but some minor pain and swelling which had stopped progressing by the time he arrived and he went back home to sleep it off with some pain medication to help the inflammation. ❤️

01/23/2025

We hoped to be open today but the odds are against us. With bridges still closed and driving conditions unfavorable, we will continue to remain closed until we can safely staff the practice. We extend our sincerest apologies to all this affects.
While we are closed for services please use our phone triage and emailing if you have any questions regarding your pets condition.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s update. We remain positive in that we will be back open within the coming day(s).

01/22/2025

📣❄️Due to road conditions and concern for the safety of our team, we are unable to staff appropriately to open this evening. If you have a veterinary emergency please reach out to New River Veterinary Specialists.

We should be open tomorrow business as usual, ready to see patients at 6pm.

We hope everyone is staying safe and enjoying their snow day!

01/21/2025

Excited for your dog to play in the snow?! So are we! But beware of salt!
❄️❄️❄️❄️
Not many people have it but the surrounding area is trying their best to prepare by spreading salt to keep ice from forming on surfaces. An important thing to note: if you take your dog outside to play/walk and come across salt, do not allow them to lick the salt off their paws! Grab a dry towel, your sleeve, anything and brush the salt off their feet. Do not introduce water. By introducing water to the ice melt salt a chemical reaction will occur resulting in burns. If you notice your dog high stepping or “hopping” while outside, acting like they stepped on a hot surface, they’ve more than likely come into contact with ice melt.

Stay safe Lowcountry! ☃️

01/21/2025

📣❄️🌨️Due to the impending storm, we are sorry to report that we will not be open for walk ins tonight. If you think you pet needs immediate care we encourage you to call first prior to driving through whatever weather may come our way. We will have a doctor on call and a technician to phone triage.

The safety of our staff and doctors are important to us. We thank you for your understanding. We will open business as usual Wednesday 1/22/25 at 6pm.

12/30/2024

Ready for another feel good story? Charley came in to us after being sick for several days. His mom and dad didn’t understand what was wrong as he suddenly became ill and they couldn’t find answers. When he came in to see us, it was apparent on diagnostics just how sick he was and if we didn’t move quickly, he would begin to develop secondary life threatening complications. You see, he had too much fun with a toy one day and decided he wanted to hold onto it, forever. Sorry Charley! Within 24 hours after surgery he was reunited with mom and dad and completing his recovery at home, just in time for Christmas. Hopefully Santa heard toys and Charley aren’t a good mix!
Shout out, again, to our AMAZING and INCREDIBLE Angels at May River Group - E&V. You all really pulled through to help us save several lives this holiday season through our Angel Fund. Because of their continued contributions, we are able to help cover half the cost of procedures when financial options are limited for sick pets.
If you too would like to be a part of our Angel Fund, please consider donating via Venmo () or give us a call at the clinic 843-706-9200.

12/27/2024

To say we are grateful for our Angels at May River Group - E&V doesn’t seem like enough. Time and time again, they have helped us to help the community and its pets when there are limited options for funds, resources, or no available financial support from friends or family.

Last night, they helped us save not just one life, but two. A Mama dog who became impregnated by no fault of her own went into labor at 4 am and gave birth to two stillborns before failing to produce any other babies. We knew there were more but because of a shoulder breach found on physical exam, her only option for survival was a C-Section. After checking for fetal heartbeats, there didn’t appear to be much life since she had been in labor for over 12 hours, so on we went to save mom! Now she is on her way to healing and has a solo survivor to share her days with.

Through our Doctors donating their time and the generosity of the folks at Engle & Volkner May River Group, who donate from their personal commission to put towards cases such as these, it helps what could have been a sad and unfortunate ending turn into a happy one.

Merry Christmas sweet girl!

12/25/2024

Gertrude (a staff pet/member) says Merry Christmas everyone! She wanted to remind everyone that they can rest easy and enjoy their day with family and loved ones knowing our staff are here to help with any emergencies that may arise! 🎄❤️🐶🐾🐱

12/24/2024

Ms. Amelia heard our staff was working hard over the holiday and decided to bring us by some goodies! We are so very grateful for you, Amelia (and your drivers, mom and dad!) Merry Christmas! 🫶🏻❤️

12/23/2024

Rest easy knowing our elves are here for you and your pets this holiday. We will be OPEN and staffed for the next 48 hours beginning tomorrow, Christmas Eve, from 8am until Thursday, 12/26 8am and will resume “normal” business hours Thursday evening.

We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday and just remember, we’re here if you need us, but we hope you won’t need us 😉

🐾 🐶🐱Save our number in your phone for easy access to 24 hour emergency vet care 843-706-9200

11/28/2024

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are open and staffed with a doctor on site today until 8am tomorrow morning.