Correction: This article has been updated with the correct operating hours for the clinic.
UrgentVet, the area’s first acute pet care center, opened in Butler North at 2680 Clark Butler Blvd. on Monday to serve its first pawed patients.
The center’s aim is to fill the widening care gap that exists between traditional veterinary practices and specialized 24-hour emergency hospitals, said founder Dr. Jim Dobies, who was a general practice vet for 17 years.
“We noticed over a period of time that urgent care did not really exist for pets,” he said.
Dobies said some of the most common ailments for pets, such as vomiting and diarrhea or lameness and limping shouldn’t necessarily require that owners go to their normal vet or a specialty center after hours.