Resources for Clients

Need somewhere to spend the night with your pet?

A list of pet-friendly hotels near our hospital is provided below. Please contact hotels directly to arrange accommodations.

• Delta Edmonton South Hotel and Conference Centre
• Best Western Cedar Park Inn
• Sawridge Inn Edmonton South
• Super 8 Hotel Edmonton South
• Argyll Plaza Hotel
• Travelodge Edmonton South

We recognize that emergency or specialty veterinary care is often an unexpected expense, and we strive to offer various options for diagnosis and treatment of your pet’s condition.

• An examination fee is charged for all emergency cases. This allows us to examine the animal and determine which treatment options or additional diagnostic tests are required.

• We will discuss and provide you with an accurate estimate of costs prior to undertaking any diagnostic tests or treatment options.

• Please note conditions may change during the course of treatment and this can affect costs. We will ensure you approve additional expenses should costs exceed the original estimate.

• Before treatment is started, you will be required to make a prepayment based on your treatment estimate.

• VCA Canada Guardian Veterinary Centre accepts cash, debit card, American Express, Visa, and Mastercard. We are unable to accept personal cheques.

• We offer financing through our financing partner. Click here to learn more. 

Many of our out-of-province clients transport their pets to Edmonton by air. We know this can be a stressful experience, but we’ve encountered no problems with our patients who have been transported by air.

We ask that travel arrangements be made directly by clients and communicated to our reception staff.

If required, VCA Canada Guardian Veterinary Centre will arrange transportation of pets between the airport and our hospital.

Visits can benefit both you and your pet, although they can be stressful under some conditions. Here are a few tips on maximizing your time during visits.

• Phone before you come so we can try to arrange your visit around your pets medical treatments.

• We discourage extra long visits as the patient needs rest and to continue monitoring and treatment by the hospital staff.

• It is best not to visit while your pet is sedated or recovering from anesthesia as this can cause your pet to become agitated

• Visitation in the main treatment area is limited to 30 minutes.

• The privacy of all our patients is very important to us. We ask that when you are visiting, please limit your questions and visit to your own pet.

Whether you are visiting us through our emergency department or seeing one of our specialists, we provide exceptional veterinary care.

Like human emergency rooms, we treat patients on a ‘triage basis’. This means:

• life-threatening or more urgent cases are treated first

• minor or non-urgent procedures may experience a longer wait time

• we cannot schedule appointments for our emergency cases

If your pet has a more complicated health issue or injury, you will be referred to our board-certified specialists through your primary-care veterinarian. To prepare for your specialist consultation, please withhold food from your pet for a minimum of 6 hours prior to your appointment. Depending on your pet’s needs, we may be able to schedule tests or treatments for the same day as your consultation, which often requires fasting. Please do not withhold water from your pet.

Procedures such as ultrasound, CT scan, chemotherapy, echocardiograms, or endoscope could require more time. Be prepared to leave your pet with us for the day if any of these procedures are recommended.