At Sacramento area’s new pet hospital, owners can stay with their furry friends overnight

Veterinary Emergency Group received a warm welcome from Elk Grove residents Wednesday morning as the pet hospital officially opened for business.

VEG Elk Grove is a 24-hour pet emergency center that provides families in the city and neighboring regions with high level emergency care that can include surgeries, ultrasounds and X-rays.

The new facility is made up of four exam rooms, multiple cage banks in different places to hospitalize pets and oxygen ports hanging from the ceiling in case of a respiratory emergency.

There are multiple couches, chairs and pillows in case pet owners want to stay with their furry family member in the event that overnight stay is needed.

All of the VEG staff are pet CPR certified and are available to take phone calls answering questions or providing advice for pet parents.

“We have a fancy scope where if, let’s say your dog ate a sock and we try not to do surgery to get it out, we can put the scope down and actually pull it out, and that’s actually a service that is very hard to find,” VEG Elk Grove medical director Katey Wahlen said. “My starting team is six doctors, not including myself. Four of those doctors know and have specialized training for that equipment.”

Wahlen understands that for most people, their pets are a part of their families. She said at VEG, they respect that relationship and treat pets as such.

“It’s not just a dog,” Wahlen said. “It is the dog that helped that person through rough times, who sleeps in their bed, and we need to make sure that they’re cared for. One of the ways you can kind of think about our hospital is like a human pediatric ER. I’m a mother, I have a toddler, if I took my toddler to the hospital, I am, as her parent, involved in that process the entire time.

“So in a world where you have dog moms and cat dads, you should have that same consideration because they matter to them. It matters.”

Wahlen said it took nearly four months to prepare for the hospital’s opening. She describes success as her staff still being happy in their careers, excited to come to work every day, ready to help people and their pets when they need it most without being burnt out. She hopes that they can all one day retire from VEG.

“We had to cherry pick the very best. Not just the best medical talent in the community, but the best communicators,” Wahlen told The Sacramento Bee following a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday. “We need people that can adequately (communicate). (They’re) good at talking to people so they can explain what’s going on in a language that people can understand.”

Founder and CEO David Bessler believes families who experience VEG receive the best level of care and support. In a news release, Bessler said pet parents will immediately feel they have finally found a place that will provide their family and pet the best emergency veterinary experience.

“Upon entering VEG Elk Grove, pet parents will feel a sigh of relief and comfort, as they are greeted with a friendly smile, empathetic attitude, and luxury comforts for them, and their pet,” Bessler said.

VEG is at 9141 West Stockton Blvd., formerly an Ulta location. The new VEG Elk Grove location is the eighth hospital in California, joining locations in San Ramon, San Jose, Pleasant Hill, Santa Monica, Anaheim Hills, Oceanside and Encinitas.

Will they see my pet?

The pet hospital accepts almost any animal that will fit through its doors, Wahlen said.

“We will see rabbits and guinea pigs, birds, reptiles,” Wahlen said. “The way veterinary medicine is is you actually have to pursue additional education to really learn about those animals, especially things like reptiles and birds. We are not exotic animal specialists, but we do have advanced training for emergency stabilization of those animals.

“So our goal, if you brought us a goat or a python or what have you, is we’re never going to turn you away, but we’re going to stabilize that animal, help keep them alive.”

The only animals that they don’t accept are monkeys, venom snakes, beaded lizards or beehives, Wahlen said, for safety reasons.

What makes VEG unique, Wahlen said, is that they never close their doors, no matter how busy they are. She said they’ll find a way to say “yes” to any pet parent.

“We really want to be accessible for not only Elk Grove but greater Sacramento and then some of the southern areas as well — Stockton, Lodi and Galt — all of those areas,” Wahlen said.

Elk Grove resident Bret Bartholomew is happy that there’s is new pet hospital is in his city. He has two dogs: a chihuahua rat terrier and a pit bull mix.

Bartholomew knows how utilized the new veterinary center will be in Elk Grove, a growing city of nearly 180,000 people. Bartholomew believes “at least half” of residents in the suburban city have a pet and can benefit. (Nationwide, about 62% of Americans own pets, Pew Research reported in 2023.)

“Residents in Elk Grove definitely love their pets and the (director) here made a clear statement when you know, the pandemic happened over a million animals were adopted,” Bartholomew said. “People wanted to have that attachment, not being able to go out to work.”

Bartholomew was moved to hear that pets and their families are able to stay overnight, if necessary.

“What an amazing opportunity,” he said. “You can’t do that in any other location I’m aware of.”