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By Melissa Edwards-Whittington and South of Seoul
By Melissa Edwards-Whittington and South of Seoul
Need a list of 24-hour emergency Animal Hospitals? It always feels like our fur babies are sick when their veterinarian is closed. Therefore this list will come in handy if you need to find a veterinarian to see your pet in an emergency.
During an emergency with your fur baby, it can be critical to locate the closest 24-hour animal hospital quickly. We have compiled a list of locations for you to find the help you need. Additionally, we provide critical information you need in these times to get you the best care possible for your pet.
Types of ’24-Hour’ Animal Hospitals
Types of ’24-Hour’ Animal Hospitals
In South Korea, the term ’24-hour’ as it relates to an animal hospital may have a few possible meanings:
The hospital remains fully open until 24:00 and then closes until the morning. (In other words, closes at midnight)
The hospital remains open through the night with doctors on call.
The hospital is staffed 24 hours with doctors (very rare and usually only in large cities)
Since 24-hour may mean different things in different locations, we recommend visiting your local 24-hour emergency animal hospital to fully understand how they operate. Don’t wait until there is an emergency. Let’s talk about emergency preparedness.
What To Do Before An Emergency Happens
What To Do Before An Emergency Happens
Since it is crucial to be able to provide information to the doctor for your pet, planning is important. Once the emergency hits you may feel overwhelmed by 1) finding a hospital, 2) finding transportation, 3) navigating to a new place, 4) managing the language barrier, and 5) making decisions for your pet. Therefore, we recommend:
A Typed Medical History and Medication List
Have a list of medications and dosages saved to your phone. Hence, we asked our regular veterinarian to write down the names of our fur babies’ medications in Korean (or what they are used to treat). This can be very helpful as some of the drug names are different.
Communication Plan
Have a Communication Plan and practice your plan for asking for help. Use 1330 or BBB Korea regularly so that you feel comfortable using these services to ask for help. You can’t rely on friends to wake up to help at 3 am.
Practice the Drive
Visit the 24-hour emergency vet nearest your home before an emergency happens. You need to learn the roads and parking situation in advance. Consider visiting the 24-emergency vet for a regular checkup just so that your information is already in their system.
Information Available to Copy and Paste on Your Phone
Have the 24-hour emergency hospital Korean address saved on your phone. It’s very hard to search any app or the internet in a crisis. Have the closest pet hospital to your house saved on your phone or in your phone contacts.
What To Do In An Emergency
What To Do In An Emergency
Getting the right help for your pet as quickly as possible is essential in an emergency situation. This means that you need to prepare yourself before you experience an emergency.
Call Ahead
Call Ahead to let the 24-hour vet clinic know you are coming. This is an absolutely critical step. You need to contact the 24-hour animal hospital prior to arrival to let them know about the medical issue so they can prepare ahead. Leo Mendoza of Shindogs Air says this phone call can mean life or death for your pet:
“All 24-hour emergency animal hospitals usually only have ONE general attending vet on duty, and that vet may not be the specialist your pet requires. If the hospital gets advance notice, they will ensure the specialist comes in for your pet!”
Grab Medications
Take any medications with you to the hospital. Knowing crucial information about your pet’s medical conditions and history can help when making pet care decisions. So, keep a list of any medications and dosages your pet takes regularly on hand.
Remember the Translated Medical History on Your Phone
Since you prepared ahead of time, make sure you remember your pet’s medical history, which you have saved to the files on your phone.
Assistance Calling the Emergency Vet
Assistance Calling the Emergency Vet
In this stressful situation, you may also want to have assistance calling ahead. Having a language barrier will make this situation more hectic and frustrating. Therefore, if you need assistance calling the 24-hour emergency veterinarian, you can contact:
Call 1330
Simply enter 1330 into your smartphone and call them. They can help you contact the emergency vet and relay information. You can also download their app which will allow you to message them. This can be very helpful when communicating with the vet.
Call BBB Korea 1588-5644
BBB Korea is a phone number (1588-5644) and app where you can get volunteer interpreters to help you with communication. You need to download this now. When an emergency happens it will be too stressful. If you are currently having an emergency you can call BBB for translation help at 1588-5644
24-Hour Emergency Animal Hospitals
24-Hour Emergency Animal Hospitals
This list has not been vetted nor are they supported officially by United on the RoK, nor is it an all-exclusive list. However, our goal is to provide you with locations that can assist you to get the help you need as quickly as possible when your pet is unwell. Many of the locations listed below have English-speaking staff, but we cannot guarantee that they will have them available 24 hours a day. This list includes locations in the following areas: Pyeongtaek, Dongtan/Hwaseong, Suwon, Seoul, and Daegu.
Pyeongtaek
Pyeongtaek
Bliss Animal Medical Center
A 3-story animal hospital for both cats and dogs. It also has cat and dog hotel services. This is a 24-hour veterinary clinic.
[NAVER Map]
Bliss Animal Medical Center
617-5 Segyo-dong Pyeongtaek-si Gyeonggi-do
Raum Animal Medical Center
24-hour vet with surgical, dental, and ophthalmology services.
Check their NAVER account for scheduling information.
[NAVER Map]
Raum Animal Medical Center
1103-1 Bijeon-dong Pyeongtaek-si Gyeonggi-do
Godeok Animal Medical Center
24-hour vet with in-hospital blood tests, x-rays, ultrasounds, and medicine onsite.
If thinking of establishing routine care, consider looking at their NAVER account for special event pricing and other specials.
[NAVER Map]
24H Godeok Animal Medical Center
1975-1 Godeok-dong Pyeongtaek-si Gyeonggi-do
Dongtan/Hwaseong
Dongtan/Hwaseong
Dongtan Ieum Animal Hospital
24-hour vet. Check their NAVER account to read about the ground-breaking care in hip treatments for dogs.
[NAVER Map]
24H Dongtan Ieum Animal Medical Center
727-4 Sancheok-dong Hwaseong-si Gyeonggi-do
Suwon
Suwon
Bon Animal Medical Center
24-hour Emergency and Specialty Vet clinic located in Suwon. MRI/CT available. English-speaking staff.
[NAVER Map]
Bon animal medical center
675-2 Jowon-dong Jangan-gu, Suwon-si Gyeonggi-do
Suwon Animal Medical Center
24-hour vet with a newly remodeled clinic.
[NAVER Map]
SUWON ANIMAL MEDICAL CENTER
979-4 Yeongtong-dong Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si Gyeonggi-do
Seoul
Seoul
SNU Animal Hospital
24-hour vet and University Veterinary Hospital
[NAVER Map]
Animal Hospital Attached to Seoul National University Gwanak Campus College of Veterinary
Medicine
san56-1 Sillim-dong Gwanak-gu Seoul
Songpa Smile Animal Hospital
24-hour vet serving cats and dogs.
[NAVER Map]
Songpa Smile Animal Hospital
57-3 Munjeong-dong Songpa-gu Seoul
Haemaru Animal Hospital
24-hour vet serving cats and dogs that also specialized in geriatric animals.
[NAVER Map]
Haemaru Referral Animal Hospital
272-5 Seohyeon-dong Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si Gyeonggi-do
Daegu
Daegu
Daegu Animal Medical Center
24-hour vet serving cats and dogs.
[NAVER Map]
Daegu Animal Medical Center
1051 Jisan-dong Suseong-gu Daegu
Finding Additional 24-Hour Vets
Finding Additional 24-Hour Vets
If you are traveling and need to find 24-hour emergency animal hospitals, you can enter the phrase “동물병원 24시간” or “24시간 동물병원” into Naver and it should help you find the closest location to you. However, you can also contact 1330 to assist you with finding the closest 24-hour animal hospital as well.
Useful Phrases for Pet Owners
Useful Phrases for Pet Owners
During an emergency, it is always useful to have a few useful phrases on hand. Therefore, we have compiled this list to empower pet owners to do their best for their fur babies in stressful situations. Always remember, if you don’t feel comfortable speaking, you can simply show your phone and point to the useful phrases for pet owners that you need. You can also save these images to your phone for emergencies.
Although ideally, we recommend visiting a vet with strong English skills, we also understand that this is often impossible. You also must remember that even when a vet speaks English or an expat speaks Korean, misunderstandings still occur. South of Seould has compiled this list to empower pet owners to do their best for their fur babies in a stressful situation. These are just a few of the phrases, for a more complete list, visit “Useful Phrases for Pet Owners” on the South of Seoul Blog. There are about 20 translated phrases that will benefit all pet owners.
Veterinary Services Vary Between Countries
Veterinary Services Vary Between Countries
Different cultures and countries care for animals in different ways. For example, Korean veterinarians may not prescribe medications the same way that American veterinarians do. Our family has found this to be the case as we have dogs on medications for arthritis and anxiety. At a recent emergency vet appointment, we learned that the Korean veterinarian we saw was unfamiliar with treating regularly for either of those conditions.
Join the Everything Paws Korea Facebook Group
Join the Everything Paws Korea Facebook Group
Looking for a place where pet owners living in Korea can ask questions and share ideas? Everything Paws Korea has information on training, recipes, health tips, and DIY. In addition, there are post links to articles and such relating to our pets. However, please keep in mind, information in this group should never replace the advice of a qualified veterinarian.
Resources
Resources
24 Hour Emergency Animal Hospitals
24 Hour Emergency Animal Hospitals
Useful Phrases for Pet Owners
Useful Phrases for Pet Owners
https://blog.southofseoul.net/useful-phrases-for-pet-owners/
Everything Paws Korea (Advice, Tips & Ideas for Pet Owners LIVING In RoK)
Everything Paws Korea (Advice, Tips & Ideas for Pet Owners LIVING In RoK)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingpaws/
About the Authors
About the Authors
Melissa Edwards-Whittington has been in Korea for over 7 years. She and her husband have a YouTube channel, “KimchiRednecks”, where they share about life in Korea, places to eat and visit in Korea, and cooking. They also have a YouTube channel, Shining With KimchiRednecks, dedicated to their hobby of making whiskey and brandy at home. They are also parents to three precocious senior Shih Tzu daughters, Minion, Sookie, and Mayhem who are featured often in their social media.
As Social Media Marketing Manager for United on the RoK Mag, Melissa brings her passion for the military community to life through compelling digital content. Her expertise spans content creation, social media marketing management, and community engagement through connectedness.
Melissa further extends her community impact through the South of Seoul, a local organization enhancing expatriate life in Korea. Through her online media management with South of Seoul, original content, established blog presence, and fostering multiple groups for language exchanges and content creators, she offers unique insights into life in South Korea. She has also volunteered for Pyeongtaek Insight as part of their content creation team. Her work consistently bridges cultural gaps while fostering connections within the international community.
Follow Melissa and her family here:
YouTube: youtube.com/@kimchirednecks
youtube.com/@shiningwithkimchirednecks
Instagram: @kimchirednecks
Facebook: KimchiRednecks
South of Seoul Blog: www.blog.southofseoul.net
About the Authors
About the Authors
Founded in 2015, the South of Seoul team consists of volunteers on three continents working together to support English-speaking people traveling or living in South Korea. South of Seoul volunteers work with organizations and individuals across South Korea to improve equitable access to information across South Korea. Much of South of Seoul's information focuses on Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. Blogs published under the authorship of "South of Seoul" include blogs compiled by multiple volunteers to improve access to standardized information unrelated to individualized personal experiences.
Website: https://blog.southofseoul.net/
Facebook: South of Seoul
Instagram: south_of_seoul
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