Critical Care

Critical Care Department at Lakeshore Animal Health Partners in Mississauga

The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Lakeshore Animal Health Partners provides specialty, life-sustaining care to pets suffering major life-threatening illnesses or recovering from operations where high-level support is required. Critical Care specialists are doctors who have undergone several additional years of training in the field of critical care medicine. ICU patients often cross the boundaries of many medical specialties, and therefore critical care doctors take a comprehensive approach to patient care and will often collaborate with other members of the health care team.

The ICU at Lakeshore Animal Health Partners was intentionally designed as the central hub of our hospital. This allows 360-degree access to the ICU and critical care doctors, allowing easy access to meet the needs of any cat or dog patient that enters the hospital. This state-of-the-art ICU closely mimics what is seen in human critical care and will soon offer services that are not found at any other private clinical practice in the Greater Toronto Area.

Services Offered

• Comprehensive, detail-oriented care for critically ill patients
• High-flow nasal oxygen therapy
• Mechanical ventilation
• Telemetry (remote cage-side ECG monitoring) for critical patients in our ICU
• Resuscitation and emergency stabilization
• Transfusion medicine (blood products, platelet products, protein products)
• Direct, continuous arterial blood pressure monitoring
• Administration of high-risk medications (vasopressors, anti-arrhythmics)
• Electrolyte and IV fluid management
• Nutritional support through various feeding tubes
• Therapeutic plasma exchange and dialysis is planned as a future offering from our team

Common Reasons for Consultation

• Hypovolemic, cardiogenic, septic and anaphylactic shock
• Environmental emergencies (heatstroke, hypothermia, drowning, burns, smoke inhalation)
• Acute kidney injury
• Traumatic events
• Severe hemorrhage associated with trauma or bleeding disorders
• Electrolyte disturbances
• Post-operative care and pain control
• Emergent changes associated with endocrine disorders (such as diabetic ketoacidosis)
• Respiratory emergencies requiring oxygen support or intubation
• Congestive heart failure or severe cardiac arrhythmias
• Toxicities