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There is as much a need for an animal ambulance service as there is for a human service. Ready Vet Go is here to help. By Frank Leggett
When veterinarian Dr Paul Cunningham and human nurse Nic Saunders started Ready Vet Go—their Melbourne-based mobile emergency vet ambulance—they wanted to bridge the gap between at-home and hospital care. Essentially, Ready Vet Go brings human-style pre-hospital and inter-hospital medicine to the veterinary world. Their ambulance is fully equipped and staffed by an emergency vet and nurse. They provide at-home care, stabilisation, and critical care transport from home or vet clinic to hospital.
“There are three arms to the service,” says Dr Cunningham. “Firstly, we provide care for animals at home when it’s safe, or transport them to hospital via the ambulance when it’s life-threatening. Secondly, we provide ambulance transport when a pet is already in care. This is typically a pet who’s at a general practice that needs overnight hospitalisation at a different location. Thirdly, we assist with end of-life care and palliative care for pets. They may need to be transported from a clinic to home or are at home and need euthanasia.”
The clients of Ready Vet Go call the service for the same reasons anyone calls an ambulance for a human.
“If a cat is experiencing a respiratory or cardiac presentation, it will only become more stressed if placed in a carrier and then into a car,” says Saunders. “That then exacerbates the condition and can result in cardiac arrest. If we are called, we can give the patient oxygen, administer the appropriate medication, keep the animal calm, and place an IV. We can then successfully transfer them to a hospital.”
Creating the concept
Born in the USA, Dr Cunningham graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2016. He worked in emergency veterinary care until moving to Melbourne in 2021, where he joined the staff of an emergency vet hospital. Nic Saunders is an Australian who undertook a double bachelor degree in paramedicine and human nursing at Australian Catholic University and has spent his nursing career at Alfred Health in Victoria. Though he never worked in paramedics, his time as a human nurse was instrumental in setting up Ready Vet Go.
Our biggest challenge is to expand while efficiently dividing our time and resources. Even though we zigzag all over the city and outer suburbs, we’re constantly searching for more efficient ways to help more pets.
Dr Paul Cunningham, co-founder, Ready Vet Go
“Paul was telling me about a French bulldog that needed airway surgery,” recalls Saunders. “When the owner brought it in, the dog was cyanotic and basically lifeless. It needed a tracheostomy. In the human world, a patient like this would be on oxygen and transferred in an ambulance.”
It took a little time to convince Dr Cunningham about the Ready Vet Go concept but then he was enthusiastically on board. “Within a couple of months, we were up and running,” he says. “Now, two and a half years later, not only do we have a growing business but we’re engaged to be married.”
Screen time
In 2023, not long after starting the service, Dr Cunningham and Saunders visited the Victorian Ambulance Union to meet their human counterparts, introduce themselves and gain some knowledge from their experience. A media representative from the Nine Network, who had spotted the originality of Ready Vet Go, organised a TV news story about it.
“Due to that news story, a television production company approached us and pitched a TV series,” says Dr Cunningham.
“Ready Vet Go season one went to air on 9NOW and showed exactly what we do. Season two is presently screening.” The TV series has raised the profile of Ready Vet Go, but there are other reasons they agreed to participate.
“We wanted to highlight the clinics and hospitals with which we’re associated,” says Saunders. “They work tirelessly and deserve the recognition. The series doesn’t shy away from the reality of our job and that can be educational for pet owners. Fairly regularly, we get contacted by people who say things like, ‘My dog’s bleeding when they pooh; is that a problem? Do I need to see a vet?’”
The TV series is sponsored and financed by companies such as Open Paddock dog food. For the second season, the budget was increased so the clients who appear received more than $30,000 of free vet care.
Unique position
While there are other mobile vets, Ready Vet Go holds a unique position in the animal health space. The logistics of what they do and what they want to achieve are considerable.
“We are just one ambulance and we cover a very large city,” says Dr Cunningham. “Our biggest challenge is to expand while efficiently dividing our time and resources. Even though we zigzag all over the city and outer suburbs, we’re constantly searching for more efficient ways to help more pets.”
Paul was telling me about a French bulldog that needed airway surgery. When the owner brought it in, the dog was cyanotic and basically lifeless. It needed a tracheostomy. In the human world, a patient like this would have been transferred in an ambulance and been on oxygen.
Nic Saunders, co-founder, Ready Vet Go
A major issue is that the animal ambulance is not covered by the same rules as a human ambulance. Sirens and speeding are definitely not allowed.
“An emotionally challenging component of our job is when you know there’s no other help for a pet and we’re sitting in a traffic jam,” says Saunders. “That’s countered by the fact that we’re responsible for successful outcomes that wouldn’t happen without our service. We’ve had clients call us because their 55-kilo dog is seizing, they can’t move it and they don’t own a car. We intervene, get the dog to hospital safely and someone’s beloved pet is saved. It’s very gratifying.”
Needed service
Ready Vet Go has been expanding their staff beyond the two founders by including Cert 4 nurses and a veterinary technician specialist in emergency critical care. They remain committed to being an independent animal ambulance service that provides the highest quality of care.
“The service we offer is convenient for clients, low stress for animals and a more efficient way of doing things,” says Dr Cunningham. “Early intervention and consistent stabilisation lead to better outcomes. That’s why ambulances exist for humans—and why they’re needed in the veterinary world.”
