When it comes to pets, accidents happen.

Dogs swallow things they shouldn’t — golf balls, stuffed toys and hair scrunchies. Cats and the occasional hedgehog get bladder infections that require attention after daytime office hours.

Pets can get hit by cars at any hour of the day. And they get sick at inopportune times.

When pets need urgent care, their owners head to Flathead Pet Emergency near Kalispell. As part of the Flathead Valley’s only after-hours emergency care center for pets, the staff has seen it all.

“Part of what I like is you don’t know what is coming through the door,” said Dr. Dean Aldrich, the owner of Flathead Pet Emergency. “I’m kind of a night person, and one of the things I like is the variety.”

Aldrich also has the demeanor and ability to assure frantic and worried clients that he and his staff will go the distance to stabilize pain and do whatever they can to save a pet’s life. He has owned and operated the urgent-care business since 2008 and has 20 years of experience in emergency pet care.

Aldrich has worked as an emergency-care veterinarian all over the country, from San Antonio, Texas, to Post Falls, Idaho. It’s not a stretch to say he’s seen it all when it comes to pets.

“I’ve taken kitchen knives out of dogs,” he said. One dog ate 26 push pins that had to be surgically removed. Another dog swallowed a sex toy, with the pet’s owner quickly offering: “That’s not mine,” Aldrich recalled.

Flathead Pet Emergency operates in the same building as Central Valley Animal Hospital at 3650 U.S. 2 E.

“Central Valley runs the day operation, and at night we lease their building,” Aldrich said.

Emergency care is offered 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. Monday through Thursday and on a 24-hour basis Friday through Sunday.

“It’s a nice hospital with nice features,” Aldrich said.

The surgery room is equipped to handle a wide variety of procedures, from gall bladder removal to intestine repair. Flathead Pet Emergency doesn’t do elective surgeries, Aldrich said.

Sometimes pets are stabilized and kept at the animal hospital until they can be transferred to their usual veterinarian. Other times, animal clinics will send animals to Flathead Emergency Care for overnight monitoring.

The facility has several amenities that help Aldrich and his staff care for pets: digital X-rays, in-house blood machines that produce results in 15 minutes, an ultrasound machine and laboratory equipment that allows the staff to look at various pathologies to find the cause of an ailment.

Endoscopes are used to look down a pet’s esophagus, and can even be used to retrieve fish hooks, Aldrich said. A video otoscope is used to examine ears and noses.

One unique feature is an open examination room that gives the staff ample space for working with large dogs.

“Big dogs, some can be claustrophobic,” Aldrich said. “This is the first place I’ve ever used” an open exam room. One benefit of an open exam area is disseminating information to other clients who may be waiting, he said. Oftentimes a client will hear what’s going on and say, “Hey, my dog has that problem,” and information can be shared.

Not all pets can be saved, and when a dog or cat must be euthanized, there is a separate room where pet owners can spend quiet time with their animal before it’s put down. Flathead Pet Emergency works closely with Mountain View Pet Crematory.

Aldrich said he believes one of his strengths as an emergency-care veterinarian is being able to take a situation that is “absolutely devastating” to the pet’s owner and provide care and comfort for both the pet and its owner.

“In cases of those [pets] who aren’t going to live, we convey that you don’t want them to suffer,” he said.

Flathead Pet Emergency has a staff of eight technicians. About three to four technicians are on duty through the evening hours, with two on hand after midnight. Aldrich handles the lion’s share of the medical care, with Dr. Walter Rowntree working two nights a week.

When Aldrich began in the emergency-care business for pets two decades ago, 24-hour care was available only in large cities.

“What we’re finding is you can put clinics in smaller communities if the vets support it,” he said. “The vets here are phenomenal. They’re supportive of emergency clinics.”

Some veterinarians are willing to be after-hours resources. Dr. Dennis Dugger, Aldrich pointed out, will come in after hours to do ultrasound work.

“That’s what makes this work,” he said.

Flathead Pet Emergency doesn’t handle livestock such as cattle, sheep or goats, but does see a wide variety of animals, including snakes, bearded dragons, bobcats, lynx, macaws and even chickens.

“We just saw a hedgehog with a bladder infection,” Aldrich said. “Last night a guinea pig came in; that one was a bladder infection, too.”

The ratio of routine patients is about 75 percent dogs, 25 percent cats.

A framed plaque in the waiting room sums up Flathead Pet Emergency’s mission. It shows a photograph of Cracker, a mixed-breed dog, and also shows the actual very large stuffed fox that was extracted from Cracker’s tummy.

The display states: Toy: $6.99. Surgery: $2,000. Cracker: Priceless.

For more information about Flathead Pet Emergency call 406-257-6870, 406-257-6871 or email flatheadpetemergency@gmail.com.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.