Your request is still sitting on Waiting for a Vet and nothing's happening. Don't worry — here's what's going on and what you can do about it.
Why this happens
A request stays on Waiting for a Vet until a vet picks it up. There's no "decline" — if a vet hasn't accepted yet, your request simply keeps waiting. The screen shows an estimate of ~10 minutes, and our emails say "Most vets respond within an hour", but neither is a guarantee; it depends on how busy vets are at the time.
A request that nobody accepts isn't closed on a timer — it stays on Waiting for a Vet until you cancel it. The 24-hour automatic close only applies once a vet has joined and the conversation then goes quiet.
[CONFIRM: the hours vets are available for chat — whether cover is 24/7 or limited to certain hours/days]
What to check first
- Are you online? If the waiting screen shows "You are offline. We will keep checking when you reconnect.", you're not seeing live updates. Reconnect and the screen will catch up.
- Are notifications on? You'll be emailed when your vet joins, and message notifications need notification permission for Ask A Vet on your phone.
- Is the chat still waiting? Open the Consults tab, switch to Vet Chats and check the row. A waiting chat shows your question or "Waiting for a veterinarian".
Fix 1 — leave it and get on with your day
You don't need to keep the screen open: "You can leave this screen — we'll still notify you." When a vet accepts, the chat opens automatically if you're on the waiting screen, and you get an email titled "\<Dr. Vet> is ready to chat about \<your pet's name>".
Fix 2 — cancel and send it again
If it's been a long time, cancel and start over:
- On Waiting for a Vet, tap Cancel Request.
- Confirm on the Cancel this request? card.
- Start a new chat for that pet.
When you re-send, it helps to pick the topic that best matches your concern — Emergency is one of the 14 topics — and to describe the symptoms, how long they've been going on and anything you've already tried. Photos help too.
Please note: cancelling does not put the included vet chat back on your count, so re-sending will use another one. [CONFIRM: whether the support team can restore an included chat manually as a goodwill gesture]
If a request is closed without ever being answered
In the rare cases where this happens, you'll see the Chat summary screen headed Request expired — "No vet picked up your request in time" — with the banner "Your question wasn't answered. No charge was applied." The chat is read-only from then on, and you can start a new one for that pet.
If it's urgent, don't wait
Important: vet chats are not emergency services. As our own email puts it: if your pet's situation has become urgent, please contact your local vet or animal emergency line directly.
If it still doesn't work
If requests for your pet are never picked up, contact the Ask A Vet support team [CONFIRM: support contact channel — email address and/or in-app support route].
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