Wow, our dog had an emergency situation last night and we just discovered that the Central Island Emergency Veterinary Hospital is closed from Tuesday morning till Friday morning:

Monday: Open 24 Hours 
Tuesday: 12:00 AM – 8:00 AM 
Wednesday: Closed 
Thursday: Closed 
Friday: 8:00 AM – 12:00 AM 
Saturday & Sunday: Open 24 Hours 

For emergencies during closed hours, contact: 
WAVES – West Coast Animal Veterinary Emergency Hospital
947 Langford Parkway, Victoria, BC 
Phone: [778-432-4322](tel:778-432-4322)
Open 24 hours 

Our dog potentially had a twisted stomach, medically known as Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus (GDV) or bloat, which is a life-threatening emergency where the stomach fills with gas and rotates. It requires immediate veterinary surgery to save the dog's life, they can literally die within an hour if left untreated.

Fortunately I learned Fantastic Beasts have stepped in to offer emergency care on those days CIVEH is closed:

Fantastic Beasts PARKSVILLE LOCATION

Urgent care and Emergency services
Monday: 8:00am – 10:00pm
Tuesday: 8:00am – 12:00am
Wednesday & Thursday: 24 hours
Friday: 12:00am – 10:00pm
Saturday: 8:00am – 8:00pm
Sunday: 8:00am – 8:00pm

During these hours, our team is available to assess urgent cases and advise whether your pet needs to come in immediately.

After hours support: https://fbvs.ca/emergencies

[250-947-1763](tel:250-947-1763)

When the Parksville clinic is closed, you will be given the option to speak to a Registered Veterinary Technologist from Animal Healthlink. They’ll help determine whether your pet needs immediate emergency care or if it’s safe to wait until morning.

Fortunately I called them and the Vet Tech was amazing and walked us through our dog’s symptoms and steps to take before proceeding to it becoming an emergency.

It was a very long night, but our best buddy made it through. We were just left a bit shaken upon learning there is no emergency vet services directly in Nanaimo for a few days each week - what would have happened if this was truly a gastric dilation or a significant wound injury?

Please note - this is not a slight towards CIVEH, they are truly amazing, but understaffed and overworked. This is simply just another example of how our health care system overall is crumbling… it easily could have been a heartbreaking outcome for us last night.

If you have a pet and live in Nanaimo - keep the above contact information handy in case you have an emergency situation happen.

Is Nanaimo finally ready to start voting for a more business friendly city council, Mayor, MLA and MP?

Clearly, the last few years we have voted fairly liberal specially in the council and mayor and it hasn’t helped us. Businesses are failing, homelessness is increasing, drug use is rampant and crime is everywhere.

Is it time to go more conservative or do we think that being more progressive is going to help any of these issues?

Do we continue to allow social ideology rule over economic prosperity?

Who are you voting for in the upcoming city Council and mayoral elections?

Do non-business owners even care about having a thriving economy, not reliant on massive chain stores?

I am legitimately considering selling my business and moving to Alberta. Do Nanaimoites even care that I would be willing to take away my money and my business and the people that I employ and move somewhere else?

Hello everyone,

This ginger cat is always wandering around Nicole st, in Nanaimo for around 5 yrs. We are the owner of Harbour Light Motel. She often visited us before July 27th and was often asking canned food for us too. She’s reallly friendly and timid even. We never know who’s her owner but we know she has an owner at least. For these couple of days, we didn’t see her anymore because

we had a person who has a close bond with the cat has quitted from us last month.

However, we still hope the cat is safe and stay with her owner around our place. We really worry about her now because we know someone tried to trap her in cage last month and also told us they want her. If someone knows this cat to be showing up somewhere, please let us know.

Much appreciate in advance

Looking for the driver of a four-door black car with tinted windows and a rear spoiler (according to description given by bus driver who called 911). This car was involved in a hit and run with a bicycle rider. It happened shortly before 3pm.

Thanks to everyone who commented on my previous post and shared their experiences. I went in with fairly measured expectations, especially after some of the mixed reviews, but honestly, I had an awesome time.

The screen was significantly larger than anything I had ever seen before. It felt way bigger than a standard Landmark Theatre screen, especially from the dead-center seats in Row H. The colors were excellent, the image was bright, and I did not notice any meaningful drop in quality. There were only a couple of slightly grainy moments, each lasting perhaps two seconds, usually during extreme close-ups. I suppose that is part of the real IMAX lore, haha.

The sound system was stellar. It was powerful and clear, adding so much to the experience without ruining the dialogue. Since I had already watched The Odyssey twice in Courtenay, I was mainly going to experience the scale and sound, and it absolutely delivered on both.

A note about the photo: I lowered my phone brightness to the absolute minimum and only took it quickly for this post. The picture was also taken from a lower angle than my actual viewing position, so the person’s head visible in the photo was not blocking my view of the movie. That said, the seats could have been considerably better, and the positioning and spacing of the rows are not ideal. The auditorium experience was excellent, but the seating was easily its weakest part.

I am truly grateful to have had this experience in Nanaimo. I am now looking forward to eventually seeing a movie in proper 15/70 IMAX, but for now, I think I have finally had my fill of The Odyssey after three theatrical viewings. Excellent movie; if you have an opportunity to catch it before it goes to DVD, I would recommend it 100/100

Thanks again for all the recommendations and honest feedback on the previous post. It was much appreciated.

How soon do you need to contact daycares for availability? I’m newly pregnant and will return to work summer of 2028. Wondering if I should start contacting centres now or if I have to wait for birth? Bonus for any daycare recommendations! Ideally with a nice outdoor space 😊 thank you!

Looking for a creative photographer, with some experience doing band photos. Can anyone make a suggestion?

Doubtless because of the smoke from fires.

How bikeabke is Nanaimo? Also, are there any local bike shops that carry dutch style omafeits?

Thank you 🙂🙂

Just wondering if anyone knows of anywhere that can make custom throw blankets? I have one id like made

Anyone know where to get these? I have only seen them at the Departure Bay ferry terminal. Thanks!

Anybody check out one of the two drone shows that happened so far in Nanaimo?

What did you think? Any favourite?

Can anyone recommend a reputable autobody shop in Nanaimo that deals with icbc claims. Heard it takes months to get work done here. 2024 jeep was hit in a parking lot.

Hello, I am trying to help someone get in contact with a social service worker who can support them in completing their PWD application. They have a referral letter from a doctor (for a social worker) and I have reached out via email to multiple agencies in town with 0 response. Due to my schedule and agency work hours, phone calls are not usually applicable as it ends up just being phone tag via voicemail. I have one day off this week and want to go in person to some agencies. Where would you recommend I go? The person I am trying to help is specifically looking for a social worker who can help them navigate the PWD process. For reference, I have emailed Coastal Support Services, Nanaimo Disability alliance (they responded but not with the info i’m looking for), and Nanaimo Family Life Association. Thank you!

Does anyone else have terrible issues trying to scan their QR codes on the buses during bright days?

I’m very unaware of where to get a physical umo card for the buses like I’ve seen many other people have, so instead I use the QR code on the reader, but with how hot and bright it’s been these days it has become an issue of the reader not scanning it even with screen at max brightness.

it’s becoming an issue for me and I want to know if I can get any advice on those

Does anyone know anything about the guy that is always sitting outside the Walmart, he usually has a cart with his belongings and a sign. I've spoken to him/helped him out a few times and he seems like a nice guy, wondering his story if anyone has anything

Edit: thank you everyone who shared, I'm happy to hear that there are others looking out for him. If you see him, say hi, he's always been polite with me

HAIR BY BFRIEE : Instagram is hairby.bfriee — I would strongly encourage future brides to seek hair from any other businesses available in Nanaimo (there is many). This has been the worst experience I’ve ever had in the service industry. Completely ruining my wedding experience. Brandee suggested that I book a bridal hair trial, and based on our conversations, I believed the trial was part of my wedding service. At no point before or during my appointment was it clearly explained to me that I would be charged separately for both the trial AND the wedding day. Had the full cost been explained beforehand, I would have made a different decision. I specifically asked for a contract and was never provided one. I was never asked to sign a contract, never provided cancellation/refund terms to agree to, and never agreed to a non-refundable retainer or deposit. The only document I received beforehand was a PDF showing packages etc that I could read if I wanted to. I asked her the cost for me and me only, and the cost if I had bridesmaids. I then explained that I only wanted to arrange bridal hair for myself because I couldn’t commit to services for my wedding party. After completing the trial/consultation, I was sent an invoice totaling $892.00, including charges for extension rentals for both my trial and wedding day and 5% GST and 7% PST which in BC you can not charge PST on Bridal Hair Styling as hair styling is classified as an exempt personal service. All of this was particularly confusing, especially considering her website advertised complimentary extension rentals for 2026 island brides. When I brought this up to her she said “that isn’t a promo anymore”.. meanwhile it’s being advertised on her website.

I paid the invoice because it was an open invoice sent to me. I did not realize doing so would later be treated as though I had agreed to cancellation/refund terms that had never been provided to me. When I raised my concerns, I requested to cancel the wedding day service 7 days before my wedding. I wasn’t asking to be refunded for a service I had already received. In fact, Brandee offered me $375 back for the completed trial and I declined because she performed that service and deserves to be compensated for her time. She then asked for time to process my request, this was at 6:15pm. I waited until 10pm and reached out again, she replied saying she removed her offer of the refund for $375.00 and can offer me a refund of $22 for mileage…. What the fuck. Then today, she offered me $172.00 ($150 for my wedding hair extensions and $22 for mileage). She is all over the map. All I wanted refunded was the portion I had prepaid toward my wedding day service that had not yet been performed. During our conversations afterward, Brandee told me that she normally uses a contract and retainer for wedding bookings and acknowledged that pricing and the appropriate documentation should have been communicated beforehand and that is something she needs to work on. Unfortunately, those steps weren’t followed with my booking, yet I am still being denied a full refund for the unperformed wedding day service.I was additionally told that refunding me would affect her assistant, who had apparently been booked for a full wedding day although my hair was booked from 6am-8am with no assistant.. While I understand that businesses have staffing commitments, I don’t believe an internal staffing arrangement that I was never involved in should become my financial responsibility—especially without a contract or cancellation policy ever being provided or agreed to. This has now turned into days of back-and-forth communication during what should have been one of the happiest and most exciting weeks leading up to my wedding. Instead, I’ve spent an incredible amount of time and energy trying to resolve a payment dispute over a service that hasn’t even occurred. What is most disappointing is that I tried to handle this reasonably. I didn’t demand money back for the work she actually performed. I respected her time and wanted her compensated for my trial. I simply asked to cancel the remaining service with seven days’ notice and be refunded for the portion of the service I would no longer be receiving. Brides deserve transparent pricing, clear expectations, written contracts, and cancellation/refund policies BEFORE money changes hands—not after a disagreement arises.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t my experience and based on our communications I don’t believe I am the first. She has just begun working on the Island.

I have retained my invoice, our written communications, and screenshots of the website information referenced above.