An emergency animal clinic is not expected to give you the same amount of comfort and security as going to your regular veterinarian, but when you weight out the pet's symptoms and the hours of your vet's availability, I'm glad this place is on option for my pet. I have been there years ago for a guinea pig issue but this time I took my cat in after midnight. They gave me lots of options and I gave them as much information as I had. We did a sedation and checked to make sure he didn't have anything irritating the back of his sinuses. This was more my choice because he'd been doing short, sharp coughs and I wanted to make sure he didn't have a piece of hay stuck up there. He has a habit of eating the guinea pig's hay. It was ok and the vet thinks that he may have feline herpes but didn't offer any tests. We did L-Lysine gel for home, steroids and an anti convulsant. A few days later I took him to the vet and he was showing signs of an early URI. The ER vet did suggest antibiotics in that visit but I said I would monitor him. I don't like to give more meds than necessary.
I'm happy. I knew I wanted him seen after assessing his symptoms for 6-12 hours and they took care of him until I got him to my regular vet clinic.
It's the same for your pets as it would be for you... You get immediate treatment for the pressing issues and sometimes lifesaving measures, but you'll usually get referred back to your regular veterinarian during their business hours.