Understanding Pet Emergencies and When to Contact Your Emergency Vet
Written by Shula Berg BVSc CertAVP(GSAS) GPAdvCert(SASTS) MRCVS
Clinically reviewed by Elizabeth McLennan-Green BVM&S CertAVP(SAM) MRCVS
It is important to know when your pet's situation requires immediate attention from a veterinary professional. Some problems can be more serious than they outwardly appear and require prompt treatment to prevent them worsening, while others are true emergencies that require veterinary care as soon as possible.
Some conditions that might require urgent treatment include:
Difficulty Breathing
This can be obvious signs like choking and gasping, but can also include more subtle signs, such as breathing with significantly increased effort (often seen as excessive abdominal movement), breathing very fast, or open-mouth breathing/panting in cats (panting is normal for most dogs).
Inability to Urinate
Straining frequently but only producing small drips or no urine can be a sign of a urinary blockage, especially in male cats and dogs. The same symptoms in female pets are usually a sign of cystitis, which needs veterinary care but is not an emergency.
Bleeding
Not all bleeding is an emergency, but a constant flow of blood, bleeding that pulses, or bleeding that does not stop within a few minutes should all prompt veterinary attention.
Eye Problems
Some eye conditions are considered an emergency and can include corneal ulceration, glaucoma (noticed as the surface of the eye going blue/cloudy), eye trauma, swelling or prolapse of the eye, and sudden onset blindness (often related to high blood-pressure).
Non-Productive Vomiting / Bloat
Retching or trying to vomit but either producing nothing, or only a small amount of mucus, can be a sign of gastric dilation and torsion (bloat) in dogs. You might also see the abdomen become distended and feel tense. This is an emergency and requires immediate veterinary attention.
Traumatic Event
Falls from heights, road-traffic accidents or accidental physical injuries can all lead to potential internal injuries; your pet may seem normal at first but can quickly deteriorate if underlying trauma is not identified and treated. Any major traumatic event warrants your pet being checked by a vet.
Seizures/Fitting
Any seizure that has not stopped after 3 minutes, or several short seizures within a short period of time, warrant immediate veterinary treatment. A single, short seizure does not require urgent treatment (pets are often best left where they are to recover) but we would recommend calling for advice.
Collapse
Collapse is an inability to stand up or move around normally. Pets can collapse for many reasons, including physical problems with the hind legs or the spine, or systemic problems such as low blood pressure due to internal bleeding, or overheating as in heatstroke. Collapse usually requires urgent veterinary atttention to find the underlying cause.
Other types of urgent appointments can include, but are not limited to:
- Straining to produce puppies or kittens for over 2 hours
- Ingesting a foreign body (such as socks, batteries, or potentially poisonous substances)
- Straining but unable to pass faeces
- Wasp or bee sting
- Prolonged inappetence / not eating
- Severe watery diarrhoea
Often, the condition alone doesn’t dictate how urgently treatment is required. For example, vomiting and diarrhoea may not need urgent treatment in an adult, otherwise healthy dog, however the same problem in an 8-week-old puppy is much more critical as they are much smaller so can deteriorate much faster.
If you are unsure whether your pet’s problem is an emergency please call the practice so that we can advise you and make an appointment if needed. Please note that outside of normal working hours, you may be diverted to our out of hours partner who will be happy to help.
Disclaimer
Please note that the content made available on this webpage is for general information purposes only. Whilst we try to ensure that at the time of writing all material is up to date and reflects industry standards, we make no representation, warranties or guarantees that the information made available is up to date, accurate or complete. Any reliance placed by yourselves is done so at your own risk.