Saturday, February 9, 2013

Signs That Your Pet Needs Immediate Veterinary Care


13 Dog Symptoms That Need Immediate Attention From Your Vet


sad pug
The 
American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) warns that pet parents should immediately take their dogs to a veterinarian or emergency animal hospital if their pets are displaying any of the following symptoms:
1.  Severe bleeding or bleeding that lasts longer than 5 minutes
2.  Choking or difficulty breathing, or continuous coughing and gagging
3.  Bleeding from your dog’s nose, mouth or rectum; coughing up blood; or blood in his urine
4.  Inability to urinate or defecate, or obvious pain when doing so (pay special attention to male cats who visit the litter box frequently, or seem to be in distress). 
5.  Eye injuries, this includes squinting, excessive discharge, rubbing the face/eyes, object seen in eye. 
6.  Your dog ate something poisonous, such as antifreezexylitolchocolate, rodent poison, etc.
7.  Seizures and/or staggering
8.  Fractured bones, severe limping or your dog cannot move his leg(s)
9.  Obvious signs of pain or anxiety
10.  Heat stress or heatstroke
11.  Severe vomiting or diarrhea (more than twice in a 24-hour period, or if it is combined with illness or any of these other conditions)
12.  Refusal to drink water for more than 24 hours
13.  Unconsciousness
“The bottom line is that any concern about your pet’s health warrants, at minimum, a call to your veterinarian,” the AVMA notes.
Link to site;
To the above list I would add the following;
14. Hit by car
15. Bitten by an animal, snake, scorpion, spider, another dog.
16. Fell off bed, balcony, couch, truck bed, tree, (anything really), and limping or rapid breathing
17. Drowning, or immersed in cold temperatures
18. Chewed on electrical cord
19. Giving birth and puppy appears stuck, or having contractions and no puppy is delivered within 4 hours.
20. Swollen in any part of the body, face, feet, limbs, abdomen.
21. Deep cuts or lacerations.
22. Interaction with wild animal, raccoon, skunk, porcupine, fox, etc. 
23. Burns. Fluid loss, tissue damage can be life-threatening.
24. Trying to vomit and no vomit is produced
25. Paralysis to any limb. Weakness in any limb.
26. Extreme lethargy. Reluctance to move, or having difficulty moving. 
27. Vaginal discharge that is profuse, foul smelling, or abnormal in color or amount. An intact female can have a pyometra. Can die of infection in hours. Needs emergency surgery!
28. Shooting, stabbing, penetrating wounds. Blood loss can be fatal quickly. A punctured lung collapses rapidly.
29. Panting excessively. Heat Stroke can kill in minutes.
30. Allergic reaction. Can cause difficulty breathing, shock, coma. Requires emergency treatment.
31. Pale or blue-purple gums. EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!

This list was made with the help of http://virtuavet.wordpress.com/petemergencies/
and the AVMA's Emergency List.

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