Article by Diana Gorin

“Is My Pet Having an Emergency?”

Determining whether or not you should take your pet to the vet is one of the biggest pet parent debates: “They had diarrhea once.. Should we bring them in, or monitor and see if it continues?” I know I’ve been there.

(By the way, if you’re interested in learning more about your pet’s poop, we recommend watching this video! It has great resources created by our R.V.T. Hunter that will help you in judging your pet’s poop) 

Most of the time, when your pet is doing something weird (or expelling something weird) you should book an appointment or call with your vet. You know your pet best when it comes to their behavior, and things that are out of the ordinary should definitely be discussed. In these cases, you can book your appointment and within a couple of days your pet can be seen.

But there are some symptoms your pet will display that simply cannot wait for an appointment. If your primary vet isn’t open, or they don’t have the capacity for emergency cases, then you need to bring them to an emergency facility.

It can be especially hard for a pet parent to determine if their pets need emergency care, which is why we created a list of symptoms that can not wait. 

We would just like to remind readers at this point that pet insurance can be a huge financial saver for emergency cases, as well as a pet life saver. We have created a guide for people unfamiliar with pet insurance to navigate the various plans and find what works best for you and your pet. 

Emergency Symptoms

Without further ado, here is a list of symptoms (and why!) that are true emergencies. If you notice your pet doing any of these things, call your vet immediately and they will instruct you on the next steps.

1. Difficulty breathing – As with humans, difficulty breathing can be an indicator of a variety of problems – fluid in the chest or abdomen, heart failure, heat stroke, etc. You absolutely want to get your pet to the vet immediately if you notice them struggling to breathe.

2. Seizures Seizures can result in death if it goes on for too long or if your pet causes injury to themselves, so it’s important to bring them to the vet immediately. If they are actively seizing we will administer meds to stop it. If they are no longer seizing by the time they get here, we will do diagnostics to figure out why it happened and prevent this from happening again.

3. Neurologic behavior – In these cases your pet may look like they are acting “drunk”  – spinning in circles, head tilt, unable to stand up straight, staring off and not being able to focus. This is alarming if there is an acute onset of these symptoms as they point to a potential problem in the brain.

4. Ongoing vomiting with lethargy – If you are noticing 2 or more vomiting episodes in a 24 hour period, or blood in their vomit, or vomiting and they aren’t acting themselves, you want your pet seen by a doctor asap. There are so many different reasons the vomiting could be happening and it’s incredibly important to err on the side of caution and get them seen.

5. Weak and unable to properly walk on the back legs suddenly – The sudden onset of symptoms point towards a slipped disk. In some cases they need emergency surgery, so it’s important to bring your pet in right away.

6. Acute onset of sneezing while on a walk – To us, this is an indicator of a foxtail, which are especially bad this year. The reason why it is best to get this seen A.S.A.P. is because foxtails have a tendency to burrow deep into their victim, and land in the most unusual places such as in between their paws, their nose, their extremities and even their lungs. The sooner you can get it removed, the less damage it can do to your pet. If left untreated, these foxtails can be life threatening as they burrow deeper and deeper into your pet.

7. Unproductive retching – You will notice this mostly with large chested breeds, but a dog that is retching but only producing white foam, if anything, is showing symptoms of bloat. Bloat, or GDV, is when the stomach twists on itself, cutting off its own blood supply as well as the escape routes for trapped air. Often, the twisting of the stomach leads to rotation of the spleen and compromise to its blood flow. Furthermore, the size and location of the enlarged stomach reduces return blood flow to the heart leading to shock and death if untreated. Bloat can kill within a matter of hours and may require emergency surgery. Read more about it here.

8. Straining Cat – Particularly a problem in male cats, if you notice your cat straining to urinate, blood in the urine, or having very weird urination behaviors like going outside of the litter box, they could be blocked. This is life threatening and without veterinarian intervention can kill a cat within a few days.

9. Collapse – One of the reasons for collapse in a pet is Heat stroke. This can happen to dogs even if it’s not high heat outside, especially for brachycephalic breeds. As you would with a human, if you notice a collapse they need medical attention right away.

10. Snake bite – If your dog is bit by a venomous snake, they need medical intervention to survive. The sooner you can get your pet to the vet, the better.

11. Bloody diarrhea with vomiting/ lethargy – Bloody diarrhea can be an indicator of more serious diseases such as parvo, parasites, foreign bodies and require immediate medical attention.

12. Ingestion of a known poison – The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center is your best resource for any animal poison-related emergency, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. If you think your pet may have ingested a potentially poisonous substance, call (888) 426-4435. A consultation fee may apply, and bring them to the vet right away so they can help your pet vomit the poison. We also created a guide with what to do if your pet eats something poisonous! 

All of these symptoms point to emergencies. While this list is not all-inclusive, a good rule of thumb is if you would go to the ER for your human child for a symptom, then you also should for your fur child.

At Alicia Pet Care Center, we have the capacity to do emergency care in addition to general practice, and we are open 7 am to 7 pm Monday through Friday, and 7 am to 3 pm on Saturdays. 

When we are not available to assist you, there are other wonderful emergency care hospitals we refer our patients to. 

Rise Pet Health
(949) 787-7473
24721 Alicia Pkwy Laguna Hills, CA 92653
www.risepethealth.com

Healing Hearts
(949) 409-0333
23501 Avenida De La Carlota d, Laguna Hills, CA 92653
www.healingheartsemergencyah.com/

Animal Urgent Care Center
(949) 364-6228
28085 Hillcrest Mission Viejo, CA 92692
www.thrivepetcare.com/locations/california/mission-viejo/animal-urgent-care-soc

We hope this was helpful, and if you notice your pet having an emergency outside of office hours, please don’t wait until your vet is open. Sometimes it is truly a matter of hours, or even minutes, that make the difference in saving your pets life.

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