EMERGENCY, EMERGENCY!
By: Michelle Chiunti, D.V.M.
Emergencies happen in life – despite the many safeguards we put in place to prevent them. And trust me, after 22 years in practice, just when you thought you have heard them all, one will still come along to stump you. The question with animals are – who and when do you call in regards to an emergency; what is considered an emergency; what can you do before leaving to see a veterinarian; and how do you safely transport your valued four-legged family member.
Unlike urban centers, small communities do not have 24-hour emergency veterinary facilities. Before you have an emergency, you should question your normal veterinarian in regards to their availability of emergency services. It is mandated by law in Ontario that all veterinarians must have arrangements for emergency veterinary care. In recent years, the “James Herriot” country vet is becoming extinct. Many veterinarians attempt to have a more normal life by sharing on-call with neighbouring practitioners. Still others choose to forward their clients to emergency care facilities such as in Whitby and Kingston, Ontario. Our practice has resisted this change by employing enough veterinarians in the practice to share the on-call, and cover emergencies for our regular clients. However, in a time of stress when you have an emergency with your pet, you should have your veterinarian’s phone number handy and know what emergency care procedures they have in place.
What is considered an emergency with your pet? My best advice to our clients is, if you are in doubt, call and talk to a veterinarian. I have been told, and told many, that there is no such thing as a stupid question, and it never hurts to ask! Saying that, I will outline some of the higher priority emergencies with your dogs and cats:
• Any animal experiencing laboured breathing and/or fainting is considered an emergency. The causes of laboured breathing and fainting are usually life threatening such as acute heart failure, fluid in the chest cavity, fluid around the heart, anaphylaxis, diaphragmatic hernias, or internal bleeding.
• Any animal that is vomiting uncontrollably for longer than a couple of hours and unable to hold water down will quickly dehydrate. This is especially important if the animal also seems painful, lethargic, and/or bloated in its abdomen. It is possible that it may have an acute abdominal crisis or an obstruction.
• If your pet has a laceration bleeding profusely, a veterinarian should see it promptly. The most common lacerations that we see with uncontrollable bleeding are in the foot or ear. Many foot or ear lacerations are very small and seem insignificant, however, unless they are properly stitched – they will bleed all over your white carpet for the next three days! Always apply pressure to any bleeding wound while transporting your animal to a veterinarian.
• All eye problems are considered an emergency in our practice – especially when the eye is hanging on your Shih Tzu’s cheek! We consider eye abnormalities an emergency because many conditions of the eye require prompt treatment in order to save the sight and viability of the eye.
• Any animal’s complete inability to walk is definitely an emergency. This could mean a vertebral disc rupture, a blood clot to the limbs, shock, or severe pain. Time is of the essence in treating these problems.
• A dangling limb that your pet is unable to bear weight on is consistent with a fracture and you should call your veterinarian. Saying this, the injured limbs of many animals may be non-weight bearing only temporarily. Try to assess the amount of pain being experienced by your animal before jumping to the phone. Many lameness problems can be solved with some rest and aspirin or anti-inflammatory of some kind. Always call your veterinarian before administering an anti-inflammatory unless it has been used before. Tylenol or acetaminophen will kill a cat, and some dosages of anti-inflammatories are toxic.
• Toxin ingestion is a common emergency. Most of the time the owners are unaware of the problem until the signs of toxicity develop. However, when you know that your Chihuahua just ate that whole two pound box of Belgian dark chocolates under the Christmas tree; or your lab thought the rat bait bar was a treat; or your friends car just proceeded to blow a radiator in the driveway losing all of its antifreeze to your dog’s lips; or your neighbor forgot to tell your pet that they just fertilized their lawn; or you dropped your blood pressure medication on the floor and the dog or cat is faster than you these days – you need to call a veterinarian right away. If you know that your pet has just gotten into something toxic within the last hour, except for gasoline or oils, it is safe to make them vomit. This is easily accomplished with 2% hydrogen peroxide. Dependent upon the size of your animal, you can administer one to three tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide and repeat it within ten minutes to induce vomition. Many toxins cause your animal to vomit, become depressed, become ataxic, become disoriented, start seizuring, or cause muscle tremors. Most of the above scenarios still require veterinary intervention even after vomiting. Once your animal is safe and normal again, many of these emergencies become the stories told every year at family gatherings!
• A seizure is an emergency when it is lasting longer than fifteen minutes or is occurring frequently throughout the day. Since animals don’t drive or operate heavy machinery, the occasional seizure is inconsequential and seizures do occur commonly in dogs and cats. A seizure should be addressed with your veterinarian at your earliest convenience, but doesn’t constitute an emergency unless it is within the parameters listed above.
• Pale mucous membranes and lethargy are always a concern in any animal. The causes of acute blood loss or shock are many, and require immediate care and treatment to correct if possible. The mucous membranes on an animal can be checked by lifting the lip and looking for pink (not white, purple or gray) gum color above the animal’s teeth or the conjunctiva of the eye. If your animal normally has a pink nose, and it is suddenly white, this is an indication of anemia or shock.
• Any female pushing strongly for longer than an hour to have a puppy or kitten, is an emergency and will likely require a Caesarean section. Call your veterinarian to ask the normal stages of labour if you are not sure or didn’t realize that she was pregnant in the first place!
• Any male animal straining to urinate is also an emergency. The inability to urinate can kill an animal due to the back-up pressure to the kidneys causing complete kidney failure and severe dehydration within 24 hours.
• Many animals develop bloody diarrhea with minimal physical impediment, so you may be able to delay the phone call to the veterinarian until regular business hours. The causes of bloody diarrhea are usually dietary indiscretion, parasites, or stress. It is considered an emergency when the bloody diarrhea occurs in large quantities, occurs frequently, or the animal is distressed.
• And the obvious and favourite emergency call in the spring and fall in Ontario is your dog’s run-in with Mr. Porcupine! This is an emergency, as the quills are very painful and distressing to the animal, and are easier to remove sooner than later. Please do not cut the quills “to let the air out of them” as it does make them harder to grab and pull out. This is also an emergency that will require your dog to be sedated in most instances due to the extreme discomfort in pulling the quills from its “snout”.
• Then there are the obvious emergency phone calls with our pets when they have been accidentally HBC (hit by car), kicked by the horse/cow, smacked in the head by the bat and ball your kids were playing with, fallen out of the tree from 30 feet up, fallen through the ice in the pond, overheated in the car, jumped through the glass door at the mailman, punctured a stick into themselves while running, gotten into a dog fight... The scenarios for accidents are endless! Keep that phone number handy!
As stated before, the veterinarians are not at their office every minute of every day awaiting your charge’s latest misadventure. Therefore, you will have to make arrangements before leaving your house that a veterinarian will be present to see your pet. During that initial phone call, the veterinarian can and will advise you in regards to any immediate emergency care that can be provided to your animal. This may include wrapping it in a blanket to keep it warm, packing it in ice to cool it down, starting the induction of vomition, applying pressure to a bleeding wound, stabilizing a fracture with a bandage, or lifting it with a blanket as a sling.
Most emergencies will require two people to come in with your animal – one to drive safely, and the other to monitor the patient. Many injured and animals in pain will inadvertently bite the rescuers trying to care for them. If it appears that this may happen, either cover the animal’s head with a large blanket loosely or apply some form of muzzle. It is not worth two trips – one to the veterinary hospital and one to the human hospital.
By in large, what applies for a human emergency will apply as an animal emergency also. In my experience, it is best to remain as calm as possible and think logically. The unfortunate aspect of many emergencies is that they have an unfavorable outcome. Try not to think of this until it is confirmed, but be prepared for anything. If at any point you don’t understand what the veterinarian is saying, do not hesitate to ask about it or have it explained in a different way. The decisions and outcome of an emergency with your pet are all yours ultimately, and you and your pet will live with these decisions for the rest of your lives.