Some times things are not planned but knowing when to seek emergency vet care or whether to wait until your vet opens his doors the next morning or rushing to the PET ER can be a little frustrating to say the least. But over the last few years I’ve learned through experience when to drop everything and head to the vet, or take proper care of my dogs until I can get there in a few hours.
Cuts
Normally a cut wont need that much. Unfortunately if a cut is bleeding and wont stop, then it is possible that an artery might have been nicked or worse. Though at this point you may feel like panicking, DONT. The best thing to do is immediately apply pressure and secure the wound with a bandage. While applying pressure to the area be sure not to check to see if the bleeding has stopped, as lifting the bandage could cause the clot to come undone and continue to bleed. If the first bandage has soaked through, apply another bandage on top and continue to the ER.
Diarrhea & Vomiting
Vomiting can be fairly common in dogs. Basically if they’ve eaten some thing bad that their tummy’s did not agree with, almost like us when we’ve eaten bad Mexican food. When vomiting occurs in our house I normally withhold food and water for 12 hours and administer pepcid per my vets orders. When this time has passed I offer water and wait 2 hours to make sure the pup is able to hold it down. If all is well we give a little white rice and chicken combo to make everything easy on their tummy. With diarrhea we only withhold food but not water.
I only follow these procedure for a mild case of each. If my dogs are vomiting several times within an hour or the diarrhea is of projectile nature, it always means an emergency visit to the vet.
There are circumstances in which you would not wait to see a vet:
- A puppy that is under 16 weeks of age
- A Senior
- Any other dog that maybe ill or fragile and dehydration could cause complications
Eyes
Any and every problem should be seen by a vet ASAP. We as pet parents aren’t able to tell if a scratch will cause vision loss. To help your pet out until you can get to the vet, put a cone of shame on them so they aren’t able to rub their eye and make things worse.
Seizures
Get your pet to the vet ASAP. Be sure to protect your pet and yourself during a seizure, keep away from their face so you do not get accidentally bite. If the pet is near furniture, gently move them using their back legs or tail. To transport them to the vet, piece them on a blanket and make a little hammock in the back of your car to keep them safe.
Poisoning
This can be a post all by itself. It’s summer time and a lot of times can seem even more tasty than normal. If you witness an ingestion call the vet immediately, do not induce vomiting unless instructed by the vet as it may cause more damage. Many poisons can act quickly causing kidney and liver damage along with complete failure, including:
- Slug & Snail Bait
- Firecrackers
- Anti-Freeze
- Grass seed & Mulches
- Chocolate
- & the list goes on
Be sure to protect your pet this summer!
We are happy to be participating in this weeks Thursday Barks and Bytes Blog Hop hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs and Heart Like A Dog.
Better safe than sorry is my policy. I suppose some people are just worried about high vet costs, but is it really worth the risk? Just get yourself some good vet insurance and keep a savings aside for emergencies (which is what I do). Vet visits have just become a part of life, just like if you have a kid they need to visit the doctor sometimes 🙂
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I agree… I have gotten better lately about rushing to the vet, but I’m always aware of any signs which are not normal. When JoeJo was alive I would be at the vet in a heartbeat if needed.
Excellent information. Thanks so much for sharing it with the hop. Unfortunately we have had to do the emergency vet things a few times. One was with Storm for excessive vomiting and that trip was at the suggestion of her breeder. (They never get sick during normal vet hours.) Turned out to be a pancreatitis attack so we were smart to go. The other was when Thunder bloated. Another good ER decision. 🙂 Both trips were expensive, but good thing we went.
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Thanks for the tips! One thing that I see repeated a lot is that we shouldn’t force our dogs to vomit, because we could end up doing more harm than good. I love that we have access to an emergency vet.
yes so true! The one thing I do love about our city are the many after hour emergency vets there are. Luckily we haven’t had to use after hours but only one time.
Thank you for joining the blog hop. There is lots of great information here. I call my vet for everything! LOL Most of the times it’s been nothing serious, but I always like to run things by her just to be on the safe side.
I hope Riley’s booboo wasn’t too serious.
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Great information, thank you for this post. I always say how if only dogs could talk and explain to us exactly how they’re feeling! These warning signs were a big help.
PuppyLoveNY recently posted…Cutest Pet Competition!
Thanks for sharing this information – I’m the type of person who will always be running to the vet — I panic and worry about everything.
Cathy Bennett recently posted…WORDLESS WEDNESDAY | HOT CARS KILL
That is awesome! There are many people though that will wait to see, and sometimes that may be too late.
Good information! I tend to call and ask the Vet or ER (depending on hours) if its something that we should go in for.
My Ziva girl had a throat injury caused by a stick – no hesitation their! We went straight to the vet.
Both of my dogs on seperate occassions got giardia, yikes! – projectile diarrhea, we went straight in..
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Most excellent. I’m guilty of not responding quickly enough or giving enough care. My dog had a large tumor removed last week, then tore open the stitches this week. I waited till morning to take him in. He was fine, but it was too much money to have him sedated and stitched all over again. Maybe it’s being the mom of boys that I am.
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Good tips – i sometimes think I over-react, but better to be safe than sorry I say.
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