Common Emergencies
Timely information prevents disasters. Awareness of the list below might save a life.
toxins (poisonous substances)
- Metaldehyde (slug bait) – find a safer alternative to keep the garden free of snails and slugs
- Chocolate – the darker the chocolate the greater the risk
- Lilies – cats love to shred them up and chew them and eating them causes kidney failure
- Eythylene glycol – ingredient in anti-freeze which causes kidney failure
- Rotten or decomposed food
- This list is the tip of the iceberg – the list of substances toxic to pets is almost inexhaustible!
Breathing difficulties
- Rapid shallow breathing
- Laboured breathing
- Open-mouth breathing in cats is a serious sign
- Airway obstruction
Vague symptoms
- Reduced appetite, lethargy, alteration to appetite or thirst, collapse
- A myriad of different causes!
Trauma
- Road trauma / Attack by another animal / Almost anything imaginable
- Head trauma causing brain injury
- Abdominal injury following crushing or blunt trauma
- Chest injury following road trauma
gastrointestinal
- Bloat – life threatening gaseous dilation of the stomach
- Vomiting and diarrhoea
Foreign material
- Bones or other firm material can get stuck in the oesophagus or intestine, causing life threatening obstruction
- Grass seeds may burrow into the skin, especially hairy dogs in summer
Infectious
- External – infected wounds or abscesses
- Internal – can be found hiding anywhere, e.g. in the bladder or kidneys, the space around the lungs, in or around abdominal organs
Reproductive
- Dystocia (difficulty giving birth)
- Mastitis (mammary gland infection)
- Eclampsia (low blood calcium)
- Fading puppy syndrome
Bleeding
- Internally – may collapse, have pale gums or have swollen abdomen
- Externally – following injury
Ocular emergencies
- Cat scratch or laceration to the cornea (front of the eye)
- Major trauma
- Glaucoma
