Six Common Dog Emergencies

Sure, you may be a master of human First Aid. But do you know what to do in a dog health emergency?

Approaching Dog Health Emergencies: Two Steps

In any dog health emergency, stay calm and think. Approach the dog cautiously. The dog may become aggressive because of fear or pain. You can't help the dog if you're hurt yourself.

Dog Emergency 1: Traffic Accident:

If possible, do not to move the dog. Call the nearest Humane Society or ASPCA office. If the animal workers can't or won't come and you must move the dog, slide a blanket
under the animal. Lift the animal to safety with the help of another person. Check for a heartbeat and bleeding. Try to stop the excessive loss of blood by holding a clean cloth or pad over the wound and securing it tightly with a makeshift bandage. Take the dog to the nearest vet, calling ahead to prepare them for the emergency.

Dog Healthcare Emergency 2: Burns:

1. Immerse the burned body part in cold running water for as long as possible.
2. If the burn is from a caustic substance, wash it off.
3. Call the vet.

Canine Health Emergency 3: Heat stroke

Warning signs: The dog is overheated and without sufficient air. The dog might be panting, vomiting, frothing at the mouth, or already collapsed. 1. Remove the froth, 2. Place or douse the dog with cold water to lower body temperature. 3. Take the dog immediately to the veterinarian for treatment. Treatment usually consists of more cold water, drugs and observation.

Emergency 4: Dog Poisoning

Warning signs: Look for muscular twitching, vomiting, bleeding, convulsion or collapse. 1. Have someone call the vet. 2. Follow the vet's advice. Different poisoning cases sometimes have to be treated differently. 3. If you cannot reach the vet, try to induce vomiting. Salt and mustard in water usually will do the trick. 4. If you know what the poison is, take some of it with you to the vet's office.

Emergency 5: Dog Choking

Open the dog's mouth carefully and try to see what is causing the problem. It could be anything: a small ball, bone, stick, meat wrapping. Pump the chest by pressing down on the ribs and releasing immediately at 5-second intervals. If this doesn't dislodge the object within a few moments, rush the dog to the nearest animal hospital to have the foreign object removed under anesthetic.

Dog Emergency 6: Drowning

Remove the dog from the water. Try to get the water out of the dog's lungs as soon as possible by pumping the chest as for choking (see above). Take the dog to the vet to be checked out. Hopefully, you will never have to handle any of these emergencies. But if you do, you have the dog health advice that you need.

Source: Dog Article courtesy of I-Love-Dogs.com

Common Surgical Procedurs in Cats

Neutering: Most owners will have their male cats neutered since it is a well known worry that they may “mark their territory” or urinate in inappropriate places if they are left intact. Behaviorists believe some cats may have more of a tendency to be territorial than others. We recommend neutering your male cat between the ages of 5 and 6 months. This should also reduce behaviors such as mounting other cats in the household or overt aggression toward family members.

Spaying: Female cats are seasonally polyestrus, meaning they can go in and out of heat frequently during the spring and fall. When a cat goes into heat, she exhibits signs such as vocalization, rolling over on her back, standing with her hind end elevated, being anxious, urinating out of her box, and not eating well. During heat cycles, she may also have a tendency to want to escape from your home in search of a mate.
Besides these behavioral considerations, there are very important medical benefits to having your female spayed. We know from current literature that spaying a female prior to her first heat will virtually eliminate the chance of breast cancer in her lifetime. When we perform a spay, a complete ovariohysterectomy is done, thereby eliminating all chances of ovarian and uterine cancer as well as uterine infections. We recommend spaying cats between five and six months of age. Most females will not come into heat before this. We will spay a cat when she is in heat if necessary.

Declawing: An elective procedure, declawing isn’t necessary if a cat doesn’t use its claws to destroy furniture or to be aggressive. When a cat is being destructive and methods such as frequent nail trims and scratching posts have failed, we will declaw your cat. We want your relationship with your cat to be a happy and non-frustrating experience.
If it is determined that declawing in necessary, we generally prefer to declaw cats whenever their routine spay or neuter is being performed, usually at between 5 and 6 months of age. We will declaw a kitten as early as 3 months of age if it is being very destructive; in this circumstance, the spay or neuter can also be moved up and performed as early as 3 months of age. By doing both procedures at the same time, the cat experiences only one bout of surgical stress and one course of anesthesia.

Source: Family Pet Animal Hospital