What is a pet emergency?

If an animal is seriously ill or injured, it needs emergency care immediately. Bring your pet in to see us if any of the should following occur:

• Difficulty Breathing: Noisy breathing, blue tongue or gums, abnormal panting, gasping for air, or very shallow breathing.
• Unstoppable Bleeding: Before transporting, apply pressure to wound area with a clean cloth. Do not use a tourniquet.
• Inability to Urinate or Defecate: Continuously straining with little or no result. Blood in stool or in urine, painful urination or defecation.
• Heatstroke: Signs include heavy panting, extreme weakness, a body temperature above 104°F. Wrap your pet in cool, wet towels prior to transporting.
• Bloated or Distended Abdomen (With or without vomiting)
• Inability To Deliver Kittens or Puppies: Continuous contractions for more than 1 hour, or more than 2 hours between babies or more than 15 minutes of labor with fetus or membranes protruding.
• Loss of Balance, Unconsciousness, or Seizure: Tremors, staggering, convulsions, sudden blindness, fainting, tilting of the head, or sudden changes in behavior, such as unusual withdrawal or aggression.
• Pain: Especially continuous pain. Signs of pain in animals include whimpering, restlessness, crying, and reluctance to move or change position, dilated pupils and a fast heart rate.
• Major Trauma or Injury If your pet has fallen, been hit by a car, or has suffered wounds anywhere on the body, but especially to the eye, chest or abdomen, or has broken bones.
• Shock: If your pet shows signs of weakness, collapse, shallow breathing, rapid heartbeat, or weak pulses.
• Poisoning: If you believe your pet has been exposed to a poison, call first, and then bring the container with you if you have it, or the commercial name or chemical name with a list of ingredients. Common poisoning in pets include ingestion of insecticides, snail bait, antifreeze, rat poison, over-the-counter drugs (Tylenol, ibuprofen, etc.), prescription medications, snake bites and some plants.
• Vomiting and/or Diarrhea: Excessive, continuous, or contains blood.
• Lameness: Continuous, not bearing weight on limb, or swollen limb.
• Eyes: Eye injuries, sudden blindness, cloudiness or abnormal discharge.
• Allergic Reactions: Swollen face, hives, red skin, difficulty breathing, severe itching or a rash.
• Diabetics: Shaking, excessive salivation, abnormal behavior, excessive vomiting, seizures.
• General: Severe lethargy, decreased appetite, temperature greater than 104°F or anything else that concerns you