Sometimes, it’s hard to determine whether your pet needs emergency care or not. Even if you’re an experienced fur parent, it can also be difficult to handle emergencies, especially when panic takes over.
That’s why in this piece, we’re going to talk about some of the tell-tale signs that you need to know so you can decide whether a trip to an emergency vet clinic is necessary or not.
We’re also including some first aid tips that you need to master so you can attend to your pets while help is on the way. Make sure to read until the very end!
Common Signs that Your Pet Needs Urgent Help
Emergencies can happen at any time. Even in the dead of night, you’ll have to wake up to attend to your pets that are wailing in pain. So if you see your pets suffering from these conditions, make sure to call the vet immediately:
- Relentless vomiting
- Blood in diarrhea
- Seizures
- Non-stop bleeding
- Bloated or swelling abdomen
- Inability to walk
- Unconsciousness
- Choking or difficulty in breathing
- Poisoning
- Broken bones and other injuries due to accidents
- Eye inflammation
- Blindness
- Can’t pee and poop
- Can’t deliver puppies or kittens
- Loss of balance
These are only some of the common signs that your pet needs emergency vet care. Hopefully, they won’t happen in the future. But when they do, at least you’re aware whether the situation at hand is an urgent matter.
Basic First Aid Tips for Fur Parents
Aside from knowing these signs like the back of your hand, it’s also critical to learn what to do in case of emergencies.
There are emergency cases when time is of the essence. Your pet can’t endure 15 minutes of suffering just because that’s how far your house is from the nearest emergency vet clinic. That’s why it’s also important to learn some basic first aid to administer to your pets while help is on the way.
Below are some of the essential first aid tips that you must learn:
Stopping the bleeding
The very first thing to do when your pet suffers from an injury is to put a muzzle on them. When in pain or complicated situations, pets tend to bite anyone including their owners. That’s why it’s important to muzzle your pet before doing anything.
To stop the bleeding, put a clean gauze pad over the wound and put light pressure on it for a few minutes until the bleeding stops.
Then secure it by wrapping an elastic band around the area of the wound or injury. This might be enough to suppress the bleeding. Bring your pet to the vet immediately.
Moving a pet with broken bones
Again, the first thing to do is to muzzle them. Then lay them flat on a surface, preferably a stretcher, before putting them inside your car and bringing them to the animal centre. If possible, secure your pet onto the stretcher by using elastic bands. Make sure not to put any pressure on the injured area.
Seizures
If your pet is having seizures, do not attempt to restrain or stop them. Instead, immediately remove every item around your pet that can potentially injure them. Once you’ve done this, call an emergency vet for advice.
If the seizure lasts for more than three minutes, call your vet again for urgent care.
These are only some of the first aid steps that you can do on your own while waiting for help from the experts. Keep in mind that you can only do so much and these tips are not the ultimate treatment for your pet.
It’s also important to note that by now, you should already know who to call for help or which clinic to go to. So that whenever an emergency occurs, you’ll know what to do.
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