The hardest judgement in dog ownership is deciding whether something can wait. Here is a practical triage guide.
Print this, or keep it where you can find it at three in the morning.
Call an emergency vet now
Breathing
- Difficulty breathing, laboured breathing, or breathing with effort at rest
- Blue, grey, white or very pale gums
- Choking, or continuous pawing at the mouth
- Open-mouth breathing in a dog who is not hot or exercised
Abdomen
- Repeated unproductive retching, especially with a swollen hard belly — suspect bloat, which kills within hours
- A distended, tight abdomen
- Severe abdominal pain, or a hunched “praying” posture
Bleeding and trauma
- Bleeding that will not stop with pressure
- Any road traffic accident, fall, or crush injury, even if the dog seems fine
- A wound that penetrates the chest or abdomen
- A dog bitten by another dog through the skin, particularly on the chest or abdomen
Neurological
- A seizure lasting more than five minutes
- More than one seizure in 24 hours
- Collapse or loss of consciousness
- Sudden inability to stand or use the back legs
- Head pressing against a wall
Urinary
- Straining to urinate and producing nothing, particularly in a male dog. This is a blocked bladder and it is fatal within roughly 24 to 48 hours
Poisoning and foreign bodies
- Any suspected poison — take the packaging
- A swallowed object, particularly a corn cob, skewer, sock, string or battery
- Antifreeze exposure, which is time-critical
Heat and cold
- Suspected heatstroke — heavy panting, bright red gums, wobbliness, collapse. Start cooling immediately and go
- Severe hypothermia
Eyes
- A painful eye, sudden blindness, an eye displaced from the socket, or a dilated pupil with a red painful eye
Reproductive
- A bitch in labour straining for more than 30 minutes with no puppy
- More than two hours between puppies
- Suspected pyometra — an unspayed bitch with increased thirst, lethargy, off food, or discharge, a few weeks after a season
Other
- Pale gums with weakness or collapse — possible internal bleeding
- A diabetic dog vomiting or unresponsive
- A puppy who is cold, floppy, or will not feed
Call the vet today
- Vomiting more than two or three times in a day
- Diarrhoea with blood, or lasting beyond 48 hours
- Not eating for 24 hours (12 hours for a puppy or toy breed)
- Lethargy without an obvious cause
- Limping that has not improved in 48 hours, or a dog unable to bear weight
- A painful area anywhere
- Coughing that is worsening, or with reduced exercise tolerance
- Increased drinking and urinating
- A swelling or lump that is growing, hot, or painful
- Ear pain, head shaking, or a head tilt
- Any wound, bite or puncture
- Repeated scratching that is breaking skin
- A sudden change in behaviour or temperament
Book an appointment this week
- A new lump that is not growing quickly
- Bad breath
- Persistent soft stool in a well dog
- Gradual weight loss or gain
- Stiffness or slowing down in an older dog
- Mild skin irritation
- Routine vaccination, worming and check-ups
What to have ready when you phone
- Your dog’s weight
- Age, breed, and whether neutered
- What is happening, and for how long
- What they have eaten, and when they last ate
- Whether they are drinking and keeping water down
- Stool and urine — normal, abnormal, absent
- Current medications
- Anything they may have got into
- Whether there are existing health conditions
Photograph or film anything you can. Vomit, stool, a limp, a seizure, an unusual behaviour. It is worth far more than a description, and dogs frequently behave normally in the consulting room.
Useful home observations
Learn these when your dog is well, so you can compare when they are not:
Gum colour. Should be pink and moist. Press until pale and release: colour should return within two seconds. Pale, white, blue, grey, yellow or brick red all mean go now.
Breathing rate at rest. Count chest movements for 30 seconds while your dog sleeps, and double it. Normal is roughly 10 to 30. A consistent rise is one of the earliest signs of heart failure.
Temperature. Normal is 38.3 to 39.2°C (101 to 102.5°F). Over 39.4°C is a fever; over 40.5°C is an emergency. Under 37.8°C is also concerning.
Hydration. Lift the skin over the shoulders — it should snap back instantly.
Prepare before you need it
- Save your regular vet’s number and your nearest 24-hour emergency practice, with the address
- Know how long it takes to get there, and check whether they require you to phone first
- Know an animal poison line number
- Understand your insurance — what is covered, what the excess is, and whether the practice can claim directly
- Have a rough figure in mind for what you can spend in an emergency. Deciding that at 2am is much harder
Do not wait because
- “He’s probably fine.” Dogs hide pain extremely well, and by the time it is obvious it is usually advanced
- “It’ll cost a fortune.” Early treatment is almost always cheaper than late treatment. Ring and ask
- “It’s the middle of the night.” Emergency practices exist because emergencies do not keep office hours
- “I don’t want to waste their time.” Vets would much rather see ten dogs who were fine than miss one who was not. Nobody is judging you for ringing.
