Mary Rice

Despite the fact that no one wants to think about these kinds of things, it’s important to know how to react if your dog requires emergency veterinary care. You can take all the precautionary measures in the world and provide your dog top-notch care, but you can neither be with them 24/7 nor predict when an accident will happen. What you can do is develop an emergency plan that will help you stay calm and focused in case of an emergency, especially if something bad happens during the night.

Who Can Help Your Dog In Case Of An Emergency?

The first thing you should inform yourself about is whether 24-hour emergency care is available for your dog in your vicinity. Talk to your veterinarian and ask them what you should do if your dog needs immediate care in the middle of the night. If your veterinarian doesn’t provide non-stop services, maybe they can tell you who might be able to help you in your area.

When you get the name of the vet who is available 24/7, write down their name, number and address on a piece of paper and place it on your fridge. The last thing you need is to look for their number when your dog is feeling sick. Besides, if you’re not home, other members of your household will be able to contact the local emergency vet and save your dog’s life.

When Does Your Dog Need Emergency Care?

Your dog requires emergency care if they have suffered a severe trauma or a heatstroke, if they are choking, if they ingested something poisonous, or if an insect stung them. Of course, if you think that your dog’s health or life is jeopardized, don’t hesitate to contact emergency services. Dogs can be affected by so many health problems, so it’s always better to make sure that they are fine than to wait until it’s too late to help them.

Here are some of the signs that your dog needs emergency care:

• Pale gums
• Increased breathing rate
• Weak or increased pulse
• Fever
• Inability to stand or move
• Unconsciousness
• Seizures
• Bleeding

How Can You Help Your Dog In Case Of An Emergency?

First things first, you should be aware that dogs who are hurt or very sick can become aggressive toward their humans. This means that you should make sure that your dog cannot injure you before you attempt to help them. If there’s no way to calm them down, it’s best to ask for help, as you won’t be doing your dog or yourself a favor if you get hurt in the process of helping them. When you feel that it’s safe to transport your pooch, take them to the nearest veterinarian and let them do their job.

What About First Aid?

As a general rule, you shouldn’t perform any first aid treatment on your pooch, as it’s imperative that they receive veterinary care in case of an emergency. However, you can and should calm and stabilize your pooch for transportation.

For instance, if your dog is bleeding, you should apply pressure to the wound. If they are choking, you should try to remove whatever object got stuck.

CPR might also be necessary if your dog is not breathing. You should place them on the side and blow air into their nostrils once every three seconds. Make sure that their jaws are closed. If your dog’s heart stops beating, you have to perform both cardiac massage and artificial respiration. Until your dog starts breathing again, you should perform there quick chest compressions for each air blow in the nostrils.

If you pet ingest something toxic, the first thing you should do is contact your vet or ASPCA Poison hotline (888 426-4435) and follow their instructions.

Keep in mind that, even though accidents can always happen, you should ensure that your dog cannot reach anything that’s poisonous to dogs, that they don’t eat bones or leftovers, and that they don’t roam the streets unsupervised.