Call immediately:
- Birth difficulties – When no pup appears after straining for 30 minutes; if after straining for a period of time, the bitch gives up; if part of a pup appears, such as the head, but nothing else appears after 20 minutes of straining.
- Burns – It is often difficult to assess the depth and extent.
- Choking – If your pet appears distressed; extends its head and neck; salivates; coughs; paws at the mouth.
- Collapse or loss of balance – Overreaction to external stimuli; depression; staggering/knuckling over; walking in circles; down/unable to get up; general muscle tremor; rigidity; paddling movements of legs; coma.
- Continual straining – Attempting to defecate (pass a motion) or urinate with little or no result.
- Difficulty in breathing – Gasping; noisy breathing; blue tongue.
- Heavy bleeding from any part of the body which will not stop. Apply pressure to stop the bleeding on the way to the veterinarian.
- Injury – Severe continuous pain; severe lameness; cut with bone exposed; puncture wound especially eye, chest or abdomen.
- Itching – Continual, uncontrollable scratching, biting, tearing at the skin; skin broken and bleeding.
- Pain – Severe, continuous or spasmodic.
- Poisoning – chemical, snake, spider or plant – retain for veterinarian to identify type of poisoning.
- Urine – Where there is obvious blood in the urine.
- Vomiting and/or diarrhoea – Evidence of blood; putrid, fluid diarrhoea.
Call same day
- Abortion
- Afterbirth – If retained for eight hours.
- Breathing difficulties – Laboured breathing; rapid and shallow breathing with or without cough.
- Diarrhoea – Motion fluid and putrid.
- Eye problems – Tears streaming down cheeks; eyelids partially or completely closed; cornea cloudy, bluish-white in colour.
- Not eating; depressed; in conjunction with other signs such as laboured breathing, diarrhoea, lying down, pain.
- Swallowed object.
Better to assess early, rather than wait until a possible life threatening situation develops.
- Swelling – Hot, hard and painful or discharging
- Vomiting – Evident on a number of occasions; associated with some other symptom such as lethargy.
Wait 24 hours before calling
- Diarrhoea – No indication of abdominal pain; no sign of blood; no straining
- Itching – Moderate; no damage to the skin by self- mutilation.
- Lameness – Ability to bear weight on the leg; not affecting eating or other functions.
- Not eating – No other sign or symptom.
- Odour – Unpleasant odour, other than a soiled coat.
- Vomiting – On two or three occasions; no other symptoms.
