With emergency care, the most life-threatening problems are treated first. At the clinic, veterinary staff will do a rapid check of your pet and give priority to the most urgent problems. They will ask you to tell them what happened and to provide a short medical history of your pet.
Some problems require immediate treatment. Examples include trauma, shock, poisoning, severe burns, breathing difficulty, ongoing seizures, abnormal heart rhythms, loss of consciousness, severe bleeding, blocked urine flow, prolapsed organs (organs that are sticking outside the body inappropriately), possible snakebite, heat stroke, open wounds exposing bone, and difficult labor during birth.
After determining whether your pet is conscious, the vet will evaluate airway, breathing, and circulation.
Airway: If your pet is unconscious and not breathing, the vet might place a tube into its windpipe to open the airway and help it to breathe.
If there are no heart sounds or pulses, the vet will start CPR.
Breathing: Animals that have trouble breathing breathe faster and harder, and they often change posture. Dogs might stand with their elbows out. Cats might crouch or sit in an upright position.
Open-mouth breathing and a bluish tinge to the gums or skin indicate severe oxygen loss. The vet will observe your pet's breathing and might take x-rays or do an ultrasound exam after stabilizing the animal. Oxygen can be given by tube, mask, or hood, and the animal might be sedated to decrease its anxiety.
Circulation: Shock happens when the body can't deliver enough blood, oxygen, and nutrients to tissues. Causes of shock include head injury, major blood loss, and severe infection. Signs of shock include rapid heart rate, pale gums, low blood pressure, low urine output, and weak pulses. If untreated, shock causes organ failure and death.
Treatment aims to restore blood volume and oxygen delivery—through oxygen therapy, control of bleeding, and IV (intravenous) fluids and blood products, as needed.
Once the animal is stabilized, the vet will ask more detailed questions about your pet's history: past illnesses, medications, allergies, last vaccinations, and other details.
The vet will examine your pet fully: listen to the heart and lungs, check the abdomen for pain, and examine limbs for swelling or pain. The vet may also take blood and urine samples for testing to help identify problems and decide on a diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring plan.
How Are Trauma Injuries Treated?
Trauma results from accidents, falls, or fights.
Blunt trauma (such as being hit by a car) can cause internal bleeding, organ rupture, fractures, and head injuries.
Penetrating trauma (being hit by an arrow, a bullet, or a sharp object) causes damage along the object’s path.
Falls can cause multiple fractures and internal injuries. Small animals attacked by larger ones might have deep bite wounds and spinal or neck injuries from thrashing.
For all trauma injuries, airway, breathing, and circulation are checked and stabilized first (see Evaluation and Initial Treatment of Dog and Cat Emergencies). Bleeding control, oxygen delivery, and pain relief are immediate priorities.
After your pet is stabilized, the vet will evaluate its nervous system, chest, abdomen, and bones, and they might order blood tests, urinalysis, x-rays, and an ultrasound exam. Eye trauma is common in animals and must be checked.
Because the effects of some injuries take up to 48 hours to appear, pets with trauma usually need to be closely monitored in a hospital.
Fluid Therapy
Keeping your pet's body fluid levels adequate is critical. Signs of dehydration include skin that doesn’t snap back when pinched, dry gums, and sunken eyes.
Giving the animal fluids, either by mouth or through an IV, rehydrates it and restores its circulation.
Monitoring Critically Ill Animals
Critically ill pets need to be closely monitored in the hospital. Veterinary staff watch whether treatments work and look for new problems that might arise.
Common factors that are monitored include fluid balance, blood sugar, electrolytes, oxygen levels, consciousness level, blood pressure, heart rate and rhythm, blood clotting, red blood cell count and hemoglobin, digestive and kidney function, and drug effects.
Nutrition
If possible, injured pets should eat on their own. Small amounts of a liquid diet can be given by mouth, if necessary. If the pet can't eat or should not take food by mouth, the vet might place a feeding tube into its stomach or intestine. In rare cases, nutrition is given intravenously.
Pain Control
Pain can cause signs (like a fast heart rate) that mimic other conditions, and it raises levels of stress hormones.
Some animals hide pain. If a condition is known to be painful, vets usually give the animal pain medication whether or not it shows specific signs of pain.
Pain control improves the animal's comfort but can sometimes make diagnosis harder because important signs might become less noticeable to the vet.
Nursing Care
Sick animals need experienced nursing care, and critically ill animals need 24-hour care:
Animals that can't walk should be turned every 4 hours to prevent pressure sores from developing.
Physical therapy can help keep the animal's joints and muscles working.
IV fluid lines and IV catheters should be checked often to make sure they haven't moved or become infected.
Wet or soiled bandages must be changed.
