When you have a pet in your life, accidents and emergencies are bound to happen. Whether it’s something small like a broken toenail or a much more traumatic experience like getting hit by a car, our veterinarians at Thrive Pet Healthcare have you covered.
It’s not always easy to know which incidents can wait to be addressed by your general practice veterinarian during a regular visit and which ones require immediate attention. As a rule of thumb, we always recommend immediately connecting with your general practice vet for advice. They’ll be happy to help you discern how benign or severe your situation is. In the event they recommend you be seen by a local Emergency or Urgent Care veterinary facility; they can help you get ahead by sharing medical records with whichever hospital/clinic they refer you to.
Before you have “one of those days,” here’s a general guide that should help you determine whether an urgent care or emergency visit is right for your situation.
Defining Urgent Care
Urgent Care is defined as veterinary care provided for illnesses or injuries which require prompt attention but are typically not serious enough to require the services of an emergency veterinarian.
Unlike many veterinary emergency clinics, urgent care locations are not typically open 24/7. Instead, urgent care veterinarians are primarily available to assist with immediate needs and are convenient for their extended evening and weekend hours and shorter wait times.
Characteristics of Urgent Care Conditions
At a high level, here are some of the ways we would define an “urgent” condition:
Conditions are non-critical
No hospitalization is required
No major surgery is required (most wounds and lacerations – cuts – can be handled at an Urgent Care facility).
Advanced diagnostics or imaging are not needed
Pets need help during or outside of regular business hours
Most minor to moderate ailments, injuries, and illnesses
Urgent cares are not the answer in life-or-death situations. Instead, they’re a great option for treatment when your regular vet is not open or available for immediate appointments.
Defining Emergency Care
Emergency veterinary care is immediate medical treatment for pets that have serious or life-threatening conditions. The goal of emergency pet care is to stabilize, diagnose, and treat pets that may require moderate to advanced care, hospitalization, surgery, or advanced diagnostics.
Discerning the Severity of Common Conditions
Urgent Care conditions are not life threatening but include conditions that should not wait for multiple days as they can worsen significantly. It is important to recognize when each of these conditions moves from urgent to emergent situations. Many times, delay in seeking proper treatment can turn an urgent condition into an emergency.
We will break it down below.
Skin or ear infections
If you notice any redness, inflammation, pus, or abnormal coloring on your pet’s skin, around their feet, or inside their ears, it is best to have them checked out by an urgent care veterinarian as soon as you can. Delaying care for infections typically makes them more difficult to treat, prolongs pain and discomfort, and can lead to chronic damage to the ear(s) and hearing.
Wounds
Our pets are curious and active beings which can lead to occasional scratches, cuts, and puncture wounds. Cuts and grazes need to be cleaned fully and bandaged to help prevent infection and ensure healthy healing.
If your pet’s wound is deep, they are having significant blood loss, their bleeding continues after five minutes, or was caused by another animal’s bite, then prompt attention is needed to address the wound(s) and prevent infection.
Exceptionally large wounds/cuts, multiple bite wounds over the body, or severe bites/wounds to the chest or abdomen should be seen immediately by an emergency facility.
Vomiting
Your pet's vomiting may indicate an illness or that they have just eaten something that upset their stomach. It is important to pay attention to the color, frequency, and appearance of your pet's vomit.
If your pet only vomits occasionally, this is an issue to bring up with your general practice vet at your next check-up. If the vomiting is increasing in frequency or related to the consumption of an unknown food, an urgent care facility is appropriate. Severe, protracted and/or non-productive vomiting should be seen immediately at an emergency facility.
If your pet consumes toxic foods like grapes or chocolate, or vomits frequently with high volumes, emergency care will be necessary.
Limping
Due to their active lifestyle and time spent outdoors, there could be many factors causing your pet to limp ranging from a thorn in the paw to a broken bone. If you notice your pet limping, it is best to take them to your nearest urgent care facility.
If your pet is struggling to move at all or is moving in an unusual pattern (staggering, collapsing, or dragging their legs) they should be seen by an emergency vet immediately.
Unexplained lethargy
All pets get sleepy after a long day of running, playing, and entertaining their humans. While we assume that older dogs and cats will naturally sleep more, age is not a disease and any decrease in activity should be assessed by your veterinarian to rule out any age-related or other conditions. However, if your pet is acutely and unusually tired, lacking energy, or hiding away in quiet corners when they are typically very social, it could be a sign that something significant is wrong.
We recommend you take your pet to urgent care if their lethargic symptoms continue for more than 24 hours or if you notice any other signs of illness emerging alongside lethargy. The more severe the lethargy, the sooner they should be seen.
If your pet collapses, struggles to stand up or walk, or refuses to eat or drink, please take them to your nearest emergency care hospital.
Fever
Fever in our pets can be hard to catch; pets normally have a higher body temperature than people. Some signs that your pet may have a fever can include an increased or decreased heart rate, lethargy, decreased appetite or thirst, and shivering.
If you catch these symptoms early, you may be able to take them to an urgent care clinic to receive diagnostics and treatment. But if your pet has been showing signs of fever for several days, they have not eaten or drank water for several days, or their symptoms are accompanied by vomiting, profound weakness, or sudden collapse, they need to be treated at an emergency medical center as soon as possible.
Rashes or lumps
Rashes on pets are quite common and can have a wide variety of causes ranging from easily-cured flea infestations and seasonal allergies to more serious health conditions.
Most rashes are mild and resolve quickly, but if the rash is spreading, causing pain or hair loss, persists for more than 24 hours, or develops discharge or foul odor, then a visit to your urgent care clinic is recommended.
Finding a lump on your pet is not “normal,” and any new lump should be examined in a timely manner. Still, it’s rarely an emergency or urgent situation, and you can wait for your family veterinarian to address.
If the lump is red, swollen, painful, bleeding, or has a discharge or foul odor, then an urgent care visit is a perfect option for you and your pet. If the lump/swelling is exceptionally large or causing trouble with breathing or swallowing, then you should take your pet to an emergency facility immediately!
Poison ingestion
All poison ingestions should be taken seriously, and time is of the essence! The good news is most ingestions can be resolved with rapid treatment and decontamination. Treatments usually include induction of vomiting and/or administration of activated charcoal which can block the absorption of toxins. These situations can be addressed by either an urgent care or emergency veterinarian.
If your pet is showing signs of poisoning, or you know they ingested a severe toxin, your pet should be seen by an emergency veterinarian.
In all cases it is recommended that you call your general practice vet to find out the best option for you and your pet. Be sure to have the container the toxin came in so you can share pertinent details.
Do not assume that your pet will be okay if they “look” okay. Once signs develop, poison toxins are much harder to treat.
Definite Pet Emergencies
If your pet has been in the following situations or is suffering these symptoms, please seek immediate emergency care for your pet:
Ingested a poisonous substance, especially if showing any signs
Hit by a vehicle or fallen from a large height
Experiencing seizures
Bleeding from the mouth, nose, ears, or anus
Any bleeding that has not slowed in over five minutes
Severe or multiple animal bites
Choking or breathing difficulties
Dragging legs or inability to stand/move
Severe vomiting or diarrhea
Loss of consciousness
Not eating or drinking for more than 24 hours
Not urinating for more than 24 hours/ straining to urinate
Difficulties while giving birth
The abdomen (belly) looks noticeably swollen
We dread the thought of our pets ever getting sick enough to require emergency care, but our exceptional emergency care teams are here to help in your time of need.
Be Prepared For Emergency Vet Visits
Pick an Urgent & Emergency Care Clinic Before the Emergency Occurs
It’s essential to have the address and contact information of your nearest emergency and urgent care clinics ready. Consult with your general practitioner for recommendations. Unlike emergencies in the human world, it isn’t as simple as dialing “911,” so even if your pet is not currently experiencing a crisis, you’ll thank yourself later if the need ever arises.
Stay Calm
Accidents happen and pets can be unpredictable. The best thing to remember during your pet’s medical emergency is to remain calm. The more you panic, the more you risk putting your pet through greater distress and the less you’ll be able to help them.
Be Prepared to Fund Illnesses, Emergencies and Urgent Situations:
Make sure emergency or urgent care is calculated into your monthly budget. If you haven’t already, consider starting a savings account for your pet.
Pet insurance is also a helpful option to ensure you don’t have to choose between your pet’s wellbeing and other financial responsibilities when these situations arise.
Prioritize Preventative Care
Although a lot of emergent and urgent conditions are often out of our control, staying up to date on things like
vaccines and other preventative care will make emergencies less complicated. If your pet is up- to- date on their rabies vaccine, for example, another animal bite can be less concerning. Or if you have your pet’s bloodwork records, it will be easier to identify stark changes and differences when diagnostics are done at the emergency vet. Doing routine, recommended
bloodwork and urinalysis while your pet is healthy gives veterinary professionals a “gold standard” to compare to.
Don’t wait. Prioritize preventative care and make a plan should you encounter an emergency.
