Signs You Need to Go to the Emergency Vet

When a pet is in distress, quick decision-making is crucial—especially since our animals can’t tell us what’s wrong. Understanding what constitutes a pet emergency is important for ensuring the safety and health of your beloved animals.

Let’s explore common symptoms that show when a pet is suffering stress so that you know when to go to the vet clinic for emergency help for your furry friend.

If your pet is showing signs of distress or illness such as lethargy, vomiting, heavy breathing, frothing or foaming at the mouth or seizures, call 0427 019 109 immediately to speak to an emergency vet at Rossmore Hospital.

What is a Veterinary Emergency?

Some vet clinics offer emergency after-hours services outside of their regular opening schedules, while others specifically specialise in pet emergencies. If you’re a pet owner, it’s a good idea to be prepared by knowing where you can take your pet after-hours if you suspect it is suffering an emergency medical episode.

Some signs of pet emergencies are obvious, such as paralysis or severe bleeding. However, pets are often good at hiding signs of distress so if you suspect your pet is ill or injured, or something seems not quite right, contact your local vet or an emergency vet clinic to discuss your concerns. They can help you decide the best course of action. It’s important to act quickly because an animal’s illness or injury can quickly progress to a life-threatening situation.

Common Signs Your Pet Needs Emergency Vet Care

If your pet experiences any of the symptoms below, they require urgent care. Without treatment by a veterinarian, your pet’s condition may quickly worsen and become life-threatening.

Breathing Difficulties

Difficulty breathing is a serious problem that requires immediate intervention by a veterinarian because it indicates a severe underlying issue. Your animal might have a cough, be panting heavily, breathing noisily, or making hacking or coughing sounds that indicate they feel like they are choking.

Severe Vomiting or Diarrhoea

Severe vomiting or diarrhoea can quickly lead to dehydration, which is very serious in pets. Vomiting can indicate poisoning or the accidental ingestion of plants that contain a poisonous toxin. Diarrhoea can indicate a serious condition such as a bowel obstruction. Take your pet for treatment immediately if you notice these symptoms.

Unconsciousness or Seizures

If your dog or cat has lost consciousness, suffered a seizure, or is disoriented or unresponsive, it’s a signal they require emergency care to address the cause of the problem. A seizure can be a symptom of a fever and could be due to a range of reasons including heat stroke, which can be deadly if not treated.

Lameness or Inability to Move

If your pet is experiencing weakness in their head/neck or legs, finding movement difficult, limping, suffering lethargy or is off balance, it is a sign of a bigger problem. Parasites such as ticks can cause a dog or cat to collapse due to tick paralysis. While you can remove a tick yourself at home, if your pet shows signs of tick paralysis, it requires immediate veterinary attention.

Bloated Abdomen

Swelling or bloat around the stomach area can be an indication of many serious conditions including life-threatening gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV), in dogs. This potentially fatal condition is where a dog’s stomach twists, and it requires urgent surgery.

Trauma or Injury (e.g., hit by a car)

If your pet has been in an accident or suffered bite wounds from another pet, they may be suffering internal injuries even if the severity of the wound looks minor on the surface. If they have a serious wound, try to stem the bleeding as much as possible and seek treatment from a veterinarian as quickly as possible.

Difficulty Urinating

A pet that is struggling to urinate, experiencing a loss of bladder control or has blood in their urine can be in serious trouble. Urination problems can indicate a urinary tract infection, bladder stones or urinary obstruction. Male cats are particularly susceptible to life-threatening urinary obstructions, so seek treatment as soon as possible.

Sudden Change in Behaviour

Sometimes a pet will vocalise their discomfort. Other times they may hide, cower or become aggressive. Excessive panting, restlessness, licking lips, a lack of appetite and any other changes to their normal behaviour can indicate pain due to serious medical issues like heat stroke or neurological trauma.

What to Do in a Pet Health Emergency

A pet owner will often feel a lot of emotions when they realise something is wrong with their pet, from a sense of urgency to guilt to distress. Staying calm will help reduce the risk of your animal feeling added stress or panic.

Contact your regular vet clinic if they have an after-hours service. If they don’t, they may be able to give you information on emergency care clinics or a local animal hospital.

Perform basic first aid on your pet if necessary and call your emergency vet clinic to let them know you’re on your way. Find instructions on how to give a pet CPR here.

Don’t forget to drive with care to minimise the movement of your sick pet, ensure you make them comfortable and handle them with care to prevent any further injuries or distress.

Don’t Put Your Pet’s Health at Risk—See a Vet Today

It can be hard to know what sort of pet health issues are emergencies. However, if your pet is suffering any of the above symptoms, seek emergency assistance from a vet as soon as possible. Delaying treatment can be fatal. If you have a concern or are in doubt about what to do, it’s best to seek advice by calling your local vet clinic or reaching out to an emergency vet clinic.

For those pet owners in Sydney, Rossmore Veterinary Hospital provides an after-hours service for critical illnesses and injuries. Call us on (02) 9606 6984 during business hours to discuss our after-hours care arrangements and if your pet ever experiences a pet emergency, you’ll know exactly what to do to help them.

Our after-hours phone number (for emergencies only) is 0427 019 109.