If your dog has suffered a sudden trauma or is experiencing any life threatening symptoms, please call us immediately at: (859) 625-5678

What should I do if my dog is having an emergency?

Hopefully, you have the ability to qualify whether or not it's an emergency—trouble breathing, sudden collapse, maybe a neurologic event, tremors, et cetera. You should be able to classify that and absolutely call your nearest emergency veterinarian hospital.

Dr. Lander
Advanced Animal Care in Richmond

What are some signs and symptoms that my dog might be experiencing an emergency?

A sudden collapse absolutely is a big one. Maybe your dog has an issue with the heart or the lungs, tremors, or they’re having a seizure. There may be excessive diarrhea and/or vomiting. Is there blood in the stool or vomit? Those are some examples along with broken bones.

Is it best to call an emergency hospital first before coming in?

Absolutely. We like to have a heads-up on certain things, especially emergency situations. That way we can get things prepped like an IV catheter, etc.

Should I give my dog first aid at home? And what should you have in your first aid kit?

So on the whole, I would not recommend doing things at home. There are certain things you may read on the internet. You can actually do more harm than good. My best suggestion is to look up your nearest emergency veterinary hospital and get your pet to that hospital as soon as possible.

How do you perform CPR on a dog?

So CPR is very similar to what you can imagine in humans and the way that we give cardiac compressions over the thorax to help the heart pump. We'll give breaths. After we intubate with a tube, we start some fluids to help perfusion, emergency drugs, et cetera.

How will a veterinarian treat my dog during an emergency situation?

With the utmost care and urgency. In an emergency, we're going to be very methodical and organized in our thoughts and our procedures there, and we’ll communicate with you every step of the way.

Why is prompt treatment in an emergency so important to my dog's health?

As an example, say the dog is bleeding excessively, the body only has so much blood to give. Correcting that as soon as possible is really important and is extremely time-sensitive.

If you still have other questions and you'd like to reach out to us, you can call us directly at (859) 202-3641, you can email us, or you can reach out on Facebook. But please do reach out, and we'll get back to you as fast as we can.

Dog Emergency Care - FAQs

Dr. Lander
Advanced Animal Care in Richmond

How will I know if my dog needs first aid?

Sudden changes, whether the dog has collapsed or is now bleeding—in those cases, first aid definitely should come into play, and usually by a veterinarian.

How do I know if my dog needs CPR?

If we are questioning things like perfusion, they've stopped breathing, maybe they've had a heart issue, et cetera, that will absolutely be determined by your veterinarian when you get to the veterinary hospital.

How do I give my dog CPR?

As a whole, I would not recommend you as owners giving your dog CPR. It depends on the breed where you do the compressions, let alone giving breaths; it's not like a human mouth. Their mouth is a lot harder to get ahold of there and give breaths to. That's where going to a veterinary hospital for intubation, giving breaths with the equipment we have here, let alone drugs and all of that to be administered, is crucial.

How can I find out quickly if my dog has ingested something poisonous?

Whether or not your dog is showing symptoms, abnormal signs at home may be because of a toxin, let alone if you saw them eat something, and maybe you don't know whether or not it's toxic. There are certain resources that exist. You can call your nearest veterinary clinic for emergencies first, but we may refer you to things like the pet poison helpline or the ASPCA websites.

How do I determine if I need to bring my dog into the hospital for an emergency?

Give your nearest veterinary hospital a call, and we can give you some insight. We may refer you to those other resources, like the pet poison helpline or ASPCA. But, as a whole, we can work through it. And more than likely if we're unsure, we would like to see the pet.

If you still have other questions and you'd like to reach out to us, you can call us directly at 859-625-5678, you can email us, or you can reach out on Facebook. But please do reach out, and we'll get back to you as fast as we can.