Daily Kitten Chat Forum » The Newsroom

1. 

   As promised I recently visited a local animal emergency clinic. I'm very excited to share some information with you.

   When I arrived there were 4 pets in the "waiting room". There was a dog with a broken toenail that had been bleeding, another was a dog that started vomiting a few hours before arrival, the third patient was a dog what was limping and the fourth pet that came in was a cat that couldn't urinate.

   Which pet would you see first? The dog with the broken toenail? The cat that couldn't urinate? The limping dog?

   Posted 3 years ago by miu #

2. 

   proably the kitty that couldn't urinate. the doggies have obvious and probably very fixable injuries, but the kitty is building up toxins in her system that could effect other organs and possibly be life threatening if left untreated. atleast this is my first reaction,please don't sue me for practicing without a license.

   Posted 3 years ago by poochi7 #

3. 

   I guess it depends. I am not a trained vet, but they are all breathing, so I would look at blood loss next. If the bleed on the toenail was under control I would want to see the cat at least to get some information. How long has the cat been unable to urinate? Also was the limping dog in an accident? Could there be internal injuries that are unseen? I don't think I could really make a call without some information.

   Posted 3 years ago by SoxsMom #

4. 

   Dangerous thread could stir up some dander--have seen it before.

   Posted 3 years ago by SoxsMom #

5. 

   oh boy, hope i didn't put my foot in it.

   Posted 3 years ago by poochi7 #

6. 

   I'd make sure I would have a number of vets on staff so they could all be seen at once. :D
   Very diplomatic huh..

   Posted 3 years ago by cricketsmama #

7. 

   Definately the cat. A former friends cat died from this while waiting to see the vet.

   Posted 3 years ago by krazikat #

8. 

   I'm not a vet, nor do I play one on TV. Based on potential seriousness and speed of deterioration, I'd check the gums on the limping dog and ask the owner if there was any chance it had been hit by a vehicle. If the gums looked normal and the dog did not suffer a car injury or other serious physical accident, chances are very good I'd take the cat unable to urinate first. By the time a cat's unable to urinate, toxins have been building up and could be creating/reflecting serious, life-threatening systemic damage.

   (The other problems are generally not symptomatic of imminent full-system failure or threat of death.)

   Posted 3 years ago by anncetera2 #

9. 

   I'm not a vet either, but I would think that some signs point to more serious problems than others. As someone else said, get the bleeding under control first. Then it would be a tossup between the cat and the dog who was vomiting - either one could be a very serious situation. If I had to choose I would probably take the vomiting dog first just to be sure it was not poisoned or otherwise seriously ill. I had Gibbie in twice with the full urinary blockage though, and they did treat it as a real emergency. The first time it happened, the call went something like this:

   Me: My cat seems to be sick.
   Vet: What are the symptoms?
   Me: Well, if he were a human I would say that he has a bad bladder infection.
   Vet: Get him in here. NOW!

   So yes, it is an emergency. In what order did they actually take the animals?

   Posted 3 years ago by NNGM #

10. 

    This is really a coincidence, Miu, but almost the same situation actually happened to me. I had taken Max into the vet with one of his frequent UTI's. Whenever he has one, they usually say "get him in right now". Well, we went right away, checked in, and while we were waiting (they had a shortage of vets that day), a couple came in with a dog with a bleeding paw (not a toenail, but he had ripped a pad or something), a lady who was having her dog's nails trimmed, and me, with a sick kitty. We just waited our turn, which, fortunately, wasn't too long, but I know Max was in misery. Everything worked out ok, and the good news is Max hasn't had another spell in a couple of months--knock on wood!!

    Posted 3 years ago by MaxandCali'sMom #

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