Category: Emergency Pet Care

Dogs and cats are intelligent, inquisitive creatures and as much as we try to keep them safe, everyday objects in our home can be a tempting danger to them. VRC has covered common household threats to pets such as toxic food items, poisonous flowers, and household chemicals, but today we’re going to write about your prescription medications and what their presence in your home can mean for your pets.

Clarke is a 2-year-old male Labrador from the greater Philadelphia area who is always exploring and getting into trouble. Clarke came into VRC after biting his owner’s albuterol inhaler. Commonly used as an asthma medication, albuterol opens the bronchial airways for people with breathing issues, but it can cause life-threatening concerns when consumed in large doses. Symptoms of albuterol poisoning include severe arrhythmia, high blood pressure, and electrolyte disturbance.

When Clarke came into VRC, he had a heart rate that was twice what’s normal in a dog his size and age, a blood pressure level of 230/165 (for dogs, 120/80 is around normal), and a potassium level low enough to be concerning. Thankfully, the owner knew the inhaler had been bitten, and got Clarke to a specialty veterinary healthcare hospital quickly where we were able to immediately administer IV fluid therapy and medications to block the effects of the albuterol. Thankfully for Clarke, albuterol leaves the body within 12-24 hours, so we felt confident that a short course of aggressive supportive care would save him. As it turns out, we were right! Clarke’s blood pressure and heart rate stabilized within half an hour of being admitted, and within twelve hours we were able to release him to his owners.

Next, let’s look at Buddy, a 7-year-old male pug, and his best friend Delilah, a ten-year-old female pointer mix. Though usually well behaved, Buddy and Delilah love their snacks and treats, which recently got them into trouble, necessitating a visit to our greater Philadelphia area veterinary hospital.

As dogs age, it’s common for them to get arthritis in their joints. While aging is a natural part of any dog’s life, we can help them with medications such as omega 3 fatty acids, glucosamine chondroitin, and sometimes non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs). Buddy had been prescribed beef-flavored steroid pills for his hip dysplasia. While his owners were out of the house one day, Buddy and Delilah knocked the bottle of steroids off the counter and ate them all. Once Buddy and Delilah’s owners came home, they found the empty pill bottle and brought both dogs in to VRC for 24/7 emergency care.

As there was no way for us to know how many pills either dog had eaten, we had to assume a full bottle’s worth of pills was consumed by both. NSAIDs have a narrow safety margin, meaning overdose can happen even with one or two extra pills—not only that, but NSAID overdose can lead to severe stomach ulcers and failure of the liver and kidney. First, we induced vomiting, but when no pills were produced, we had to admit both dogs to our hospital to flush them with IV fluids and administer medications that helped reduce the risk of ulcers.

NSAIDs are usually metabolized within 48-72 hours, so we kept both dogs for observation over that time. Buddy’s liver and kidneys were fine, so he was discharged before Delilah, who had to be hospitalized for an additional two days due to injury to her kidneys from the overdose. Delilah was sent home after she stabilized, but it was a close call. If her owners hadn’t gotten her to the veterinarian so quickly, her kidneys might have shut down.

All’s well that ends well, but the moral of both stories is that it’s important to keep all medications away from your pets unless they’re being carefully administered. Given how difficult it can be to get a pill into your pet sometimes, it may seem like your animal is safe from accidentally ingesting medication, human or animal, but accidents can happen. especially This is especially the case with medications that are flavored to be tempting as well as with human medications that may look or smell interesting or unusual.

Best practice is to keep all medication, human or animal, on counters they can’t reach, or even better, behind the doors of your medicine cabinet. Don’t leave bottles on nightstands—even “child proof” plastic bottles can be destroyed by the powerful jaws of animals that like to chew.

August 31^st is International Overdose Awareness Day. Yes, this day is for human overdoses, but pets can overdose too, and International Overdose Awareness Day is as good an excuse as any to look over your home and see what’s lying about waiting for an accident to happen, or to make things even safer by tucking your medicines even further out of reach!

VRC is a specialty veterinary healthcare hospital located in the greater Philadelphia area. If you suspect your pet has overdosed, contact our emergency medicine and critical care center. It’s open 24/7, 365 days a year.

Summer is here, which means great weather for you to play with your dog in the park. Regular readers of this blog will know VRC, your specialty veterinary healthcare hospital, recommends appropriate exercise for dogs of all ages, but today we’re talking about the dangers of one common activity for dogs—playing fetch with sticks you find on the ground. While playing fetch with a stick is an iconic image of dog ownership, it’s much safer to use a ball or other toy with your dog.

Dr. John Anastasio, our medical director and a board-certified criticalist at VRC, recommends dog owners never play fetch with sticks off the ground. A good example of why owners should avoid this practice is the case of “Sadie”..

Pet Health Situation and Challenge

Sadie came into the ER after a night of coughing and gagging. She was obviously experiencing neck discomfort, and gagging was triggered when the affected area was touched. Her owner had noticed her chewing on a stick, a favorite activity of Sadie’s, and because of all this Dr. Anastasio suspected a foreign body lodged in her esophagus.

Treatment

The first step to treating Sadie was to run routine lab work. Afterward, Dr. Anastasio recommended putting her under general anesthesia so that an endoscopic evaluation of Sadie’s mouth and throat could be completed. During that procedure, VRC’s experts noticed a small puncture wound with a protrusion. It could not be removed with endoscopic instruments, so Sadie was operated on to remove a seven-inch stick lodged in her throat.

Results and Recovery

Sadie recovered well and seems in good health post-operation. VRC’s veterinarians recommended post-operative observation for a few months, as there was some concern she might experience scarring, narrowing of the esophagus, or infection. But, after three months, Sadie is doing fine.

What Pet Owners Need to Know

What’s the takeaway from this case study? Obviously, Sadie’s case is somewhat unusual, but she’s not the only dog we’ve seen here at VRC who has needed emergency care after picking up and playing with sticks outside. We have treated dogs who have had sticks lodged across the roof of the mouth, splinters, punctures, lacerations, eye injuries and even eye loss, internal blockages due to ingestion of wood, impalement of the heart and lungs, and obstruction of the respiratory tract.

Dogs love to pick up sticks, and the temptation for a pick-up game of fetch can be strong, but the best thing to do is limit your dog’s contact with sticks. Keep your yard as clear of sticks and twigs as you can, but also teach your dog the command “leave it” so that he or she will be able to resist the temptation to pick up sticks while on a walk. Only play fetch with a stick-shaped toy from the pet store, or something like a tennis balland allow your dog to satisfy his or her urge to chew with appropriate items in a supervised environment. Of course, we know dogs love to pick up items off the street, but it’s important to do your best to make sure what goes in their mouth isn’t going to harm or choke them, necessitating a trip to your veterinarian in the greater Philadelphia area.

Dr. Anastasio is a board-certified criticalist at VRC, a specialty veterinary healthcare hospital located in the greater Philadelphia area. If you’re in need of our emergency medicine and critical care services,  we are open 24/7, 365 days a year.

Technically speaking it is still spring, but the temperature is already rising in the greater Philadelphia area. The warm weather means people are getting outside with their dogs more and letting their cats play in the garden, and that’s great. Exercise is wonderful for cats and dogs, especially outdoor exercise while supervised by their owner. With the nice weather and warmer temperatures comes increased risk of heat stroke in pets, a condition that could send you and your pet to an emergency care veterinarian in the Philadelphia area. Last summer, Philadelphia had a number of heat waves and heat wave warnings from the National Weather Service. After a warm winter and warm spring, this year is looking as if it will be just as hot if not hotter—and along with the humidity in our area, we’ll very likely have days with a heat index well over 100 degrees. Heat like that isn’t just uncomfortable—it’s dangerous, especially for your pets who can’t ask for water, and who rely on human assistance to get the shade and other heat relief they need.

Learning the signs of heat stroke will help you protect your pets, but first it’s good to understand exactly what heat stroke really is. Heat stroke is a condition that can happen to both humans and their pets. It’s caused by the body overheating due to prolonged exposure to high temperatures and physical exertion. Dogs and cats are especially at risk as they can’t shed their furry coats when they start to feel warm.

That’s why when you’re outside with your pets—or when you let them back into the house—you should look for symptoms of heat stroke. Panting and excessive thirst, two of the most common symptoms, are difficult to isolate, so really be on the lookout for staggering, weakness, glazed eyes, lethargy, and signs of discomfort. More severe cases of heatstroke can cause vomiting or diarrhea, and animals may show signs of disorientation, lose consciousness, or have a seizure. These are all signs that your pet needs immediate care or even medical attention.

If you fear the worst, seek out an emergency care veterinarian in the Philadelphia area as quickly as possible. Heatstroke in pets can cause real and lasting damage to the heart, brain, and nervous system. There is also a risk of death.

If you feel your pet is just mildly overheated and it’s not an emergency situation, you can treat your pet in a few ways. The first step is, of course, to immediately get your pet out of the heat. Put them in a cool location, and then put on a fan to help them cool down their body. You can also help by placing cool (not cold) wet towels around the base of their neck, under their armpits, and under their body. Dogs can also be helped by bathing their earflaps and paws in cool water. It’s always better to be safe than sorry, of course—so please, contact a 24/7 vet for help if you think your pet needs it.

VRC is a specialty veterinary healthcare hospital that serves the Philadelphia area. Summer or winter, we are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.