At some time in your pet’s life, you will be faced with a medical emergency. There are several procedures you can learn to do at home to help assess you pet’s health.
Temperature: use a digital thermometer with a lubricant. With gentle restraint of the pet, insert the thermometer rectally 1 inch deep and hold until it beeps. Normal temp. 100 to 102.5°F. A temperature under 100 or greater than 103.5 is considered an emergency.
Pulse: you can feel by placing you hand over the chest at the point where the elbow crossed the ribs near the sternum when you pet is lying on his side. You can also feel the pulse on the inner thigh. Heart rates are quite variable:
- Small dogs: 100-160 beats per minute
- Medium to large dogs: 60-100 beats per minute
- Puppy: 120-160 beats per minute
- Cats: 160-220 beats per minute
Respiratory rate: When your pet lies down on his side, watch the number of times the chest rises (inhales) and falls (exhales). If the stomach is actively expanding instead of the chest, this is an emergency. Normal resting breath rates are:
- Dogs: 10-30 breaths per minute
- Cats: 20-30 breaths per minute.
Cats do not like to pant and if they are doing this greater than a few minutes, treat as an emergency.
Mucous membrane: Lift your pet’s upper lip and look at his gums or inner lip. If your pet has black (pigmented) mucous membranes, then check the coloring of the inner lower eye lid. Normal color is pink.
Capillary Refill Time: After checking mm color, press lightly on the gums or inner lip and observe the color as it blanches white and then pink again. Normal refill time is one to two seconds. Times of more than three seconds are an emergency.
Hydration: Tent up the skin at the back over the shoulder areas. It should spring back down to normal within one to two seconds. If delayed, the pet is dehydrated. This is not an accurate test for very old, very fat, or very skinny animals. Instead check to see if the gums feel dry or sticky.
Next article will present ASAP emergencies, how to transport your pet safely, supplies you should have at home, and emergency phone numbers.
