Read an Excerpt
What Your Dog is Trying to Tell You
A Head-to-Tail Guide to your Dog's Symptoms â" and their Solutions
By John Simon, Stephanie Pedersen St. Martin's Press
Copyright © 1998 The Philip Lief Group, Inc.
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4668-7735-1
CHAPTER 1
Emergency Symptoms
Perhaps you've actually witnessed your pooch meet with misfortune, such as in a run-in with a vehicle, a fight with another dog, a fall, or taking a few quick sips of a poisonous chemical before you could stop him. Or maybe you've come across him after such a catastrophe. Either way, you're probably familiar with many emergency symptoms. After all, common sense is all you need to realize that if your pooch exhibits strong, dramatic signals — such as gushing blood, an exposed bone protruding from his thigh, an obvious wound, extremely heavy vomiting that seems unending, or perhaps even unconsciousness — you need to sprint to the vet.
Yet, what about those subtler signs of trouble? The ones that don't announce themselves, that maybe even show up gradually, but are every bit the emergency warning signs their more dramatic counterparts are? Sure, it takes an adroit owner — one who is thoroughly versed in her dog's normal behavior and vital signs — to spot anything unseemly, but most pet owners are just such people.
The point of all this is that just because the sign you happen to notice is subtle, it's still worth taking seriously. Indeed, some such signs, such as a change in posture, an unwillingness to move, a high fever, and unusually low body temperature, can all indicate life-threatening conditions, whereas other, more showy symptoms, such as coughing, sneezing, or loud wheezing, may indicate nothing more grave than a canine cold or a doggy allergy.
Abdomen: Acute Pain
You can tell your dog's abdomen hurts if he shrinks from being touched there, moves cautiously or not at all, or adopts an arched-back stance or prayer pose (back legs standing, front legs outstretched and lowered onto the ground, head resting on front legs). Other signs of abdominal pain include refusing food, trembling, vomiting, restlessness, whining, and labored breathing. The condition may come on suddenly. Because the source of the pain may be serious, take your pet to the vet immediately.
If you cannot get to the vet right away, there are a few things you can do to keep your dog comfortable. Try giving him buffered aspirin (¼ of a 325-mg tablet for every 10 pounds of body weight) or a baby aspirin (81 mg for every 10 pounds of body weight) 1 to 2 times a day. To reduce your dog's apprehension and discomfort, speak to him quietly and pet him in a reassuring manner. [Also see sections in Chapter 8, Bloated, Distended, or Painful Abdomen; Bloated Abdomen, Vomiting, Excess Salivation, and Rapid Breathing; and Obvious Bulge at Midabdomen, Groin, or Rectal Area.]
Bite Wounds
Should your dog get in a fight with another canine, give him a thorough once-over. Look for bite wounds. If left untreated, a bite can cause considerable blood loss. Plus, often embedded in such wounds are dirt, saliva, and hair from the rival dog — all of which can cause the wound to become an infected, abscessed mess. These contaminants can also cause blood poisoning. If the wound is bleeding, wrap it with a pressure bandage.
Don't try to wash out the wound yourself unless you are a long distance away from vet care. Instead, cover the bite with a clean cloth. If needed, apply pressure to slow the bleeding. Now you're ready to go straight to the vet. To prevent an infection, your vet will remove any embedded dirt and hair, clean the wound with a surgical soap, then flush it with water and a disinfectant such as 3% hydrogen peroxide. Finally, she will apply a wound antibiotic and bandage it. Antibiotics will be dispensed. The vet may recommend that you bring your pet back for a checkup in about a week, when a change of the dressing may be necessary.
Bleeding: Uncontrollable
Maybe your dog was cut by a piece of glass. Maybe he was hit by a vehicle. Maybe he snagged himself jumping over or squeezing through a fence. In any event, your pooch is bleeding and you want to make it stop.
Bleeding comes in degrees of seriousness. A relatively minor cut will typically stop bleeding by itself after 6 or 7 minutes. A larger cut might gush blood and may not stop bleeding without assistance from you. Find a clean rag, towel, or gauze bandage and hold it directly against the wound, applying pressure. If the blood flow stops, you can hold off seeing the vet for 4 or 5 hours, but if the flow doesn't stop in 20 minutes, you must go straight to the vet. After the vet has halted the blood flow, she will stitch the area closed.
You also must go straight to the vet anytime there is a deep cut in the dog's chest area. On the way to the doctor's office, apply a pressure bandage to the area. Should a rib protrude through the skin, avoid touching the bone with your hand or with the bandage. With a chest wound, you may notice air bubbles in the leaking blood. You may also hear a hissing noise: This sound is actually air escaping from the chest cavity.
If, for some reason, you can't get a wound to stop bleeding heavily after 30 minutes worth of pressure, and you cannot get to a vet immediately — perhaps you're camping or hiking in a secluded area — you may need to apply a tourniquet. Tourniquets are used only on appendages — in other words, the dog's limbs and tail.
To apply a tourniquet, find a soft, elastic fabric, such as a sock. Tightly tie the fabric around the appendage, directly above the wound. To avoid killing living skin and muscle tissue, you will have to loosen the tourniquet every 10 minutes, for 30 to 45 seconds at a time, to allow blood to flow into the appendage. Once the blood flow has severely slowed — or stopped altogether — replace the tourniquet with a pressure bandage.
Break, Fracture, or Sprain: Difficulty Moving
A collision with a car or bike, a fall — these can break or fracture a bone or injure ligaments. First, if you do see your pooch hit by a vehicle or involved in a serious fall, it's a good idea to take the animal to a vet straightaway for a checkup. Read the third paragraph in this section for information on how to transport an injured dog.
The more likely scenario, however, is that the dog was hurt during an unsupervised moment (for example, if you were watching the pooch, you probably wouldn't have allowed him near a moving car). Thus, you may suddenly notice your pooch limping (if a leg was injured) or adopting a hunched-up posture (if a rib was cracked or the spine damaged). You may also notice a cracking noise when your pet moves, as well as swelling at the injured site. You may even see a piece of bone protruding through the skin.
If you do see a piece of errant bone, you can be certain there's a break. Without visible bone peeking through, however, it can be hard for a nonvet to determine whether the dog has a fracture or has sprained or torn a ligament. Regardless of the actual problem, encourage your pooch to remain still while you muzzle him. This is important because a dog in pain will bite indiscriminately out of fear and discomfort. Moving him as little as possible, take your pet to the vet. How you move an injured dog depends on the size of the dog, the type of accident, and the degree of injury. If your dog is active but moves with a limp or carries a limb, then carefully lifting the dog into the car is fine. If the dog is unconscious, lying on his side, or just not willing to rise, using a rigid stretcher-like device is much safer than using a sheet or blanket as a "stretcher." Carefully sliding a board underneath the animal allows greater immobilization than a blanket. Splinting an injured limb is also advisable. Your vet will radiograph the injured limb, set a broken or fractured bone, wrap a sprain, or surgically repair torn ligaments.
Breathing: Extremely Difficult or Stopped; Unconsciousness
A breathing problem caused by a respiratory condition may not be an emergency. However, the following are cause for immediate action: If your pooch has had a run-in with a car or bicycle, consumed poisoning, or had a serious fall and is aggressively struggling for breath or has quit breathing altogether and lapsed into unconsciousness.
If the dog is still conscious, do not try to examine his mouth — you are likely to get bitten. Get to the vet immediately. If the dog is unconscious, ask someone to help you (if possible) so you can administer CPR en route to the vet. Place your hand in the mouth and throat to feel for any obstructions, including vomit, mucous, or. blood. Remove anything you find.
Extend the dog's head and neck, take a deep breath (do not exhale), and close the dog's mouth. Completely cover your pet's nose with your mouth, then exhale into his nostrils. The air should reach his chest — watch for the chest to swell. Remove your mouth and allow the dog's chest to deflate normally. When it has, put your mouth over his nose and start again. This inflate-deflate cycle should be done 12 times per minute, until the dog begins breathing on his own.
Often, immediately after a dog has ceased breathing (or just prior to it), his heart may stop. If the nearest vet is some distance away, you also will have to perform external cardiac compression. Place the dog on his side, laying him on the firmest surface possible. Place your hands on the side of his chest, just over the heart (which is located just behind where the front legs meet the body), and press down firmly. Release. Then press down firmly again. Release. Repeat until the heart begins beating. This press-release combination should be repeated a minimum of 60 times per minute. When you combine external heart massage with pulmonary resuscitation, you should produce 1 pulmonary expansion for every 5 cardiac compressions. This is difficult if only one person is doing CPR.
If yours is a giant breed, place the pooch on his back and press directly onto the sternum (breastbone) in the area of the heart. This can be scary because you may worry about breaking the ribs or causing some other type of damage. Don't — getting the heart beating is your first priority. Any resultant injuries can be addressed once the dog has been revived.
Burns
Dogs, being curious creatures, may find themselves face-to- face with spitting cooking grease, scalding-hot water, fire, scorching surfaces — even a caustic chemical substance, such as lye. If nearby, you'll hear your pooch's pained yelp, know that he's been burned, and you can immediately treat the injury. Because it's entirely possible that your pooch was burned while out of your sight, here's what to look for: Immediately after being burned, the area will be red and painful. If the burn is bad, the skin may even turn a shade of white or brown. The skin will be blistered and may appear shriveled. If fire or a hot surface caused the injury, fur may be singed or missing altogether.
Either way, as soon as you realize your pet has been hurt, cool the burn under cold, running water or use an ice pack or bag of frozen vegetables for 15 minutes. If you suspect a caustic material is to blame, go the cold-water route — it will help rid the fur and skin of any remaining chemicals. For acid burns, neutralize it with ¼ teaspoon of baking soda per pint (2 cups) of water. For alkali burns, neutralize with 2 tablespoons of vinegar per pint (2 cups) of water. Cover the wound with a clean, dry cloth or a gauze bandage and go straight to the vet.
Convulsions: Continuous
Your pet begins moving in a disjointed, jerky way. Suddenly, seizures take over his body — not just one seizure, but one right after the other with no letup. Your dog may (or may not) slip into unconsciousness, vomit, or lose bowel and bladder control. What should you do? Gently place a towel or thin blanket over the animal and head straight for the nearest veterinary clinic — even if it's not the one you go to regularly. Such nonstop seizures often lead to unconsciousness, then death.
En route to the vet, do not place your hand anywhere near your pooch's mouth — you can be severely bitten. And don't worry about whether your convulsing dog will swallow his tongue — it rarely happens. If you do suspect poisoning, be aware that you should never induce vomiting when convulsions are present.
Dogs who experience only one or two convulsions in 24 hours still should see a vet in order to get the condition diagnosed, but the condition is not an emergency unless the single seizure lasts for more than 10 minutes. While observing a dog having a seizure, make sure the poor animal does not injure himself against the furniture or any sharp object. Pillows work well to protect both pet and owner.
Electrocution
Puppies and untrained dogs love to gnaw on anything chewy — shoes, furniture, books, electrical cords. Although most of these objects won't harm your dog, chewing on electrical cords is a quick way for him to become electrocuted. (Less common causes include coming in contact with power lines, being struck by lightning, and touching exposed wires. Typically, your dog doesn't chew on cords when you're around to catch him — which means you may enter a room to find your pooch lying on the floor unconscious, cord in his mouth. As long as the animal still has the cord in his mouth, he's probably still being shocked. Do not touch the dog or you will be electrocuted, too! Instead, immediately switch off the electrical source via the circuit breaker. If, for some reason, it is impossible to shut off the electricity, use a nonmetal object, such as a stick, broom handle, or wooden chair, to move the dog away from the cord. If there is any water or urine on the floor, push your dog away from the liquid.
Another possible scenario may involve a cord lying next to your convulsing pet, who happens to be conscious. To distinguish this from an epileptic fit, look for pale burns around the mouth, surrounded by red, swollen tissue.
Check your dog for vital signs. If the dog is still conscious, do not try to examine his mouth — you are likely to get bitten. Get to the vet immediately. If the dog is unconscious and not breathing, ask someone to help you (if possible) so you can administer CPR en route to the vet. Start by opening the mouth and lying the tongue to one side, between the top and bottom molars. Place your hand in the mouth and throat to feel for any obstructions, including vomit, mucous, or blood. Remove anything you find.
Extend the dog's head and neck, take a deep breath (do not exhale), and close the dog's mouth. Completely cover your pet's nose with your mouth, then exhale into his nostrils. The air should reach his chest — watch for the chest to swell. Remove your mouth and allow the dog's chest to deflate normally. When it has, put your mouth over his nose and start again. This inflate-deflate cycle should be done 12 times per minute until the dog begins breathing on his own.
Often, immediately after a dog has ceased breathing (or just prior to it), his heart may stop. If the nearest vet is some distance away, you also will have to perform external cardiac compression. Place the dog on his side, laying him on the firmest surface possible. Place your hands on the side of his chest, just over the heart (which is located just behind where the front legs meet the body), and press down firmly. Release. Then press down firmly again. Release. Repeat until the heart begins beating. This press-release combination should be repeated a minimum of 60 times per minute. When you combine external heart massage with pulmonary resuscitation, you should produce 1 pulmonary expansion for every 5 cardiac compressions.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from What Your Dog is Trying to Tell You by John Simon, Stephanie Pedersen. Copyright © 1998 The Philip Lief Group, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of St. Martin's Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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