What signs do you rely on?

Question

Many come on here and ask if their dog is sick. What tells you it's time to go to the vet?
How many days off its food? The dog just isnt acting right?
I dont mean injury, I mean illness. When do you figure out its more than you can handle without a vets help?

Answer 1

The moment I see that

my dog isn't acting him or herself.

I don't waste time that could be precious here.





Thanks





Why is that guy calling you insane?

Answer 2

I can usually tell if something is wrong by my dogs behaviour but it's difficult to describe exactly how. I guess it's down to KNOWING your dog!
The dog I have now being off her food at all wouldn't worry me unless it lasted more than 24 hours! The last dog I'd have been calling the Vet. I'd take her out and watch to see if she wanted to eat grass though, as in my dog it's a sure sign she's got tummy ache!
If it's a loose stool or obvious diarrhoea then I think about what they may have eaten in the previous 24 hours, if they've been out in the garden could they have found anything we may not have noticed for example! If they vomit what does it look like or contain. If behaviour is normal and the dogs playful then I wait but keep a close watch , if they show other symptoms I call the Vet who will then decide if they need to be seen.
The one time I will take my girl straight to the vet is if she shows signs of discomfort and stomach distress. If she starts retching, or has nonproductive vomit, that looks like a cough or gag. If she starts to pace up and down, or roll around and if her abdomen looks bloated! I have always kept Shepherds and one thing I've learnt to recognise is signs of BLOAT! I know a lot of the common causes and try to avoid them but sometimes it just happens and I'd rather not take any chances.
I always have Pet Insurance and I try to keep an emergency fund to cover the £50 I have to pay for the initial treatment.
If I am ever in ANY DOUBT I call the Vet! Money is after all just bits of paper! Any dogs life is worth more than that!

Answer 3

1. Know the dog! for one dog a missed meal isn't a big deal, for another it means they are dying. (2 kibbles left from breakfast was the sign for me).

2. Know some basics- fast the dog if it has diarrhea or vomiting- take to the vet if it persists more than 24 hours OR if its recurrent over several days. USE YOUR HEAD- vomiting AND diarrhea = vet. Know the signs of dehydration - tacky/sticky gums is the easiest.. dehydration = vet NOW!

3. Know not to panic. Some dogs are drama queens if they turn an ankle. Give them a few minutes to walk it off. Crate rest is a good thing. Persistant limping past one day = vet.

4. Know the dog- some dogs are incredibly stoic.. watch for the signs of injury such as: suddenly licking a spot they never have licked, wincing, lethargy or just not wanting to move, sudden temperament change (snapping at another dog) etc... if the change is sudden its a concern.. evaluate and consider seeing a vet.

5. Broken limb= vet. Cut I can't stitch=vet.

I'm a pretty non-vet person. But because I know my dogs, I know when they need to see the vet.

Answer 4

I've studied natural science (which included ethology and animal physiology), so I have a pretty good idea what to look for. So for me it's mainly a combination of me examining the pets myself, plus a healthy dose of gut-feeling. I have yet to be wrong with a self-diagnosis, but there have been a couple of times, where I knew something serious was wrong without being able to say what it was, so that's where the gut-feeling comes in and where a good vet is invaluable.

I don't have a fixed set of days, as in how many days is my pet off its food, but extreme lethargy, violent repetitive vomitting, a visible third eyelid, the animal being in pain with no explanation for the pain...these are all things that will make me call the vet immediately - and I'd rather call/go one time too many than one time too little.

Answer 5

If my dogs even LOOK like they aren't feeling well, have missed a meal, are lethargic (actually lethargic means they are deathly ill with my dogs) look like they've eaten too much ( i saved my girls life by being a paranoid freak thank you very much), throw up, try to throw up or have diarrhea more than a day or several times in one day. They go to the vet. I was concerned about my girl drinking a LOT of water, she drained their automatic refill bowl, drained my toilet, caught her closed the lid, roommate opened it, drained it again, ended up looking like a balloon so after about an hour of stressing, because i would have to take her to the E-vet after hours which means $100 to walk in the door, I bit the bullet and took her in, even when both of my roommates called me psychotic. She had bloat. I was lucky enough to catch it before it torsioned and if I had waited another hour, the vets said it would have been $3000 instead of $300. If I had waited till morning like I planned at first, she would have been dead. I'm glad I'm a paranoid freak, it's much MUCH cheaper to take a dog to the vet at the first sign of illness than to wait. Just this week I shelled out $120 because my other girls nose was looking icky although she wasn't feeling bad. If I had given it a couple of days they would have had to use heavier antibiotics (and they put her on Baytril which isn't given lightly and is EXPENSIVE), and would have had to keep her in the ICU. I trust my vets completely, if I have a question I call them and 99.9% of the time they will answer it and let me do my own thing since I have a working knowledge about canine health, but if they suspect something serious is going on, they tell me to come in and they've never been wrong. So people PLEASE take your dogs in, even if you think it's trivial, it's better to err on the side of caution and much cheaper to treat ANYTHING in it's early stages. If you wait, it could mean the death of your dog.

Animal Art- if only i could be a non vet person, my dogs just won't let me, bad breeding (all of my dogs) means sick. It sucks. If my girl Ruby skips a meal no biggy, if my other two skip a meal, they're dying! Except the on time they just didn't like the food, after eating almost all of the bag they decided it wasn't for them so I had to switch back. That REALLY freaked me out though, that BOTH of the foodies wouldnt eat is scary!

Answer 6

That still needs to be broken down some.
I'm not one for going to the vet every time one of the dogs comes down with a drippy nose.
I don't go to the Emergency ward every time I have a drippy nose either.
If a dog came down with kennel cough, then I would. But, kennel cough is preventable so if a dog comes down with it, it would be my own fault. So the dogs go to the vet for a little spray up the nose for prevention.

If I had a dog that was eating me out of house & home & still skinny as a rail, I would know that a trip to the vet for a blood work-up was in order. Same with skin disorders and other abnormal conditions.

Preventative medicine is worth it's weight in gold. The check up once a year & bringing vaccinations up to date prevents most trips to the vet before they ever become necessary.

Most unscheduled trips to the vet are the result of a dog doing something stupid (like eating a golf ball)

Answer 7

I call my vet a lot my dog throws up a lot at first I wanted to rush him to the vet all the time when I called they gave me a recipe to make for him and let me know that if that didn't help after 24 hours call back. It has worked every time. I have also learned not to give him too many treats in one day or anything with a lot of green or red dye on my own. When my dog seemed to be slowing down and in a little pain when getting up from a long time laying down I thought it was arthritis and called my vet while I awaited an appointment I watched for every other sign I could to better explain his problems.
I have called them for skin conditions, rough tender paws, small sores on his feet, I don't rush to the vet anymore I call and they usually give me something to try first and i have them examine him every time he goes in for shots. They are very helpful to me. Too bad everyone doesn't have a vet like mine!

Answer 8

Since my dogs are picky eaters with sensitive stomaches, I have to put up with a lot of pouting, sulking, refusing to eat--and then later throwing up stomach juice from not eating--and then hiding in the bedroom for half a day or so.

I recognized that my big male was truly ill when he tried to eat, but threw up everything he did eat. What the biggest clue was his not wanting to go for a walk. He just wanted wander around listlessly and then curl up in a quiet corner--and then get up and wander some more. I rushed him to the vet then and discovered that he had a blocked gut. He had swallowed a bone that was too large to be digested. Just as we were preparing for surgery, he passed it--painfully.

I am wondering how that is not a more common occurance with dogs, considering all the junk that they take into their mouths and try to eat or chew on.

You just have to really be in tune with your dog's habits. I am fairly new at being a dog owner (2 1/2 years) I have already learned what makes them tick.

What happened St Lady, I miss you!

Edit--Oh, I see what is happening. I am so sorry

Answer 9

I think it depends on each dog/cat. What its typical behavior is like. There are a lot of variable in my house to take into consideration. I also think the health history should be taken into consideration according to the symptoms.

I don't think my newf feels good today. SHe came right back in after we went out this morning. I usually have to fight and drag her before I leave for work. Today she came right in climbed on the couch and crashed. Im not worried yet. She isn't supposed to be alive as it is. Vets told me she may have six month were hitting three years and I never took her back to that vet. She can barely walk and I already have arrangement with a neighbor if she dies on me to help carry her to the truck. My daughters rotti is the only one left alive inhis litter due to lymphnode cancers. I will not make him suffer treatments and when his breathing gets off kilter we show him some lovins and get him to relax. His time may be numbered but Im not stressing him more with vets.

I think it depends on what symptoms according to which of my dogs.

Lillie cropped her own ear on the fence. Why would I take her to the vet to give her anesthesia make a clean cut and stich. I treated with neosporin she has one ear that stands up anyway.

Cubby had a seizure. I called my mom while holding him by the time she got there he was fine. It lasted less than a minute and didn't have another. Nothing can really be done with seizures. Especially just one. Could have any type of fluke. Even chronic seizures you load them up with different meds looking for what works. Just like people only dogs don't get to wear a helmet.

We are forgetting they are animals and there are plenty more out there that need us.. Overbred, poorly bred have created too many problems for the animals I have had my time where I did run to the vet and have learned a lot from that but as I have learned most things its better to allow the animal to do as needed when I have an animal that is suffering I will take it to the vet. Otherwise not likely.

FYI Last thursday my daughter twisted. Her knee swelled like a mellon. It was gross. Okay I did finally take her to the ER. But trust me I didn't jump and I still made her come downstairs on her own. Told her to scoot down on her butt. I made her suffer just a little while...... (Dislocated kneecap???) Trust me if its a efed up situation it happens in my house.

Added: Yes like tom prevention and having seen the vet before to know what may or may not happen is key.

And wow: Andrew has a lot of timeonhis hands.

Answer 10

My dogs life is not a guessing game. Im not a vet, so I dont put his life on the line. I believe that anyone who owns a dog should have a nest egg put aside specifically for situations like these. Its just a matter of time before something happens and you need a vet. If my dog acts lethargic, and distant... Its time to go to the vet. PERIOD!!

Answer 11

Diarrhea that persists for more than 24 hours, lethargy that persists for more than 24 hours, Not eating for more than 24 hours (in my house, that is a big sign of something wrong... if my dog's had it their way, they would be eating 24/7)... pretty much any illness symptom lasting for more than 24 hours.

ADDED: Of course, I would call the vet before bringing my dog in. My vet will gladly give advice over the phone, and didn't even charge for an office visit when I brought my pup in to get her stitches checked after her spay- I'm a worrier... but point is she won't tell me to bring them in unless SHE thinks she is serious... she is not in it for the money, so I trust her