Emergency, go now: every sign in one place (free lesson)

Emergency, go now: every sign in one place

Every Emergency, go now box from the course, in one place. If you see any of these, call your vet or an emergency clinic now.

Chapter 1: Psychological

Chapter 2: Dental

Call your vet

Emergency, go now

Known trauma to the face or head (a fall from a height, a car strike, a cat fight) with a broken or displaced tooth, a jaw that hangs or will not close, bleeding from the mouth, or a split in the roof of the mouth: possible jaw fracture or palate injury, and a freshly pulp-exposed tooth is extremely painful and has the best outcome if treated within 24 to 48 hours.¹¹¹²¹³¹⁴¹⁵
A fresh tooth fracture with visible pink or bleeding pulp: exceedingly painful, and the window for tooth-saving vital pulp therapy is about 24 to 48 hours.¹¹¹⁴¹⁵
Bleeding from the mouth that does not stop, or a cat that cannot close her mouth or swallow: oral trauma or severe stomatitis, needing immediate assessment and pain control.¹¹¹⁶¹⁷¹⁸¹⁹
After a dental procedure: trouble breathing, collapse, uncontrolled bleeding, or a cat that cannot be roused: the first hours after anesthesia are the highest-risk period.¹¹²⁰
A cat with a painful mouth who has stopped eating altogether needs same-day care; Chapter 4 explains why a cat must not go days without eating.¹¹¹²²¹¹⁶¹⁸

Chapter 3: Urinary and litter

Call your vet

Emergency, go now

A male cat straining to urinate and producing nothing, or only drops: this is the picture of urethral obstruction, which occurs almost exclusively in males and is life-threatening.²²²³²⁴
Repeated trips to the box with nothing coming out, with or without crying: unproductive straining is the most frequent presenting sign of a blockage.²²
A cat straining that you think is constipated: owners commonly mistake a blocked cat for constipation, and that mistake costs the hours that matter.²²²⁴
Straining plus vomiting, not eating, lethargy, hiding or weakness: once a blockage has lasted beyond about a day the cat becomes systemically ill, and these are the signs of that.²²
A cat found collapsed, cold, or breathing oddly, with any history of straining: severe prolonged obstruction presents collapsed, with a slow heart rate, low body temperature and shock.²²²⁴
A hard, tense, painful belly in a cat that has been straining: a distended painful bladder is the examination finding of a blockage.²²²⁴
Any cat that has not passed urine in 24 hours: waste products build up, potassium rises, and the sources put uraemia at 24 to 48 hours and death within roughly 24 to 72 hours of complete obstruction.²²²³²⁴

Chapter 4: Nutrition and weight

Call your vet

Emergency, go now

Yellow tinge to the ears, gums or whites of the eyes (jaundice), with or without drooling and refusing food: fatty liver or another liver crisis.²⁵²⁶
Pale or white gums, weakness, fast breathing, dark urine or collapse, especially 3 to 5 days after onion or garlic exposure: hemolytic anemia.²⁷
Tremors, seizures, a racing heart or severe restlessness after chocolate or caffeine.²⁸
Wobbling, severe weakness, coma or seizures after alcohol or raw dough.²⁹³⁰
A diabetic cat that is weak, wobbly, twitching, seizing or unresponsive: low blood sugar; follow your vet's instructions for sugar on the gums and go.³¹³²
A diabetic cat that is vomiting, refusing food, weak or collapsed, or with sweet or foul breath: ketoacidosis.³²³³
Repeated vomiting with blood, or vomiting plus a swollen or painful belly, or retching without producing anything: possible obstruction, including a swallowed bone or a hairball blockage.³⁴³⁵³⁶
Choking, gagging or pawing at the mouth after eating a bone or treat.³⁵³⁶
A raw-fed cat with breathing difficulty, tremors, incoordination, seizures or sudden blindness: possible H5N1 avian influenza.³⁷³⁸³⁹
The emergency card at the start of the course has every one in one place.

Chapter 5: Spay, neuter and heat

Call your vet

Emergency, go now

Hard, continuous straining for 20 to 30 minutes with no kitten: the sources' thresholds run from 20 minutes to 4 hours, and the shortest is the safe one.⁴⁰⁴¹⁴²
A kitten visible at the vulva that is not delivered within 10 minutes, or any kitten stuck part-way: a partly delivered kitten must be out within 10 to 20 minutes or it will die.⁴⁰⁴³
Green, black or foul-smelling discharge before the first kitten is born: a placenta has separated and a kitten is in trouble.⁴³⁴²
Fresh, continuous bleeding from the vulva for more than 10 minutes, or profuse bleeding at any point in labour.⁴⁴⁴⁰⁴²
More than 2 to 4 hours between kittens when more are clearly still coming, a rest longer than 4 to 6 hours with any sign of distress, or labour that has run past 24 hours.⁴⁴⁴³⁴¹⁴²
No kittens within 24 hours after the rectal temperature has dropped below 100°F (37.8°C, converted).⁴³
The mother collapsing, crying out in pain, feverish, lethargic, or biting at her vulva during labour: obvious pain or illness in the mother is a sign of a difficult birth.⁴⁰⁴³⁴²
An unspayed cat who is vomiting, collapsed, weak, or has a swollen painful belly: closed pyometra, with rupture risk.⁴³⁴⁵⁴⁶
A nursing mother with tremors, twitching, panting, stiffness, incoordination or seizures: low blood calcium, usually 3 to 5 weeks after the birth.⁴⁴⁴⁰
A dull, feverish mother who ignores her kittens and has a foul discharge within days of the birth: metritis.⁴⁰⁴³
After surgery: continuous dripping of blood or fluid from the incision, an incision that has opened, or any tissue showing.⁴⁷⁴⁸⁴⁹
A cat given a human painkiller (acetaminophen, ibuprofen, aspirin) by mistake.⁴⁸⁵⁰
A male cat straining in the litter box: a urinary blockage until proven otherwise, not a reproductive problem, and Chapter 3 covers it.

Chapter 6: Kittenhood

Call your vet

Emergency, go now

A kitten that is cold, limp, not nursing or lying apart from the litter: the fading pathway (cold, low sugar, dehydration) kills in hours; warm it slowly on the way and do not feed it until it is warm.⁵¹⁵²⁵³⁵⁴⁵⁵⁵⁶⁵⁷⁵⁸
A newborn with dark red-brown urine, yellow gums or skin, pallor or sudden weakness in the first days of life: neonatal isoerythrolysis, which is fatal within the first week in most cases.⁵⁶⁵⁷⁵⁹⁶⁰
A kitten that is stuporous, cannot be roused, or has tremors or seizures: low blood sugar or sepsis until proven otherwise.⁵⁶⁵⁷
Coughing, milk from the nose, gurgling or laboured breathing after a bottle feed: inhaled formula and aspiration pneumonia.⁵¹⁶¹⁵³⁶²
String, thread, ribbon, tinsel or elastic seen swallowed or hanging from the mouth or bottom, or vomiting after playing with string: never pull it, cut it at the mouth and go.⁶³⁶⁴⁶⁵⁶⁶
A fall from a window or balcony, even if the kitten walks afterwards.⁶⁷⁶⁸
A kitten found in a running dryer or washer, or any crush or electrical injury.⁶⁴⁶⁵⁶⁶
Any suspected poisoning (lily, medication, dog flea product, essential oil, antifreeze, cleaner): call on the way and do not make the kitten vomit unless told to.⁶⁴⁶⁵⁶⁹
A littermate dies suddenly: the rest of the litter and the mother need to be examined the same day.⁷⁰⁵²⁵⁴⁵⁵⁵⁶
Restlessness, panting, stiffness, tremors or seizures in a nursing queen: eclampsia, a mother's emergency that Chapter 5 covers.

Emergency, go now: every sign in one place

Chapter 1: Psychological

Chapter 2: Dental

Chapter 3: Urinary and litter

Chapter 4: Nutrition and weight

Chapter 5: Spay, neuter and heat

Chapter 6: Kittenhood

Sources

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