Emergency conditions

Emergency conditions

The most common symptoms, which can be life-threatening, and for which, if the owner notices them, you should definitely consult a veterinarian:

  • hard breathing
  • weakness or collapse
  • inability to walk
  • severe pain
  • acute bleeding
  • trauma
  • inability to urinate and defecate
  • swollen or sore abdomen
  • disorientation and loss of consciousness
  • attacks
  • wounds and lacerations
  • persistent vomiting and diarrhea, especially with blood impurities
  • long-term symptoms of gastrointestinal tract disease
  • poisoning

Our way of working involves triage immediately upon arrival at our clinic so that those most vulnerable patients are spared waiting and thus prevent wasting time, which, in this case, can mean the difference between life and death.

In our clinic, as in any humane emergency center, priority is given to critical patients, regardless of the time of arrival, which sometimes means additional waiting for less critical patients. In such situations, we ask for your patience and keep in mind that if you wait a little longer for the reception, it only means that your pet is not currently life-threatening.

Considering that we are an urgent veterinary service, treatment, and care of the animal after the stabilization of the health condition and when the animal is out of danger, it continues with your chosen veterinarian.


Trauma in dogs and cats

Traumatic events such as traffic accidents, stab and stab wounds, falls from a height, fights between animals – are very common in an emergency veterinary clinic. The various conditions of the organism and the injuries that occur on that occasion require the immediate intervention of a veterinarian, and the availability of emergency care for animals at any time of the day or night is of great importance.


Bite wounds in dogs and cats

One of the most common reasons why dogs and cats come to the emergency room is the wounds caused by a “quarrel” with another known or unknown animal. In cats that live outside, either permanently or occasionally, clashes with other cats are frequent because of a partner (unless the animal has been neutered/sterilized) or because of territory.


Acute bleeding in dogs and cats

Depending on the place and source, bleeding can be divided into internal and external. The causes of bleeding can be various, most often in the case of trauma (car crashes, fights with other animals, falls from a height). Also, the location, source, and extent of bleeding will depend on the symptoms that the animal has, and in open bleeding, we will see the blood coming out directly from natural or acquired openings in the body, but if it is internal bleeding, we can only see signs of hemorrhagic and hypovolemic shock, and later in blood tests, we find anemia and hypoproteinemia.


Allergic reactions and anaphylactic shock in dogs and cats

Dogs and cats can be allergic to many substances. Allergies are divided into three main groups, and the manifestations include: allergies to flea saliva, food allergies, and atopic dermatitis. The changes that occur in these groups of allergens generally lead to minor or major changes in the skin and/or in the digestive system. For the treatment of the same, a detailed dermatological and allergological examination is required, as well as the determination of adequate therapy and the cause of the allergy.


Burns in dogs and cats

Burns in small animals are traumatic injuries that can lead to damage to a large area of skin, subcutaneous and muscle tissue, and cause metabolic disorders and disorders in the functioning of the organism as a whole. Thermal injuries represent serious mechanical damage to cells, often of all layers of the skin.


Heatstroke in dogs and cats

Overheating in dogs and cats in warm weather is not uncommon, especially in urban areas. Due to the more difficult control of thermoregulation and the fact that they are not able to cool down by sweating, they are more endangered than us when it comes to overheating. Animals often cannot be sheltered in an adequate place to cool down, but they can also be exposed to direct sunlight or high temperatures without human care without the possibility of adequate shelter (leaving in the car in the sun, tying in places directly exposed to sunlight).


Hypothermia and frostbite in dogs and cats

Hypothermia is a term that refers to heat loss to a greater extent than it is produced in the body. At the same time, the body temperature drops below the level that is optimal for homeothermic organisms. Hypothermia in animals can occur primarily as a consequence of exposure to low external temperatures when the body cannot maintain adequate body temperature through physiological processes. Secondarily, hypothermia occurs as a consequence of serious systemic diseases or injuries, as well as due to the action of drugs, where the body is not able to maintain a normal body temperature, regardless of the fact that the ambient temperature is not low.


Attacks in dogs and cats

Seizures are defined as involuntary behaviors that occur due to abnormal brain activity. Basically, one abnormal impulse “provokes” a number of other abnormal impulses and activities in the brain. The severity and duration of an attack depend on the amount of signals that propagate through the brain, as well as the speed and ability of the central nervous system to bring the whole process under control and stop the attacks.


Loss of consciousness (syncope) in dogs and cats

Syncope is a sudden short-term loss of consciousness with loss of postural tone, after which the animal, as a rule, fully recovers spontaneously. The term presyncope is a term that describes the weakness of the hind limbs, generalized weakness, ataxia, or disturbance of consciousness. It most often occurs as a consequence of compromised cerebral circulation. One of the main reasons for the occurrence of syncope is heart rhythm disorder (arrhythmias).


Difficulty breathing in dogs and cats

The first steps in stabilizing urgent patients are checking the patency of the airways and establishing a normal breathing pattern. If these parameters are not within the physiological limits, the intervention of a veterinarian and emergency help to the patient is necessary. Regardless of the reason for the difficulty in breathing, the patient needs oxygen therapy in order to stabilize himself and in order to enable further examination and diagnosis.


Ingestion of foreign objects in dogs and cats

Dogs and cats are curious animals and it often happens, which is more true for dogs than for cats, that they eat an object that is not intended for food. Often an ingested object passes easily through the esophagus but is retained either in the stomach or in the small intestine. There are also certain foreign bodies that can get stuck in the esophagus itself. Symptoms that accompany swallowing a foreign body are persistent vomiting, loss of appetite, general weakness, absence of defecation, or a small amount of liquid feces. Removal of a foreign body from the stomach and intestines is performed surgically, while some foreign bodies from the esophagus can be removed endoscopically.


Persistent vomiting and diarrhea in dogs and cats

Najčešći razlog za dolazak životinja u veterinarsku ambulantu su problemi sa gastrointestinalnim traktom. Simptomi oboljenja digestivnog sistema su veoma slični, bez obzira na etiologiju oboljenja. Razlozi za nastanak problema digestivnog trakta su brojni i mogu biti jednostavni, koji se ogledaju u jedenju hrane koja se teže vari u crevima i dovodi do blagih promena, preko infektivnih uzročnika, kao što su virusi, bakterije, paraziti, gljivice, ali i mnoga komplikovana i ozbiljna oboljenja, kao što su neoplazije i imunološka oboljenja digestivnog trakta.


Inability to urinate and defecate in dogs and cats

Difficult or disabled urination in dogs and cats occurs for several reasons, and one of the most common is obstruction of the urinary tract by urinary stones or crystals. In cats, urethral obstruction, which results in inability or difficulty urinating, belongs to a syndrome called FLUTD (Feline lower urinary tract disease) and is common in veterinary practice.