Dogs: is this an emergency?

Most things that look frightening in a dog are not emergencies, and a few things that look mild are. This page sorts the signs by how long you have. It does not diagnose anything — it tells you whether to drive now, call today, or write it down and watch.

Go now

Do not wait for morning. Drive, or call ahead and drive.

Retching repeatedly and bringing up nothing, restless, drooling, belly tight

Bloat — the stomach fills with gas and twists. Blood flow is cut off and the dog goes into shock. The belly is not always visibly swollen, especially in deep-chested or thick-coated dogs, so do not wait for that. Merck records that signs lasting more than 6 hours before the dog is examined significantly worsen the outcome. Dogs over 40 kg have around 148 times the odds of dogs under 10 kg. With prompt surgery roughly 4 in 5 survive — waiting is what kills.

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Struggling to breathe

Open-mouth breathing that is not normal panting, blue or gray gums or tongue, neck stretched out with elbows pointed away from the body, or heavy belly movement with each breath. Cornell's guidance is that if you are unsure whether it counts as distress, go anyway.

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Pale or white gums

Press a finger on the gum until it goes white, let go, and count. Color should return in 1 to 2 seconds. Longer than 2 seconds means poor circulation — shock, blood loss or severe dehydration. White gums mean blood loss or anemia. Blue or muddy means severe lack of oxygen.

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A seizure lasting more than 5 minutes, or more than one in 24 hours

Five minutes is the point at which a seizure stops being a seizure and becomes a medical emergency in its own right. Do not put your hands near the mouth and do not restrain — time it instead.

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Straining to urinate and producing nothing

A blocked urethra means waste and potassium cannot leave the body. The American College of Veterinary Surgeons states plainly that dogs with a complete obstruction will die within days if it is not relieved.

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Hit by a car, even with no visible injury

Blunt trauma causes internal bleeding, organ damage and lung bruising with nothing showing on the outside. A dog can look fine for a period and then decompensate. Every trauma case needs assessing.

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Bleeding that will not stop

Firm direct pressure with a clean cloth for at least 3 full minutes. If blood soaks through, add another layer on top — do not lift the first one off, because that pulls the clot away with it.

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Collapse, or a temperature of 105°F or above in heat

Heatstroke. Cornell puts the line at 105°F. Start cooling before and during the journey rather than waiting until you arrive — delay before cooling begins makes the outcome worse.

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Anything you think was poison

Do not make the dog vomit unless a vet or a poison line tells you to. For some substances vomiting causes more damage on the way back up. Take the packaging with you.

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Be seen today

Call your vet for an appointment today, not next week.

Vomiting or diarrhea for more than a day, or any blood in either

Dehydration builds quietly, and blood means something is bleeding or inflamed.

Not eating for 24 hours

A dog that skips one meal is usually fine. A dog that skips a day is telling you something.

Suddenly lame, or will not put a foot down

Could be a soft tissue strain, could be a fracture or a cruciate tear.

Squinting, rubbing, or a cloudy eye

Eyes go from treatable to permanently damaged faster than most owners expect.

A hot, swollen or painful lump

Abscesses spread. Bite wounds seal over the top and get worse underneath.

Watch and write it down

Not an emergency. Note when it started and how often, and raise it at the next appointment.

Reverse sneezing

Sudden violent snorting inhalations that sound awful and stop on their own. Cornell: for most dogs these are sporadic and mild and need no treatment.

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One seizure under 5 minutes with a full recovery

Book a normal appointment. It needs looking into, not an overnight drive.

Kennel cough with no other signs

Honking cough, otherwise bright and eating. Routine appointment.

Gradual stiffness in an older dog

Worth a proper appointment about pain control, not an emergency run.

What normal looks like

Sources vary a little on these — Merck, Cornell and UC Davis all cluster around the same figures without matching exactly. Treat them as a band, not a line.

On the way

• Call aheadSo they can be ready when you arrive rather than starting from scratch. Say the species, the age, what you have seen and when it started.
• Take the packagingIf a substance is involved. Treatment for rat poison depends entirely on which of the five types it is, and you cannot tell from the color of the bait.
• Write down the timeWhen it started, how long a seizure lasted, when they last ate, when they last passed anything. You will not remember accurately once you are there.
• Keep the carrier dark and quietEspecially for birds, rabbits and cats. Stress alone makes a breathing problem worse, and in a bird in real distress the handling itself can kill.

What not to do

• Do not make them vomitNot unless a vet or a poison line has told you to. Salt can poison them, oil can go into the lungs, and for caustic substances it does more damage coming back up than it did going down.
• Do not give human painkillersOne regular acetaminophen tablet can kill an average cat. Ibuprofen ulcerates the stomach and damages the kidneys in both dogs and cats.
• Do not pull anythingNot string from a cat, not a stuck feather, not prolapsed tissue. Cut string if there is slack, keep tissue moist, and let a vet do the rest.
• Do not put your hands near the mouth during a seizureThey cannot control biting. Time it instead, and move furniture out of the way.
• Do not wait to see if it improves overnightThat sentence is on this page because it is the most common thing owners say afterwards.

Last reviewed October 2026. Written and maintained by Petdeals.io. General care information, not veterinary advice — for a sick animal, call a vet.