This is a charming, clever little video made by an American veterinary clinic called Alicia Pet Care Center. They describe themselves on TikTok as a ‘family owned, full-service vet hospital in Orange County, CA’. The video maker goes around the clinic asking each employee what they think is an illness symptom so serious that the pet needs immediate veterinary treatment. These are the eight chosen. This is not meant to be comprehensive. It is their opinion. But it is still useful. I have added some comments as a non-vet.
- Laboured breathing. [link] Head straight to the hospital. Comment: I am not a vet but this symptom might point to a foreign body in the larynx or poisoning and many other serious possibilities. It is potentially very serious and urgent.
- Cat straining to urinate in the box or out of the box. Bring him in right away. Potential blocked urethra which is serious indeed life threatening and it can cause kidney damage.
- Distended abdomen. [link] Comment: many possible reasons including intestinal blockage.
- Unproductive retching like coughing or hacking up but nothing is coming out especially for German Shepherds or Great Danes.
- Facial swelling. Comment: this might be a reference to facial cancer. Or perhaps a bad abscess and/or a bad bacterial infection of the face.
- Seizures. [link] Serious neurological condition.
- Acute vomiting on a dog walk. Poisoning by mouth?
- Pale gums. [link] Comment: anemia. What she means I believe is that there is blood loss internally and/or externally which might be life-threatening. Fast vet attention is required.
Below is the video they made. It is downloadable from TikTok. Click the play button, bottom-left to play it. It is short.
A dog or cat owner should find this list useful. When an urgent vet visit is needed, delay can seriously jeopardise the animal’s health and threaten survival in the worst-case scenarios.
