Hanson-Meekins Animal Hospital

SOME SUMMERTIME EMERGENCIES

Hit by Car, Heatstroke, Porcupine Quills

May / June 2011

In the summer months we are seeing more of the sun as the day are longer and the temperature rises. As the weather gets better, a lot more people are taking walks on their favorite hiking routes with their pets. And for that reason, veterinary hospitals see more emergency cases in the spring and summer. The three most common emergencies seen in our area are the following (in no particular order), and here is what you need to do in case it happens to you and your pet.

Hit by Car

The first thing that you want to do when your pet is hit by a car is to call your veterinarian and let him know that you are coming into the hospital with a hit by car emergency. It is imperative that you do this first because it gives us enough time to prepare and start treatment as soon as you arrive. Signs of an animal that was hit by a car can be as minor as a simple limp to a life threatening open fracture, and so it is important for your veterinarian to see your pet regardless of the severity of the emergency. In the wild, most animals mask their pain and hide their injuries as they are a sign of weakness and are soon killed or predated on. Most hit by car patients come into the clinic with multiple fractures, head trauma, and a ruptured bladder which causes severe pain! Our goal is to minimize the amount of trauma, and pain, to your pet, so it is very important for you to exercise caution when bringing your pet in to the hospital. Please use a muzzle and many blankets to protect yourself and your pet from further injury.

In order to prevent a hit by car emergency include, but are not limited to:

1. Keep cats housed indoors
2. Walk dogs on a leash at all times
3. Check your fences and other enclosure systems frequently for damage or holes
4. Do not allow your dogs to sleep or lie in driveways
5. If your dog escapes unleashed, then DO NOT chase it as it triggers your dog’s instinct to run away.

Heat Stroke (Hyperthermia)

Hyperthermia refers to an elevation of the core body temperature, which may be a life threatening condition that needs immediate treatment. A dog’s normal body temperature is 100°F to 102.5°F and when the body temperature is above 105°F, it is commonly regarded as a hyperthermia.

There are several causes of hyperthermia

    I. Excessive muscle fasciculations:

1.  Status epilepticus
2. Metaldehyde intoxication (Snail bait),
3. Hypocalcemic tetany

   II. Excessive external heat/inadequate heat dissipation:

1. Exposure to high ambient temperatures.
2. Vigorous exercise

  III. Endogenous pyrogens:

1. Sepsis (Severe infection and inflammation)

Heatstroke generally occurs in hot summer weather when dogs are left with inadequate ventilation in hot cars.  A recent study from Stanford University Medical Center found the temperature within a car may increase by an average of 40°F within one hour regardless of the outside temperature.  If your dog displays excessive panting, collapse, inability to rise, vomiting or diarrhea when found in enclosed areas (for example: inside of a car), what you want to do is remove him from the environment and move to a shaded area. Then, place towels soaked in cool water around the neck, armpit area, groin area and place a fan directly in front of your pet.  Again, the best option is to transport your pet to a veterinary hospital since intravenous fluid is an effective way of cooling a patient off. DO NOT, however, use ice water or water that is extremely cold because although you might feel a significant drop in temperature of the skin, you might also be increasing the internal temperature. What happens is as you apply cold water, the blood vessels in the skin constrict which then creates an insulation layer of tissue that keeps the internal body temperature high. So PLEASE use tap water to cool down your pet! It is also imperative that your do not cool your pet down too much as there can also be a danger of hypothermia.

 Porcupine Quills

We tend to see more porcupine emergencies as our hiking trails become drier and less muddy. An increase in outdoor activity leads to more porcupine emergencies as porcupines do not hibernate and are around for the entire year. We would all feel awful if we saw one of our pets with a face full of porcupine quills.

Again, here is another emergency where your need to call your doctor ahead of time to minimize the amount of pain your pet is experiencing. Porcupine quills tend to migrate and go in deeper so it is imperative that you call before coming in.

Porcupine quills have barbs or backward facing hooks making them difficult to pull out and they only go in with times. If you try to pluck them out manually at home, you could break the quills, which end up resulting in leaving the broken parts inside of the body.