Have you ever wondered what veterinary critical care is and when your pet's illness or injury would be considered an emergency? Here, our Nashua vets define animal critical care and explain which circumstances are classified as a pet emergency.
Understanding Critical Care for Pets
Like people, your pet will need critical services if they sustain serious trauma or injury, or are suffering from severe infection.
Heart, kidney, liver, or respiratory failure also warrant this type of care. Urinary tract obstruction, heat stroke, ingestion of toxins, or seizures are also on this list depending on the severity of the condition and its symptoms.
You'll find intensive or critical care services for animals at some veterinary hospitals. These services function similarly to a hospital's emergency wing, where ambulances take human patients.
While emergency care focuses on assessing patients for traumatic injuries, monitoring vital signs, stabilizing a patient and diagnosing the condition, critical care specialists treat critical, life-threatening emergencies and illnesses that require 24/7 monitoring.
Generally, critical care is available 24 hours a day in animal emergency hospitals. Since a pet emergency can be very distressing, owners should have a list of local hospitals on hand that they can call if an emergency were to occur.
Who can offer critical care to pets?
To perform critical care, vets need to have specific qualifications since this is a specialized veterinary service. Essential specialists of care at some veterinary hospitals are trained to care for pets who need emergency care for severe illnesses or injuries.
These critical care veterinarians possess the knowledge and tools needed to provide critical care for animals in need. A vet can examine your pet and, depending on your cat or dog's companion's condition, determine they need to stay in hospital overnight or provide detailed after-care instructions for you to follow at home.
Since critical animal care requires vets to specialize in this service, not every animal hospital offers emergency or critical care services.
For this reason, it's extremely important to know which animal hospitals offer emergency and 24-hour critical care services in your area, especially if your pet is experiencing a medical emergency. Even if you notice an emergency animal hospital offers 24-hour care, we strongly advise calling ahead to confirm a vet will be able to care for your pet when you arrive.
What to Expect When You Arrive at the ICU
Critically ill pets receive treatment in an animal intensive care unit (ICU). Here, vets provide advanced monitoring and treatment of injuries and illnesses.
When you arrive, a specialized emergency vet or the hospital's veterinary team will greet you. A veterinarian will examine your pet as soon as possible. Note that emergencies are 'triaged', meaning that the sickest patients must be seen first.
During your pet's stay in the ICU, several services are available and may be recommended depending on your pet's condition. These services include:
- CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation)
- Arterial blood gas test
- Continuous chest drainage
- Multimodal analgesia
- Long-term mechanical ventilation
- Parenteral nutrition
- Peritoneal dialysis
- Status epilepticus treatments
- Transfusion therapy
- Vasopressor therapy
Although this will undoubtedly be a very difficult time for you, you may find some peace of mind in knowing that your pet is being assessed and a trained veterinary team is initiating emergency stabilization procedures (involving administering oxygen and suitable pain management).
Critical care veterinarians are tasked with choosing the best treatment method based on your pet's needs and condition, then discussing the findings with you and offering options for further care as soon as possible. Any decisions about your pet's medical treatment will be made in collaboration with you and the veterinarian. Your primary vet will also be updated on your pet's care, diagnosis, and prognosis.
Note: The advice provided in this post is intended for informational purposes and does not constitute medical advice regarding pets. For an accurate diagnosis of your pet's condition, please make an appointment with your vet.