A couple of years ago, G. Praneta’s dog, Pooch, swallowed naphthalene balls. It was after 10 p.m., and her vet was not available on call. Unsure of what to do, she spent a restless night panicking, and had to wait till morning before taking Pooch to another vet.
“The doctor told us that we were lucky that they could save the dog, and that we should have gone to the veterinary hospital in the night. Unfortunately, none of us knew that it was even open late,” Praneta explains. After the incident, they have ensured that they have contacts of more than one veterinarian, and have now gotten the contact of a pet ambulance service as well.
For many pet owners, however, the problem is that they do not know what to do in case of a medical emergency. In fact, for a variety of medical issues pets may face — whether it is swallowing poison, nose bleeds, problems while giving birth or breathing difficulty — there is help at hand around the clock in the city.
Until a few years ago, only the veterinary college in Vepery had a 24-hour clinic to deal with emergencies, but now private players, too, are realising the importance of emergency pet care. According to Glennie Samuel, Practice Manager Heart2Heart Veterinary Hospital in Santhome, the awareness, however, among pet owners is very low. “Many of them do not know that there are 24-hour facilities, while others do not take pet emergencies as seriously as they should,” he adds.
Lakshmi Kripa Jagannathan, veterinarian at the hospital, says the main cases they see at night are animals involved in road traffic accidents, animals with underlying diseases that go into crisis, and nose bleeds. “If they are brought in early, it is possible to save the lives of many animals,” she says.
At the Resident Veterinary Services Section – Emergency And Critical Care Unit at TANUVAS, they see around 20 small animals, and 10 large animals every day. “We do not have an ambulance service, so the owners will have to bring the animals. Once they are here, we ensure that we give them the best care possible, and even emergency surgeries are performed late at night,” a senior doctor said.
The most common cases that come in at night are road traffic accidents and cases of dystocia, where there are problems while the animal is giving birth, he adds.
The Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, too, is planning to start a 24-hour clinic at their centre in Vepery. “The clinic should be running by October,” R. Sokkalingam, veterinarian at the SPCA says.
According to a senior veterinarian at TANUVAS, there are very few people who have exotic animals, so there are not many doctors who specialise in them. “We see many animals that come in after the owners have attempted to treat them based on advice they get on the internet, and then come to us when the animal is critical. At our centre, we are able to care for most exotics,” he says.
Although Chennai is catching up in terms of medical care for pets, there is still a long way to go, veterinarians feel. “Although there are many centres with testing labs, X-Rays and ultrasounds, there are no centres that offer MRI scans and CT scans for pets. If any of our animals need an MRI scan, we send them to human scan centres,” Dr. Jagannathan adds.
What to do in case of emergencies for your dogs/cats
In case of a road accident,
If you suspect broken bones, do not move the animal too much. Bring her to hospital as soon as possible
For smaller injuries, try applying cotton pad on injury and bandage
Ice fomentation also helps reduce swelling.
Nose bleeds
Try ice packs
Try and calm the animal down
Elevate her head
Poisoning
Induce vomiting. The most common way is to administer Hydrogen Peroxide orally. Check with the vet for the dosage for your pet
Breathing difficulty
Try not to stress out the animal
Keep the animal in a cool environment, like an air-conditioned room
Dystocia (Obstructed labour): Do not try and sort the problem, bring her in to the vet immediately.
24-Hour emergency care is available at:
TANUVAS – Resident Veterinary Services Section - Emergency And Critical Care Unit
Heart 2 Heart 24-hour emergency: Call: 044-6858 5885
