Dr. Katelyn Lang, of midCities Animal Hospital, and her dogs, Rufus, have some information about clinical signs pet owners should not ignore. “First, we’ll talk about our cats. Cats are historically very stoic animals. Some things that you can look for to know that your cat is struggling is going to be open mouth breathing, to start. That typically suggests that they’re struggling either with their heart or their lungs.”

Another sign Dr. Lang says to watch for is any urinary indiscretions. “Another thing about cats, sometimes they have some urinary indiscretions that are actually emergent and not something that is just a urinary tract infection. Our male cats are very predisposed to block what we call blocking. So blocking for us means that they have something that is obstructing them, urinating normally. So straining in the litter box is definitely something that warrants an emergency visit.”

Dr. Lang also shares some clinical signs to keep in mind for dog owners. “I’m going to start with vomiting. Once off vomiting isn’t usually something that we’re overly concerned about, but say four times in the last 4 hours definitely constitutes an emergency veterinary visit. Another emergency in our dogs that typically show vomiting is retching where they look like they want to vomit but are unable to.”

midCities Animal Hospital is currently running a special. All new clients get $60 off their first visit. Learn more at their Website.