This document discusses veterinary emergency care for small animals. It defines emergency care as aiming to preserve life, protect the casualty, prevent further injury or pain, and promote recovery. For emergencies, priorities should follow DR ABC - assess and address dangers, response, airway, breathing, and circulation. Secondary surveys obtain history, check vital signs and note symptoms. Stabilization focuses on airway, breathing, and circulation through oxygen therapy, ventilation, hemorrhage control, and pain management before a detailed secondary exam. Common emergencies include accidents, poisoning, metabolic issues, and shock.

1. VETERINARY EMERGENCY CARE
IN SMALL ANIMALS
Presented by:
M’d Saleem
15-BVM-
103
College of Veterinary Animal Sciences,
Mannuthy
Dept of Teaching Veterinary Clinical Complex.

2. WHAT IS EMERGENCY CARE?
• Aims of emergency care are :
 To preserve life
 To protect the casualty
 To prevent further injury or pain
 To promote recovery
“Simple, effective management or care
given to casualty of injury or sudden
illness until more advanced care can be
provided.”

3. In the situation of an emergency
Priorities should be : DR ABC
D – Danger : remove the danger, or the cause of danger.
 R – Response : determine whether the casualty is conscious.
 A – Airway : ensure airway is clear.
 B – Breathing : if absent, expired air resuscitation needed
 C – Circulation : if absent, cardiopulmonary resuscitation required.

4. If a casualty is conscious….
The secondary survey is to :
Obtain history
 Check for vital signs
 Note symptoms

5. • Make wise decisions
(history via phone)
• must advise on initial
management and
transport procedure.
• Awareness on the
facility available in your
hospital & plan
accordingly
Phase I => FIRST AID

6. Key Factors
• Age & previous illness history
• time delay in instituting therapy
(right time)
• volume, dose, drug of choice (right
amount of drug)
• severity of the illness or injury
(right order)
The golden rule of emergency medicine is to
‘treat the most life-threatening problems first’

7. Phase II - Primary Survey or
Triage
• Triage is the art of assigning priority to the
condition of emergency patients via quick
and accurate initial assessment and making a
decision regarding the stability of the animal.

9. PARAMETERS
TO EVALUATE
Mucous
Membrane
Color
Inference
Pink
Normal PCV and
adequate perfusion
Pale or white
Anemia or shock
(circulatory)
Cyanotic
Severe hypoxemia
(respiratory)
Yellow Yellow

10. CAPILLARY
REFILL TIME
Time Inference
1–2 sec normal perfusion
>2 sec
poor perfusion
<1 sec hyperdynamic state

11. Heart Rate
• Bradycardia with powerful beats (hypercalcemia)
• Tachycardia with weak beats (septic shock, hypocalcemia/ lactic acidosis)
• Tachycardia with powerful beats (atropa alkaloids toxicity)
Status Inference
Normal
Normal cardiac output (only rate, not
volume)
Bradycardia Reduced rate
Tachycardia Increased rate

12. PULSE RATE
AND QUALITY
Alert and responsive
Normal overall
neurologic and
metabolic state
Depressed or
obtunded
Decreased perfusion
Seizures
Excitatory neurological
symptoms
Stupor (arousable only
with painful stimuli)
Severe neurological
problems
Comatose
(unarousable with any
stimuli)
Severe neurological
problems

13. PHASE III -
STABILIZATI
ON
Airway
and
Breathing
–
Obstructions (foreign
body/mucus/aspirated content)
Tracheal intubation, suction,
bronchoscope
Emergency tracheostomy
Oxygen therapy
Thoracocentesis, pleural disease
management
Furosemide, steroid, vasodilator –
lung parenchymal
Ikethamide, doxapram -
respiratory stimulants
Sedatives (narcotic/tranquilizer
combination)

14. Oxygen therapy should be given to all patients with compromised breathing.

15. CARDIO PULMONARY RESUSCITATION
• Mechanical ventilation & cardiac pumping
• Positive pressure ventilation
- Mouth-to-nose resuscitation
- Ventilation settings => 10 breaths/min; 10 ml/kg
inspiratory time of 1 sec
• Negative pressure ventilation
- External chest compression @ 100–120
compressions/min for cardiac pumping alter every 2
min with ventilation

16. PHASE II – INITIAL
STABILIZATION
Circulation
• shock management to ensure adequate perfusion
- internal (hemostatic drugs) or external hemorrhage
control
- intra vascular volume replacement (colloids &
crystalloids)
• pain control
• neurological stabilization

17. PHASE IV –
SECONDARY
SURVEY
Once animal is
stabilized, detailed
clinical examination can
be conducted and
treated more
systematically.

18. Accidents & trauma
Poisoning
metabolic alterations
mechanical obstructions
myocardial ishaemia
status epilepticus
septic shock, anaphylatic
reactions
heat stroke and hyperthermia
snake envenomation
COMMON
VETERINARY
EMERGENCIES

19. HOW YOU WILL PROCEED
TO MANAGE THIS CASE?