Emergency signs you should never ignore
Symptoms that mean it's time to call your vet right away.
Pets are built to hide illness. A cat that feels terrible will sit quietly in another room, and a dog in real pain will often still wag its tail and eat. That instinct made sense in the wild and it works against them now, because by the time an animal is obviously unwell, the problem is usually not new. The signs below are the ones where waiting until tomorrow changes the outcome. If you see any of them, phone the clinic and come in.
## Breathing trouble
This is the top of the list because it has the least margin. Fast, laboured breathing; a pet that stands with elbows out and neck stretched forward to open the airway; a belly heaving with each breath; gums or tongue turning grey, blue or purple; breathing through an open mouth in a cat. Any of these is an emergency now, not after a wait-and-see hour.
Carry the animal rather than making it walk, keep it calm, and do not force its mouth open to look — struggling costs oxygen it does not have.
## Straining to urinate, especially in a male cat
A male cat crouching in the litter tray, straining repeatedly, producing nothing or a few drops, crying, licking at himself, restless — treat this as a blocked bladder until a vet says otherwise. It is one of the few conditions where a matter of hours genuinely decides whether the animal lives. A complete blockage causes the kidneys to shut down and potassium to rise until the heart stops, typically within a day or two. Owners often read the straining as constipation and wait. Do not wait. This is a same-hour visit.
## A hard, swollen belly with unproductive retching
A large or deep-chested dog that is restless and pacing, drooling, trying to vomit and bringing nothing up, with an abdomen that looks bloated and feels tight — this pattern suggests the stomach has twisted (GDV). It is surgical, it is fast, and dogs die of it in hours. Do not offer food or water and do not wait to see if it settles. Come immediately.
## Bleeding that does not stop
Apply firm pressure with a clean cloth and hold it — do not lift every few seconds to check. Keep pressure on all the way to the clinic. Blood in vomit, black tarry stool, or blood coming from the nose or mouth with no visible injury also needs same-day assessment.
## Seizures
A first-ever seizure, one lasting more than two or three minutes, or several in a row are all emergencies. During a seizure, do not put your hands near the mouth — an animal in seizure cannot control its jaws and will bite without meaning to, and it cannot swallow its tongue. Move furniture away, dim the lights and noise, note the time, and film it if you can; the video is genuinely useful to us. Then come in.
## Suspected poisoning
Bring the packet, plant or substance with you if you possibly can — knowing exactly what it was changes the treatment. Common ones we see: rat poison, antifreeze, human painkillers (ibuprofen and paracetamol are both dangerous to pets and paracetamol is severe in cats), grapes and raisins, xylitol sweetener, chocolate, onion and garlic, and lilies, which cause kidney failure in cats from tiny exposures.
**Do not make your pet vomit unless a vet tells you to.** With caustics and petroleum products, bringing it back up causes a second round of burns to the throat and risks it going into the lungs. Home remedies like salt water or hydrogen peroxide cause their own injuries. Phone us first.
## Trauma, even when they look fine
After a road accident, a fall from a balcony or height, a fight with a bigger dog, or a crush injury, an animal can walk away and still have internal bleeding, a ruptured bladder, a diaphragmatic tear or a punctured lung. Cats falling from balconies is common in Batumi's apartment blocks, and “he landed on his feet and seems normal” is not reassurance. Bite wounds in particular look trivial: small punctures that close over the top while crushing and infecting the tissue underneath. All of these need examining the same day.
## Collapse, or gums that lose colour
Sudden weakness or inability to stand, a distended abdomen with pale gums, or a pet that is cold, quiet and unresponsive suggests internal bleeding or circulatory shock. Press a fingertip against the gum: it should blanch and refill with colour within about two seconds. Gums that are white, brick red, yellow or slow to refill are a reason to come in now.
## The quieter ones that still mean today
Not every emergency is dramatic. A cat that has not eaten for 24 hours needs seeing — cats that fast damage their livers quickly. A pet that has not urinated in a day. Repeated vomiting or diarrhoea, especially in a puppy or kitten, where dehydration arrives fast. Urine the colour of tea or cola, which suggests destroyed red blood cells and, in this region, often tick-borne babesiosis. A distressed animal that cannot settle in any position. A birth where a mother has been straining more than half an hour without producing a kitten or puppy. And an eye that is suddenly cloudy, held shut or painful — eyes lose ground in hours, not days.
## Before you need it
Save our number in your phone now, not during the emergency. Know how you would get to us at two in the morning. Keep a carrier accessible, so you are not chasing a frightened cat around the flat with a cardboard box. If a pet is in pain, muzzle a dog if you can do it safely and wrap a cat firmly in a towel — pain makes normally gentle animals bite, and it is not a betrayal of trust to protect yourself.
And if you are reading this list unsure whether what you are seeing counts: call. Describing it to us takes two minutes and costs nothing. We would far rather tell you it can wait until morning than see it too late.