So many posts that should really be a phone call

Sigma Force

So many posts are for animals that are very obviously ill and need veterinary care.

If an animal appears to be under the weather, is vomiting a lot, has a severe case of the runs, has blood in it's poop or wee, smells badly either from the rear or head or just in general appears to be unwell take it to the vet straight away don't wait for answers from a forum.

Posts can always be made after you have been to the vets, if an animal is seriously ill then don't waste time posting and go straight to the vets.

Especially with small animals like guineas and rabbits and birds etc these types of animals go down very very quickly they are very good at hiding their illness so when they do show signs they are usually much more ill than they appear.

Hope mods don't mind me posting this it's just so important to see a qualified vet when an animal is very ill, then use the board to discuss the illness afterwards or ask for hints and tips on how to make an animal more comfortable etc etc.

Not meaning to offend anyone but don't mind if I do if it means at least one person who has an ill animal takes this on board and takes the animal to the vet straight away.

Small animals are very vunerable and time is of the essence with them when they are ill.

zeusnero

Good post OP - I know in my experience my pet rabbit was fine one day, took ill the next and died. Very sad but at least now I'll know to bring my next rabbit to the vet asap if anything is remotely wrong

pokerkingsni

True enough. However not the case for everyone. If the dog crawls in with his head hanging off the last thing anyone is going to do is post up here and hit the refresh button till someone tells them to get to the vet.

The reason why people post up with minor ailments is to see if there is anything that can be done without using a vet. There is a site i use often to do this and fully qualified vets post up there all the time to stop people bringing their pets to the vet everytime the pet sneezes.

Dont get me wrong op, im not taking offence here and having a go, I think you're making a lot of sense saying if you pet is passing blood, throwing up, not eating etc the best thing to do is go to the vet straight away, but looking for a bit of advice from fellow pet owners on a forum for something minor seems an ok thing to do.

carwash_2006

With a healthy dog or cat, yes, it can be fine to wait till the morning and see how they are. If I just had a sore tummy or a bad cold I wouldn't rush off to the doctor, but when you have a cat or dog demonstrating that they aren't feeling well it can be scarey. However I would never post anywhere that someone shouldn't check that with a vet, if the animal turned out to be sicker than was thought the person could feel very badly towards teh person that posted they needn't bother going to the vet.

With small animals people really should not waste time with posting on a site for advice. Rabbits, birds, generally small animals will hide their symptoms for quite a while, so when they display to their owner that they are not well things are usually very serious. You have to remember that these specious are prey animals and if they were to be in the habit of letting on when they were sick they would not last long.

I am very lucky in that my vets have an after hours service and are very good about giving advice over the phone and deciding if an animal absolutely needs to be seen now or if it will wait till the morning, I am reasonably happy to take a vets recommendation of this or someone I know. I would not be comfortable taking advice on my animals health in an emergency situation from someone who I had no idea of their credentials. For a situation during veterinary hours I would just take the animal straight in anyway. What's 50 euro for your pets health?

Sigma Force

I'm not talking about posts like my dog has fleas what's the best flea drop to use I'm talking about posts that are so obviously serious that they need a vets attention and even after they are told to get vet attention they still keep posting instead of rushing off to the vet.

Sometimes there aren't emergency vets to hand or people have to wait for a vet but you normally have to travel to the surgery so this takes time so time is of the essence when talking about small animals. You cannot delay at all.

Golden rule with exotics and other small vunerable animals is if in doubt take to the vets.

BlackCat2008

I have to say I agree, I've posted in a few treads now were people are nearly telling you there pets are on there last breath and should they take them to a vet ? hello animal not moving, can't stand, just been hit by a car take them to a vet asap. For small prey animals and cats this is right they can be sick for days or even weeks before they give in and show any sign of illness even the most experienced can sometime miss the signs. I radder hear" I just had my pet at the vet what do you think of this " then "they seem to have trouble breathing and there's blood every were to you think this is a cause for concern ?" yes post if the vet can't find anything wrong and someone may recognize what it is or this is the first I've heard of this when I went to the vet ? asap means just that asap.

Is it possible to put up a sticky for vets and emergency vets round the country so people don't have to wait for answers and have the info at hand ?

I have a first aid book for cats and dogs and would be willing to get the vet to check it out and make sure the info is correct and post it if that could also go on a sticky and anyone who nows first aid for other animals could do the same ? Would this be aloud Mods ?

Orlee

v good point