Pet Leg Injuries What to do

HOPE TO BE BACK TO HOUSECALLS AFTER AUGUST 7, 2019 🚑👍.                        Your pet is suddenly limping and/or holding up a leg or can’t get up. What do you do ?  Does my pet need immediate veterinary emergency help ?  Can I wait until morning or later ?  Can I wait a few days and see how it goes ?      CAN’T GET UP AT ALL :   If your pet appears in pain (crying, yelping, meowing nonstop, etc) or bleeding or something else very obvious your pet probably needs emergency ASAP Veterinary attention.   Trying to move them and get them into a car could  cause them to snap at you out of fear and/or pain. A housecall vet can save a lot of trouble in these cases.  But if not an option, blankets and towels can serve as makeshift gurneys for carrying many pets.  A large travel cage is the best option if possible.    Towels can also be good to wrap them in to carry and keep steady as well as placed over their heads to ease their fear and hopefully keep their teeth out of you if a muzzle is not an option.                          MY PET SEEMS GENERALLY OK BUT IS LIMPING OR NON WEIGHT-BEARING ON A LEG :     Treating this the same way as above is never a mistake. Getting them seen by your vet can prevent the worsening of injuries.  That being said , sometimes, like with people, your pet may have just jumped/landed awkwardly and gotten a slight sprain.  This is where an extra large travel cage comes in.  Your pet’s injury/strain is immediately safer if they have to lie down and take it easy. Sometimes all it takes is a few hours or less and they might be fine.   Just like us sometimes they stub their toes, bang their knee on something, or take a bad step and just need to take it easy for a little while.  If things don’t seem to improve with a little cage rest (or close them off in a small room if no cage available at that moment) or seem worse…it’s probably time to call the housecall vet or get to the vet.    Hope it’s nothing serious !   Good luck, Dr Thomas M. Pickard VMD.     Call Allpets Housecalls 215-843-1780