While no pet parent ever wants a visit to the emergency vet, life can happen and sometimes it is unavoidable. While occasionally the recommendation is due to limited capacity at your primary vet, sometimes it’s because an ER will be better equipped to manage a critical case due to specialized equipment and a triage based schedule.

We recommend local emergency hospitals such as Veterinary Emergency Group, for most situations or MedVet Chicago if your pet has special needs such as cardiology or neurology. If your cat is alert, responsive and appears relatively comfortable, feel free to call us or an ER hospital for recommendations on next steps.

The Top 5 Cat Emergencies That Can't Wait Are:

1. Urinary obstruction of a male cat, typically referred to as a “blocked” cat, is where there is a plug of either mucous, crystals, or stones that blocks the urethra in a male cat and prevents them from urinating. Typically the signs you would see at home would be straining to urinate, vocalizing while trying to urinate and blood in the urine. This can progress by causing the cat to become very lethargic and experience loss of appetite. Urinary blockage can cause them to get very sick and if untreated long enough can cause severe kidney disease and cardiac abnormalities. Most of these episodes are NOT due to a UTI (infection) but are usually a sterile inflammation of the bladder due to stress. The best way to prevent it is enticing them to drink a lot of water, adding more litter boxes, and addressing any underlying stressors in the home.
2. Intoxications can come in many different forms but the most common and severe intoxications would be xylitol (artificial sweetener common in gum), lilies, grapes, chocolate, antifreeze, over the counter human pain medication, and rat poison. The clinical signs from these can vary but most will cause liver or kidney failure so look for general lethargy, vomiting, and not eating - you don’t want to wait for these symptoms to appear before seeking veterinary attention if at all possible. If an ingestion is suspected, the best thing a pet owner can do is to try to determine the exact amount ingested and call the Animal Poison Control Center who can give them specific instructions for help. Even if you go to the vet, most veterinarians will want to know what Animal Poison Control recommended so it never hurts to call them as your first step. For any ingestion, early detection and intervention is going to be the most helpful. Specific treatment depends on what the pet ate but can range from inducing them to vomit or more intensive hospitalization.
3. Difficulty breathing is another thing that can have a variety of causes but should be seen by a vet immediately. It could be due to something stuck in the windpipe, heart issues, trauma, or infection (pneumonia). What to look for at home that indicates respiratory distress would be having loud exaggerated breathing, open mouth breathing in a cat, using their abdomen to help breathe and extending their neck. Treatment often involves giving supplemental oxygen and treating the underlying cause.
4. Complete paralysis or loss of feeling in the back legs should be seen ASAP. Warning signs can include a “wobbly” gait or toe dragging. The most common cause in cats can be related to a clot that has formed in their back legs from heart disease. This issue can sometimes be treated with pain meds or surgery and the sooner they are evaluated the better chance they have to recover completely.
5. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a heart disease in our feline friends that causes the ventricular walls to thicken thus decreasing the efficiency of the heart function. Signs include abnormal heart sounds, difficulty breathing, weak pulse and loss of appetite. 

We hope you found these tips useful and that they help keep your cat happy and healthy! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out. We are always here for you and your cats. 

Always at Their Service,

BLVD Cat

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