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FAO: Emergeny and non-emergency questions:?

To all those who post questions on this site regarding sick or injured animals:

If it is a routine question that is NOT considered life-threatening then fair enough. General enquiries like: "what should I feed my dog?", or "he/she's a bit off colour..." along with little cuts and scratches after a run-in with something nasty etc can be answered in Yahoo Answers.

It is no different than obtaining the information required by purchasing a specific book an first aid for your pet.

BUT: If your question is potentially LIFE-THREATENING, i.e: "My dogs throwing up all over the place", "has had smelly/runny poo for a week", "is finding it difficult to give birth to her puppies", is "bleeding heavily from a bad cut", or more recently posted "my dog ate razor blades - what should I do?" then in these circumstances DO NOT sit on this site waiting for answers - SEEK IMMEDIATE EXPERT ADVICE from a veterinary surgeon.
NOTE: It is ILLEGAL for any animal medical proffesional (Veterinary Surgeon / Veterinary Nurse) in the UK to make or suggest a diagnosis, and/or suggest a form of treatment for the animal in question. It contravenes the RCVS (Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons) Code of practice.

Minor ailments are fair enough and general advice can be given for most things. But if you (the owner) are in any doubt whatsoever regarding the severity / nature of the ailment, then again, DO NOT wait to seek advice from here, but consult your Veterinary Practice as soon as possible.
Mr Ps Person: Yes I'm afraid there is always that scenario to consider as well. Too many people wanting a "quick fix - one answer suits all". The number one rule that goe before obtaining ANY animal, is can you provide the correct care for it. This should not just be answered "yeah, I can feed it and walk it and give it a roof over its' head..." but to take the cost of Veterinary treatment when appropriate / neccessary.

When folk start putting money worries before the animals welfare, then it's time to consider whether or not that person should consider keepeing that animal. You can always ask the Vet to open an account or payment scheme, register with the PDSA or some similar scheme. And if, at the end of the day, you HAVE taken all this advice, and a trip to the vet has turned out to be a false alarm, at leat you have peace of mind that you acted responsibly, and given the animal the benefit of the doubt. All to often, animals can "hide" symptoms until it's sometimes too late.
My apologies for the spelling mistakes...
Edit 2: For "happy camper" and "Joanne"...

happycamper - I'm afraid I wasn't referring to "confiscation of animals". The content of my posting is self explanatory, and stresses to the owner(s) that if they STILL cannot afford (after all means exhausted) to provide treatment for the animal in question, then it would be wise to offer it up for adoption/rehoming/sale etc. Confiscation is a last resort, and usually has resulted in the RSPCA or other humane society getting involved due to the exhaustion of financial means or a change in owners circumstances.

Joanne - I'm sorry I have not read your rabbit question, but can I stress that you are not included as a "bad question poster or a bad animal owner". In fact, from what you've written here, the complete opposite in fact. You sought the help from a Vet, and (though it does happen) they were at a loss as to what to do. Thumbs up from me. And thanks to all who agreed with me.

I also DO realise you can't police an open forum.

Public Comments

1. do u feel better after that little rant and moan..tho i do agree with you

2. well said.

3. Here here, well said!

4. Hi
WOW! calm down, this sites for everyone regardless.
Ray. West York's. U.K.
It may be that people will take their pets to the vet, to come on here and talk about it with us helps to ease their worry, if you don't like the questions nobody's making you read it or even answer it.

5. DUH!!!! That would cost MONEY!!!!!!! How do expect people to actually SPEND money on their pets when they can get medical advice here??????

Gosh, the greatest advice comes from here!!! Motor Oil for mange, burning a tick off with a lighter, giving tylenol to you cats and dogs, yanking out stuck puppies.......the list goes on and on!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6. Totally agree... the worst thing is that it isn't only regarding animals, it also relates to children and other serious/major problems...

7. I totally agree! The little things sure ask advice. That's what the forum is for, but when you know your animal is real sick there is no point in coming here for a home remedy for a pup that quite possibly has Parvo or a dog that's been hit by a car.

Even more annoying for me is the ones you tell them how serious their dogs condition may possibly be and there is no other option than to go to a vet is when they say they can;t afford it. If you are sat at your own computer with internet connection you CAN afford it. Just sell the computer. You will raise enough to pay for most things and save on the cost of the internet connection each month.

8. I would have to agree with you.

9. I couldn't agree with you more. Anyone who has a high enough IQ to use the computer is able to pick up a telephone to call the vet and drive a car to the vet's office. Some of these posts really get to me too.

10. u are right if ur dog is really sick go to the vet. i have a dog med book for ailments on hand and i will look up miner things to help a person but i always recommend a vet visit right away. if it is what my dogs have had it is advice i give from my book, then if not better within a few hours i always suggest a good checkup. as u say anything that is really bad like razor blades,bleeding or not holding food down for a week i wouldn't go on here for advice and i think most people would go right away to the vet. thanks for ur input.

11. I agree with this whole heartedly. I get tired of saying take your pet to the VET. or reading someones post that is from a 13 yr old kid. That like someone else stated the other day say.."im avet." Yeah ok.
My VET would tell you to take your dog to a VET so that someone can see the issues and put their hands on the dog.
So if it is life threatining, take it to the vet.
They do take Payments, there is insurance you can get for your dog now, and there is also a credit card you can get for payments.
You can also use your major credit card if you have to at most.
Set money aside just for emergencies. We have $1000. set aside for emergencies. Just in case something happens.
So if it such a dire emergency take your pet to the VET.

12. Although this is true
"When folk start putting money worries before the animals welfare, then it's time to consider whether or not that person should consider keepeing that animal."

there is something else to consider:

That is, if folks start confiscating dogs because they disapprove of what medical care was sought, and they fail to find homes for those animals, than the medical cure which is euthanasia is far worse!

When society (or individuals) take measures to remove a dog from its current home, they should make provisions for that animal for the rest of its natural life.
Anything less is murder, because the animal had a home. The animal did not choose death over life, some hyped up individual or group, who thought things could be better did. If the end result is death, that group or individual was mistaken. We should not forget that fact.
The confiscation of animals must only be done when a better environment can be provided for.

13. I couldn't agree with you more. Your post should be at the top of every page before someone posts a question. Most people give way too little information for anyone here to give actual help. vets know what other questions to ask and can actually examine the pet and run tests, even if it is only to take a temperature. You are preaching to the choir here, I always suggest the vet for medical questions.

14. Digger, my sentiments exactly. Glad you took the time to post what so many others are thinking every day. I use this site for everday Q and A's as well as a chance to exchange stories with other dog owned people. The emergency questions make me cringe and lots of times I'd like to hear follow up stories on whether the animals even survived or not! Thanks for stating what the rest of us are feeling!

15. People can ask any dog questions they want to ask. This is open to the public for any questions dealing with dogs.

Some things should be asked of a vet, yes. But you can't monitor the boards for what is and isn't good enough to ask. It's an open forum.

16. Have you seen this Digger??
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ArEzBI4o9qAlGVha.BjAsfQgBgx.;_ylv=3?qid=20080218035117AAILmcf

17. i do aggree.
but i also think that some people dont read the question propley and just jump to the answer of call a vet, go to the vet,
for examply i asked a question about my rabbits health where i clealy said that she had be seen by a vet and had tests done but that the vets wernt shure how to treat the problem so they were going to contact some diffrent vets to get there opinun.
and i thaught that i would ask on here to get ideas from other vets, people (whos rabbit had the same thing) as i could speek with people in other countries.
only one person gave a truly helpfull answer and most said get a diffrent vet, which i said my vet was contacting the other vets.

18. Yep, i totally agree with you about this, if i am worried about one of my animals my first point of call is the vet, as far as i know they don't charge for a phone call! I often wonder tho whether some of the questions on here are genuine, or if it's just someone bored and thinking up daft questions. I tend to only answer the training type questions because that's my thing. If i was to answer a medical type question it would probably only be to say "take your dog to the vet" lol.

PS: Don't suppose anyone knows how to get dried dog drool from between the keys on a keyboard do they? No idea how it got there.........hmmmm ;)

19. I agree with almost everything that you have said.Nevertheless I have had dogs for forty years and I have found that vets almost always put profit before they consider the dogs welfare. Yes if a dog is bleeding from a bad cut, or is having problems giving birth one must rush to the vets.

My recent horror was a vet who said that she wanted to do a lower bowel investigation on my dog. My dog had suffered from perianal fistulas/furunculosis.At that stage she was either in remission or the problem was not
autoimmune related. I had researched and knew that if the problem stemmed from diseased anal glands it could be cured.

She suggested that my dog should be admitted for blood tests to check for Addison's disease, she told me that this was vital before she did an exploratory investigation under anaesthetic on her lower bowel. I was told that if my dog had Addison's that she could not cope with an anaesthetic. She failed to look at my dogs history, she had three surgeries under anaesthetics within six months and it was obvious that she did not have Addison's disease. My dog is insured for medical problems and I think that many vets look at their profits before they consider the dog.