There’s a 911 for pets too which will work for 24 hours

Although Chennai is catching up in terms of medical care for pets, there is still a long way to go, veterinarians feel.

A couple of years ago, a dog has been swallowed naphthalene balls. Unsure of what to do, she spent a restless night panicking, and had to wait till morning before taking Pooch to another vet.

“The doctor told us that we were lucky that they could save the dog, and that we should have gone to the veterinary hospital in the night. Unfortunately, none of us knew that it was even open late,” Praneta explains. After the incident, they have ensured that they have contacts of more than one veterinarian, and have now gotten the contact of a pet ambulance service as well.

For many pet owners, however, the problem is that they do not know what to do in case of a medical emergency. In fact, for a variety of medical issues pets may face whether it is swallowing poison, nose bleeds, problems while giving birth or breathing difficulty there is help at hand around the clock in the city.

Until a few years ago, only the veterinary college in Vepery had a 24-hour clinic to deal with emergencies, but now private players, too, are realising the importance of emergency pet care. According to Samuel, Practice Manager Heart2Heart Veterinary Hospital in Besant nagar, the awareness, however, among pet owners is very low. “Many of them do not know that there are 24-hour facilities, while others do not take pet emergencies as seriously as they should. The most common cases that come in at night are road traffic accidents and cases.

In case of a road accident,

· If you suspect broken bones, do not move the animal too much. Bring her to hospital as soon as possible

· For smaller injuries, try applying cotton pad on injury and bandage

Breathing difficulty

· Try not to stress out the animal

· Keep the animal in a cool environment, like an air-conditioned room