Scary Moment Tonight--Should I Take Him To The Vet?

[Guest kkaiser104]

Tonight Teddi and I had quite a fright. We were in the car and his tag collar got stuck on something (I think one of the tags slipped into the window track). He was flailing around and GSOD-ing and it was absolutely terrifying. I was able to undo the tag collar (it's a buckle collar) and got him in the house. I checked his neck and limbs and there is no bleeding, cuts, bruises (that I can see at least), but he is acting kind of goofy. He keeps coughing, hacking, and seems to be having a rough time settling down for the night. He won't hop up in bed with me (which he loves), and he keeps whining. Should I be worried? The coughing is intermittent, maybe a few coughs/hacks every hour. Nothing extreme. I'm just worried because he's acting a little weird tonight after this incident!

 

Needless to say--we're getting a slide on tag.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Has he had anything to eat or drink since the trouble? Was he able to swallow okay?

 

I'm thinking he might just have bruised his throat. As long as he can swallow normally when he needs to, I wouldn't worry too much.

 

(The fact that he was GSODing actually is a good sign: he was able to get enough breath for that, and his throat was able to manage making noises.)

[Brindles]

Poor guy! It is scary when that happens. He may have tweaked something in his neck. I'd just keep an eye on him tonight and reevaluate tomorrow morning. It doesn't sound like it's worth an e-vet visit but I would still watch him closely, especially when he gets up and down.

[Guest kkaiser104]

Thanks so much for the quick responses! Of course this all happens on the one night a week where I have to get up the next day at 5am

 

He's eaten and drank (on his own accord), so I think he's okay there. I was kind of thinking that he may have bruised/tweaked something, so I'm glad to hear other people are thinking the same things. We'll try to get some sleep and if he appears to be in a lot of pain tomorrow I'll schedule an appointment.

[juliemac]

if he did bruise something, just be aware that things usually feel worse the day after an injury. But you know your pup, and if something doesn't seem 'right', take action.

 

poor baby. Let us know how Teddi's doing tomorrow.

[Time4ANap]

We had a similar incident not long after Rocket got here where his tag collar (the collar itself - not the tags) got caught on a kitchen cabinet knob here at home. We ditched that tag collar and went with a breakaway. Having seen how quickly it happened and glad we were home a the time, I now urge everyone to consider using a breakaway tag collar. Much better to lose the collar and tags than to find him strangled by something he can't get himself off of.

 

We've never had the breakaway come undone with normal use, so I'm confident that it would only come off if he was caught on something. We got ours at Pikoda.com who is a member here, but many of the collar vendors offer the breakaway feature.

 

Hope Teddi is feeling okay in the AM.

[JohnF]

How scary. I think I would ask the vet what anti-inflammatory medication I could give to help him over the next 24 hours.

 

And a Q about breakaway collars as I've never used one before. Are these any good as a house collar so that you can hold the dog to clip its claws and stop it going out of the door, let out of the car first etc? I'm not after anything that will stop a mad lunge for a cat outdoors or such, just to be able to hold the dog in indoor situations. Or do they break at the slightest pressure??

[racindog]

How scary. I think I would ask the vet what anti-inflammatory medication I could give to help him over the next 24 hours.

 

And a Q about breakaway collars as I've never used one before. Are these any good as a house collar so that you can hold the dog to clip its claws and stop it going out of the door, let out of the car first etc? I'm not after anything that will stop a mad lunge for a cat outdoors or such, just to be able to hold the dog in indoor situations. Or do they break at the slightest pressure??

The ones I have break apart pretty easy. To restrain them at all you would need to put the leash on it IMO. It has 2 rings-you clip the 2 rings together with the leash and then it won't come apart. Of course then it can slide off their skinny head if you pull too hard to. I actually only use mine for when I'm not home because of the inconvenience of them coming apart so easily. It is also a safety consideration for me because I always have 5 or more dogs and I need to be able to effectively restrain them in an instant if need be due to possible fighting or prey killing etc. so they've got to have a collar or harness on that will hold. I am EXTREMELY particular about the strength & quality of my equipment-particularly the strength.

Edited September 13, 2012 by racindog