Cat and Dog Fractures and Spinal Injuries

In this lesson, we'll be going over fractures and spinal injuries, including some signs to watch out for if you suspect these types of injuries in your pet. We'll also tell you about the number one warning you should heed if your pet does have one of these injuries. And at the end of the lesson, we'll provide you with a Word about the safety concerns that appliances pose to your pets.

Dogs and cats may become injured after a trauma. Common traumas include:

• Getting hit by a vehicle
• Falling from a substantial height
• Being attacked by another animal

Generally, with pet trauma, the injuries can be potentially severe and should be taken seriously. You should get your pet to the veterinarian as quickly as you can, but you should do so as safely as you can.

Pet Fractures

Some common areas where your pet may suffer a fracture include the long bones – the upper and lower legs at the front and back of your animal.

If your pet does suffer a fracture, you may notice a few signs, including:

• Your pet is not putting any weight on a limb
• Your pet has a severe limp
• Your pet has a dangling limb
• Your pet's limb is pointed at a strange angle

If you suspect your pet has suffered a fracture, you should transport her to the veterinarian immediately. However, you also need to make certain that you're transporting her safely. You want to minimize all movement from the injured area, which will help not make the injury worse.

Pet Spinal Injuries

With spinal injuries, your pet can develop signs of pain when moving, particularly when it comes to the head, neck, and trunk. Or she might have trouble moving her hind limbs. She may also have trouble moving any limbs.

If you suspect a spinal injury, you'll want to check your pet's vital signs. With spinal injuries, in particular, you want to pay special attention to her breathing or respiratory rate, as these can become abnormal with certain spinal injuries.

A Word About the Safety Concerns Appliances Pose for Your Pets

Pet expert Cara Armour, writing for the ProPetHero blog, raised a point many of us probably wouldn't consider – the dangers that our appliances pose to our pets. In fact, her story isn't anecdotal in the least; it actually happened to her family.

Anything electrical can malfunction and catch fire, including (weirdly, we might add) those with running water through them, like dishwashers and washing machines. (In fact, it was a dishwasher malfunction that almost resulted in tragedy for Cara's animal.)

Now, if those appliances can cause a fire, imagine how some of your other appliances, that don't have running water through them, can do the same. We've all probably heard stories about someone who tossed a turkey into an oven, ran out to run some errands, and came back to a house or apartment that was now partially or totally a burned-out mess.

Now imagine your pets reaction in this circumstance. They can't let themselves out of a house suddenly on fire. They will be trapped! They could easily suffer smoke inhalation, burns, or worse.

It turns out that appliance fires are quite common. Cara provides some older statistics from 2006 through 2008 that illustrate that point. During those years, there were 150,000 residential fires in the U.S. that were caused by appliances. These fires resulted in thousands of injuries and hundreds of deaths.

The moral of the story? While it is convenient to start an appliance just before running out to get some things done, maybe saving that load of laundry for when you return is a better and safer idea.

To read Cara's entire story (as always, the ending is a happy one), you can do so here: The Safety Concerns Appliances Pose for Your Pets.