General Health Checks

Pulse 60 – 180
Temperature 38.3 – 38.7 C (100.9 – 101.7F)
Respiration 10 – 30 Breaths per Minute

If you are worried about your pet it is a good idea to run through the following checks to try and give you reassurance your dog is fine or confirmation you need to take your dog to the vet.  Also this builds up a history for your vet to work from.

1)    Check the colour of the m/m (mucous membranes) they should be a nice salmon pink colour.

Red – indicates infection
Blue/Purple – indicates cyanosis – lack of oxygen circulating
Pale pink – indicates internal bleeding
White – indicates shock and bleeding.  (very serious).

2)     CRT – Capillary Refill Time – press down on the gum and count a verbal ONE TWO!  If it refills in this time then this is normal and a sign of good circulation.  If it is slower then the count of one two then circulation is poor and your pet could need checking by a vet.

3)    Check how comfortable the dog seems, if your dog seems agitated or not.  Keeping an eye on the breathing; is it laboured? Or slow?  Due to the size of the dog the respiration is variable so it is a good idea to have a rough idea how many breaths per minute, your dog takes whilst resting!

4)     Dehydration

Animals can easily become dehydrated when they have diarrhoea and/or vomiting.

For normal health, a dog requires 50ml per kilo bodyweight per 24 hours.

To check for dehydration :

*  Press down on the gums (m/m) they should be nice and wet.  NOT sticky or tacky.
*  Pinch the scruff of the neck, it should be nice & springy/elasticity.  NOT remain tented.
*  The coat should look nice and shiny NOT Greasy or Starry.

If in doubt always consult your vet for further advice.