Emergency Red Flags | Species-Specific Red Flag Tables | Evidence chain

FAQ

My cat touched a lily but looks completely normal — does it need to see a vet?

Yes. Go to the clinic on exposure, without waiting for vomiting or other signs. Any variety of lily and any part of it, including the pollen and the water from a flower arrangement, carries a risk, and a tiny exposure can cause the acute renal tubular necrosis specific to cats within days. Households with cats should keep lilies out and should not leave the water from lily bouquets standing.

My rabbit is eating little and passing fewer droppings — how long should I wait before going to the vet?

The earlier the better; do not count down against any figure while waiting. A named source (University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine) states, for rabbits, that a rabbit eating or passing droppings less for more than 4 hours should be treated as a warning sign of gastrointestinal stasis (GI stasis) and taken to a vet; the full text of that source makes no mention of guinea pigs, so this figure must not be extrapolated to other species. Rabbits and guinea pigs have no vomiting reflex, so if reduced appetite is accompanied by smaller, fewer or absent droppings, dullness, teeth grinding or a hunched posture, contact a vet experienced with rabbits or small mammals immediately.

My horse keeps lying down and rolling and looking round at its belly — can I lead it out for a walk first?

Contact a vet at once first. This is the typical presentation of colic, and a horse cannot vomit to relieve intestinal pressure, so once the gut twists or becomes obstructed it progresses within minutes to hours. Where it is safe to do so, the horse may be led at a slow walk to stop it rolling and injuring itself, but if the vet instructs you to wait, the vet's judgement at the time takes precedence; do not give any medication on your own.