• This handbook about small animal emergency care contains the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to the most common emergencies seen in small animal practice, classified by organ systems. For each emergency, a definition of the condition that has caused the situation, its causes, the diagnostic approach, and the most appropriate treatment are provided. The goal is to provide an easily accessible quick reference guide to save valuable time during stressful emergency medical cases.

  • 1. Triage and initial assessment

    Remote triage
    In-person triage
    Primary assessment
    Secondary assessment

    2. Cardiovascular emergencies

    Hypovolaemic shock
    Cardiopulmonary arrest
    Congestive heart failure
    Arrhythmias

    3. Respiratory emergencies

    Upper airway obstruction
    Allergic bronchitis/feline asthma
    Pneumonia
    Pleural space diseases

    4. Haematological emergencies

    Anaemia
    Coagulopathies

    5. Gastrointestinal emergencies

    Gastric dilatation-volvulus
    Acute pancreatitis

    6. Urological emergencies

    Acute renal failure
    Feline urethral obstruction

    7. Neurological emergencies

    Seizures
    Cranioencephalic trauma (CET)

    8. Metabolic emergencies

    Addisonian crisis
    Diabetic ketoacidosis

    9. Reproductive emergencies

    Dystocia
    Pyometra

    10. Environmental emergencies

    Heat stroke
    Hypothermia

  • Carlos Torrente Artero

    Carlos Artero received his veterinary degree from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) in 1995 and performed an internship at the UAB Veterinary Teaching Hospital in 1996. He obtained a master’s degree in veterinary medicine and animal health in 2009 and a PhD in veterinary medicine in 2014, both from the UAB. He has been director of the Postgraduate Programme in Small Animal Emergency and Critical Care of the UAB since 2015.

    He worked in private practice with a focus on emergency and critical care until 2006, the year he became an associate professor in the Animal Medicine and Surgery Department of the UAB School of Veterinary Medicine and director of the Emergency and Critical Care Unit at the UAB Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

    He has performed residencies and received specialty training at various universities and private referral centres in Europe, the United States, and Canada. He is currently a member of IVECCS (International Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society), member of the Member Relations Committee for Standards of Practice of EVECCS (European Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society) and associate editor of the Journal LAVECCS (Latin-American Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society).

    He has written several publications and delivered conference presentations and lectures, both in Spain and internationally, in his areas of interest: acid-base alterations, haemodynamic regulation, and ventilator management of critical patients. In 2011, he and Lluis Bosch jointly published Medicina de urgencia en pequeños animales, tomos I y II (Small Animal Emergency Medicine, Volumes I and II) (Editorial Servet).

Veterinary Clinics of North America
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