Practical Approach to the Small Animal Emergency Patient

Michael Verschoor-Kirss 

ISBN: 9781394334520

Wiley-Blackwell

November 2025

288 pages

Description

A concise, accessible guide to clinical decision making in veterinary emergency medicine focused on the thought process in selecting diagnostic and treatment options

Practical Approach to the Small Animal Emergency Patient helps veterinarians identify the critical questions to identify diagnostic and therapeutic priorities when faced with an emergency situation. The book reviews important decision points for common emergencies and emphasizes how to think, not just what to do.

The first section of the book covers general principles of emergency medicine topics such as triage, sedation and lab work selection, while the latter part of the book applies those principles to common emergency presentations. The intention of this book is not to provide the clinician with an exhaustive review of pathophysiology, but uses current research and decision making tools to provide the clinician with the questions and tools to decide whether a certain intervention is appropriate. Each chapter also includes a section on client communication to help guide new clinicians in speaking with family members about diagnostic testing, treatment approaches, and prognosis.

Written by a board-certified criticalist and practicing veterinarian in emergency medicine, Practical Approach to the Small Animal Emergency Patient includes information on:

• Fluid therapy, covering fluid requirements, fluid selection, patients with heart murmurs, and correcting electrolyte abnormalities

• Sedation and analgesia, covering appropriate use and risks of inadequate or inappropriate sedation

• Diabetic emergencies including diabetic ketoacidosis, hyperglycemic nonketotic syndrome, and hypoglycemia

• Treatment for car accidents, penetrating trauma, and dog bite wounds

• Gastrointestinal distress, covering surgical versus non-surgical causes, the need for imaging, and difference between inpatient and outpatient assessment

Practical Approach to the Small Animal Emergency Patient is an essential guide for clinicians, particularly new graduates and emergency doctors, seeking to gain confidence and improve their decision-making in emergency situations.

Table of Contents

Preface xiii

Acknowledgments xv

PART 1 Practical Approaches for the Emergent Patient 1

1 The Triage Exam 3

2 Rational Lab Work Selection and "Diagnostic Stewardship" 11

3 Selecting Appropriate Imaging Studies 17

4 Intravenous Fluid Therapy: Yes, No, How Much, How Fast 23

5 Analgesia and Sedation 33

6 Use of Antibiotics in the Emergent Patient 43

7 Decision-making for Hospital Admission 53

PART 2 Clinical Reasoning for Common Diseases and Presentations 57

8 Approach to the "Down Dog" 59

9 Diabetic Emergencies 65

10 Trauma 79

11 Spontaneous Hemoabdomen 109

12 Gastric Dilatation and Volvulus 119

13 The Blocked Cat 125

14 Approach to Vomiting and Diarrhea 135

15 Dyspnea 147

16 Neurologic Emergencies 163

17 Immune-mediated Hemolytic Anemia and Thrombocytopenia 179

18 Approach to the Azotemic Pet 193

19 Managing the Chronic Disease Patient 205

20 Toxin Ingestion Management 213

21 Client Communication and Palliative Care 221

22 Cardiac Emergencies 227

23 Reproductive Emergencies 245

24 Cardiopulmonary-cerebral Resuscitation 255

Index 265

About the Author

Michael Verschoor-Kirss, DVM, DACVECC, is Staff Criticalist at VCA South Shore Animal Hospital in South Weymouth, Massachusetts, USA.