Plain answers for pet parents in Nigeria: what a symptom might mean, which vaccine is due, what is safe to feed, and when it can't wait for the vet.
Dose decides everything. A Labrador that ate a milk chocolate wrapper is a different problem from a terrier that found baking chocolate, and xylitol is dangerous at almost any amount.
Emergency CareA graze can be cleaned at home. A bite, a puncture or anything gaping cannot. The dividing line matters, because the wounds that look smallest are often the ones that go badly.
Emergency CareA blocked male cat dies in about a day and a half, and the signs look exactly like constipation. This is the feline emergency most often missed at home.
Emergency CareA short, honest list. Most of what belongs in a pet first aid kit is not medicine, and the most useful item is a piece of paper with phone numbers on it.
Emergency CareA deep-chested dog retching without producing anything, with a swelling abdomen, has hours. Recognising it is the whole difference, because nothing you do at home helps.
Emergency CareGo to a vet now, day or night, for difficulty breathing, blue, grey or very pale gums, collapse or seizures, bleeding that will not stop, a road accident, retching with nothing coming up and a swelling belly, suspected poisoning, or a male cat straining to pee and producing nothing.
Emergency CareMost poisonings are not exotic. They are painkillers on a bedside table, rat bait behind a cupboard, and a dog product used on a cat.
Emergency CareDogs get bitten on the face because they investigate with their nose. What to do in the first minutes, what makes it worse, and why antivenom timing decides the outcome.
Emergency CareIf a dog bites you, wash the wound with soap and running water for a full 15 minutes, then go to a hospital the same day: rabies treatment only works if it starts before any symptoms. If your dog is bitten, stop the bleeding with firm pressure and see a vet, even for small punctures.
Emergency CareHeatstroke kills dogs quickly, and the damage continues after the dog looks better. What it looks like, how to cool a dog correctly, and the mistake that makes it worse.
Skeepers can chat with a vet free, as often as they need, from their dashboard.
Skeepedia is general information, not a diagnosis. If your pet is unwell, see a vet.