How to Tell If Your Dog Is Sick: Vet Home Check - reddit

Dogs are bad at telling us when something is wrong, and they are very good at carrying on as if nothing is. A dog with a painful abdomen will still wag his tail at the door. A dog with early kidney disease will still eat dinner. By the time most owners say "he's just not himself", something has usually been building for a while.

That instinct is worth trusting. "Not himself" is the most common opening line we hear on a home visit and it is right far more often than it is wrong.

This page gives you two things. First, a ten minute check you can do at home tonight, with the actual numbers a vet would be looking for. Second, a clear line between what can wait until morning and what cannot wait at all.

None of this replaces an examination. What it does is turn a vague worry into something specific you can describe, which makes every conversation with a vet faster and more useful.

The ten minute home check

Do this when your dog is calm and settled, not straight after a walk or a visitor. Write the numbers down. A single reading tells you less than the same reading taken three days running.

1. Count the breathing while he sleeps

This is the single most useful thing an owner can measure at home, and almost nobody does it.

Wait until your dog is asleep or lying quietly. Watch the chest. One breath is one full rise and fall. Count for thirty seconds and double it.

A normal sleeping or resting rate is 15 to 30 breaths per minute. Consistently above 30 while genuinely at rest is abnormal, per VCA Animal Hospitals. Contact your vet as soon as possible. They will usually want to see your dog within a day or two, and sooner if there is also coughing, weakness, or restlessness at night.

The word "resting" is doing real work there. Panting after a run does not count. Panting in a hot room does not count. You are looking for a raised rate in a cool room, in a sleeping dog.

Why it matters: a rising resting respiratory rate is one of the earliest measurable signs of fluid building in or around the lungs. It often moves before anything else looks wrong.

2. Look at the gums

Lift the lip and look at the gum above the upper canine. In most dogs it should be a healthy bubblegum pink and slightly moist.

Then press a fingertip firmly against the gum for a second and let go. The spot goes white, then refills with colour. Time it. One to two seconds is normal, according to the Merck Veterinary Manual.

What the colours mean:

Some dogs have naturally pigmented black gums. If yours does, check the inside of the lower eyelid or the skin inside the ear flap instead.

3. Feel the heartbeat

Put your hand flat on the left side of the chest just behind the elbow, or feel the femoral pulse high on the inside of the back leg. Count for fifteen seconds and multiply by four.

Resting rates vary a lot with size:

Puppies and small breeds sit at the higher end, fit large dogs at the low end. What matters more than the exact figure is a rhythm that feels irregular, or a rate well outside your dog's own normal.

4. Check hydration

Two quick tests. Gently lift the skin between the shoulder blades and let go. In a well hydrated dog it drops back almost immediately. A tent that visibly persists for two seconds or more suggests dehydration. Then feel the gums. They should be slippery. Tacky or dry gums point the same way.

Older dogs and very thin dogs lose skin elasticity naturally, so the skin test is less reliable in them. Use the gums.

5. Take a temperature, if you can

Normal for a dog is roughly 37.8 to 39.2°C (100 to 102.5°F). A digital thermometer with a little petroleum jelly, inserted rectally about two centimetres, gives a reading in under a minute.

Ear thermometers made for people are not reliable on dogs. A cold nose means nothing at all, despite what you may have been told.

Above about 39.4°C (103°F) is abnormal and counts as a fever. Above 41°C, especially after exercise or time in a hot car, is a heatstroke emergency and needs cooling and a vet immediately.

The changes that matter most

Numbers are useful. Patterns are often more useful, because you know your dog and a vet meeting him for the first time does not.

Eating and drinking. A skipped meal is common. Two skipped meals is worth attention. A dog that suddenly drinks noticeably more, or empties the water bowl when he never used to, is flagging something that needs a blood test. Increased thirst is one of the earliest signs of kidney disease, diabetes and Cushing's, and it is easy to dismiss as hot weather.

Toileting. Straining, blood, going more often, having accidents indoors after years of not doing so, or not producing anything at all. A male dog straining to urinate with nothing coming out is an emergency.

Energy. Not just sleeping more, but the shape of the day changing. Not coming to the door. Not finishing the walk. Going to bed early. We have written separately on why dogs become lethargic.

Movement. Stiffness getting out of bed, hesitating at stairs he used to take at a run, reluctance to jump into the car. Owners often file this under "getting old". Age is not a diagnosis, and arthritis is treatable.

Smell. Bad breath is not just bad breath. It is usually dental disease, which is painful and common, and occasionally a sign of kidney trouble. A new smell from the ears, the skin or a wound is worth a look.

Coat and grooming. A dull, greasy or flaky coat, or new bald patches, often reflects something internal rather than something skin deep.

Personality. Hiding. Grumpiness in a dog who was never grumpy. Clinginess in a dog who was never clingy. Snapping when touched in a particular spot. Pain changes temperament long before it changes how a dog walks.

Posture: what a dog's body position can tell you

Some body positions are recognised clinical signs, not folklore. Three are worth knowing.

The prayer position. Chest and front legs down on the floor, backside up in the air, held for a while rather than as a passing stretch. It looks like a play bow that does not end. This posture is a recognised sign of pain in the front part of the abdomen. Pancreatitis is one cause, but so are several others, some of them surgical. The posture tells you there is pain, it does not tell you what is causing it. A stretch lasts a second. A dog holding this position, repeatedly, is telling you something.

The breathing stance. A dog struggling to breathe will stand or sit rather than lie down, plant the elbows out away from the chest, and stretch the head and neck forward. The MSD Veterinary Manual describes it as standing "with the elbows abducted, the back arched or weight shifted caudally onto the hindlimbs, and the head and neck extended to optimize airway patency". If your dog will not lie down and is holding himself like this, that is an emergency, tonight.

A dog who cannot get comfortable. Repeatedly getting up, circling, lying down, standing again. Restlessness combined with a bloated, hard belly and unproductive retching should be treated as bloat, or GDV, until a vet proves otherwise, and it is one of the few conditions where minutes genuinely count. The belly does not always look obviously swollen in deep-chested dogs, so unproductive retching and distress on their own are enough reason to go.

We have gone into this in more detail on what your dog's sleeping position can and cannot tell you, including which of the claims you find online are actually true.

When to call a vet tonight, and when it can wait

Call now, do not wait for morning

These are the presentations veterinary emergency triage treats as immediately life threatening:

• Difficulty breathing, or a dog who will not lie down because of it
• Pale, white, blue or grey gums
• Collapse, or loss of consciousness
• A seizure, or repeated seizures
• Pressing the head against a wall or furniture and holding it there
• A hard, swollen belly with retching that brings nothing up
• Straining to urinate with nothing coming out
• Uncontrolled bleeding
• Suspected snake bite
• Suspected paralysis tick, especially a wobbly back end or a changed bark
• Suspected heatstroke
• Known or suspected poisoning
• Any trauma, including being hit by a car, even if he seems fine
• Obvious severe pain

Same day, but not a 2am emergency

• Repeated vomiting or diarrhoea over more than 12 hours
• Not eating for more than 24 hours
• A noticeable jump in thirst or urination
• Limping that does not improve with rest
• Yellow gums or yellow tinge in the whites of the eyes
• A new lump that is growing, or one that has changed
• Sleeping respiratory rate consistently over 30

Book in the next few days

• Bad breath, tartar, or reluctance to chew
• A dull coat, itching, or recurring ear trouble
• Gradual stiffness or slowing down
• Slow weight change in either direction
• Anything that has been niggling at you for a fortnight

Three things Australian owners should keep front of mind

Paralysis ticks. Along the east coast, from roughly Cairns to eastern Victoria, a paralysis tick can kill a healthy dog. Early signs are subtle: a change in the bark or meow, wobbliness in the back legs, vomiting or gagging. Owners often mistake it for a sore throat. If you are in a tick area and something is off with the back end, search the coat immediately and go straight to a vet. Our paralysis tick guide covers what to look for.

Heat. Dogs cool themselves mainly by panting, and panting becomes much less efficient in high humidity. Brachycephalic breeds, older dogs and overweight dogs are at much higher risk. Heavy panting that does not settle, bright red gums, drooling, wobbliness or vomiting on a hot day is an emergency.

Snake bites. Often there is no visible wound. Sudden weakness, collapse, dilated pupils, vomiting or wobbliness, particularly in a dog who has just been in long grass, needs immediate veterinary attention. Do not wait to see if it improves.

Why an at-home examination often finds more

A lot of what a vet reads in a consultation is behaviour, and behaviour changes in a waiting room. A dog who is stiff at home will be running on adrenaline in a clinic. A dog in pain will hide it in front of a stranger. A dog whose breathing is fast at rest will be panting from the car trip before anyone gets a stethoscope on him.

At home, the dog is on his own floor. He lies down the way he normally lies down. The vet sees the stairs he has been avoiding and the bed he has stopped getting into. Owners remember things they would never think to mention in a clinic.

Pawssum vets carry the same diagnostic equipment as a clinic and can run blood tests at home, so most investigations start and finish in your lounge room.

If something is off with your dog and you would rather not put him through the car trip, you can book a home visit or check what a mobile vet costs first.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if my dog is sick or just tired?

Tiredness after exercise resolves with rest and a night's sleep. Illness does not. The useful test is duration and pattern: a flat dog who bounces back the next morning was tired, a dog who is flat two days running, or who is flat without an obvious reason, needs looking at. Add the resting breathing count and a gum check and you will have something concrete to report.

What are the first signs a dog is unwell?

Usually appetite, energy and toileting, in that order. Most owners notice "not himself" before they notice any specific symptom. Changes in drinking, a new smell, and reluctance to do something he normally enjoys are the other early flags.

Can I check my dog's temperature without a thermometer?

Not reliably. A warm or dry nose tells you nothing, and neither do warm ears. If you want a real number you need a digital thermometer used rectally. Everything else is guesswork.

How long should I wait before taking my dog to the vet?

If any of the emergency signs above are present, do not wait at all. Otherwise the rough rule is 24 hours for a dog who is off his food but otherwise bright, and same day for a dog with repeated vomiting, diarrhoea, or a clear change in breathing or drinking. When you are genuinely unsure, a phone call costs nothing.

My dog is sick but still eating. Is that reassuring?

Less than people assume. Plenty of dogs with significant disease keep eating right up until they are very unwell, and a good appetite is not evidence that nothing is wrong. Judge the whole picture, not the food bowl alone.

What does it mean when a dog hides or goes off on his own?

It is usually pain, nausea or fear, and it is worth taking seriously in a dog who has never done it before. Hiding is a cat's instinctive response to feeling vulnerable, so it is very common in cats. In a dog it is less usual, which is exactly why a normally sociable dog choosing to be alone is worth investigating.

Is panting a sign my dog is sick?

It depends entirely on context. Panting after exercise, in heat, or when excited is normal. Panting at rest in a cool room, panting that will not settle, or panting alongside restlessness or a change in gum colour is not, and is worth a same day call.

Reviewed by the Pawssum veterinary team. This article is general information and is not a diagnosis. If you are worried about your dog, speak to a vet.