3 Life Saving Tips for Drowning Dogs! | What to do if your dog fell in the pool?

Hey Guys! I’m Dr. Lindsay and were going to talk about Near Drowning or submersion syndrome in dogs. This happens when your dog falls in the pool, lake or any water where they can drown.

Immediately after removing your dog from the water you should attempt to clear the airways. You can do this by 1) Holding your dog upside down so that water pours our of their mouth and lungs. You can quite aggressively shake them while they are upside down.

2) Perform mouth to mouth resuscitation or CPR to give them oxygen if your dog is not breathing.

3) Wrap your dog in a blanket to keep them warm, but don’t cover their mouth of course so they can breathe.

WAYS your dog can get Water into their lungs:
1) Hosing their mouth out can cause water to get into their lungs
2) Swimming after a ball
3) Jumping in the water
4) Falling in the pool
5) Falling off a boat into the ocean

If you suspect your dog may have gotten water into their lungs go straight to the vet.
The facts about dog drowning is that:

Immediate death by drowning is when a dog inhales a large amount of water into their lungs that is greater than 4ml per kg of body weight.

1-3 ml per kg of body weight inhaled will cause near drowning death and require emergency veterinary attention.

Within 24 hours the Inhaled water can still interfere with gas exchange between the lungs and alveoli where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged and your pet can still die.

Salt water drowning is the worst because the salt will draw even more water into the alveoli of the lungs making treatment harder.

As a veterinarian the dogs that I see that experience the most near death by drowning are heavy and dense dogs such as : Bulldogs, French Bulldogs, Pugs and then your extremely small Toy breed dogs such as Maltese and Yorkies. But of course this can happen to any dog breed that may fall into the pool unexpectedly.. cannot get out… swims to exhaustion and drowns.

This is a very sad topic but that is why I am going over it today and how to treat your dog once this happens.

Symptoms of Submersion sickness in dogs:
– Labored or open mouth breathing
– Irregular breathing
– Posture changes to try to breath
– Hypothermia (cold body temperature)
– Cyanosis – blue tongue
– Coughing

Even if you do not think your dog has drowned or is in danger of getting sick:
It is best to take your dog into the vet

Treatment for drowning at the veterinarian includes:
1) Immediate oxygen administration through anesthesia endotracheal tube, gas chamber oxygen, or mask administration.
2) IV Catheter placement to give medications
3) Blankets or heating pads to treat hypothermia
4) Fluid therapy with electrolytes
5) IV Mannitol for brain swelling to get fluid off the brain
6) IV Lasix to get fluid off the lungs – diuretics

Diagnostic tests your veterinarian will want to run includes:
1. Bloodwork
2. Chest X-rays to see how much fluid is in the lungs
3. Ultrasound will also see fluid in the lungs

I hope you learned a lot about the dangers of a dog drowning and can help educate your friends and family to be cautious with our furry friends around water.

~ Doctor Lindsay

Original Source Link