Pet symptoms,
explained clearly.

Redness, discharge, squinting or swelling in your dog's eye? Learn the likely causes, what to photograph, safe home care, and the red flags that need a vet today.

Bad breath, brown tartar, red gums, or dropping food? Learn the four stages of canine periodontal disease, how to check at home, and when to book a dental cleaning.

Every dog bite wound should be seen by a vet within 24 hours because most bites cause deeper damage than the skin shows. Learn safe first aid and infection red flags.

Bald spots, thinning, or a moth-eaten coat in your dog? Learn what allergies, mange, ringworm, and hormones look like - and which need a vet visit.

Constant scratching, chewing paws, or rubbing the face? Learn the top causes of dog itch - fleas, allergies, yeast, mites - and what actually helps.

Free dog symptom checker and emergency triage guide. Decide in 60 seconds whether your dog needs the ER now, a vet today, or safe home monitoring - with the exact photos to capture.

Clear, brown, grey, yellow, green or bloody eye discharge in dogs each point somewhere different. Use the colour chart, then the red flags that need a vet today.

How to count your dog's sleeping breathing rate, what is normal by size, and the threshold that means call a vet tonight rather than in the morning.

Toy-breed puppies run out of blood sugar fast. Learn the early signs, the safe sugar-on-the-gums first-aid step, and why a vet visit still follows.

Yeasty smell, head shaking or dark discharge in a dog's ear usually means infection. What the signs point to, what to photograph, and when to book a vet.

Yellow foamy vomit usually means an empty stomach, but not always. The causes, the signs that mean a vet today, and what to record before you call.

Trembling in dogs can be cold, fear, pain, or poisoning. How to tell them apart, the go-now signs, and what to record before you call the vet.

A dog off food but still drinking narrows the list: nausea, dental pain, fever, or something metabolic. The go-now signs and what to record before you call.

Constant paw licking in dogs usually means itch, pain, or infection rather than boredom. How to tell them apart, what to photograph, and when to book a vet.

A swollen, hard belly with retching that brings nothing up can be GDV, a life-threatening twist. The signs, the breeds at risk, and why minutes matter.

A honking cough after boarding usually means kennel cough. A soft night-time cough in an older dog can be heart related. How to tell them apart and when to go.

Scooting usually means full anal glands, but worms, allergies and matted fur do it too. What to check at home and which signs mean a same-day vet visit.

Your dog is limping but you cannot see a wound. Common causes by age and leg, the signs that need a vet today, and what to check safely at home.

Puppies dehydrate fast. Which diarrhea can be watched at home, which needs a vet today, and the parvovirus signs no owner should wait on.

A noticeably thirstier older dog is rarely just heat or age. The main medical causes, how to measure intake at home, and what a vet will test.

Hot spots appear overnight and are wet and painful. Ringworm spreads slowly, is dry and is contagious to people. What to photograph and when to see a vet.

Chocolate toxicity depends on type, amount and your dog's weight. Call a vet or poison line immediately, and gather these details while you do.

Runny, gunky, or squinty cat eyes are usually feline herpesvirus, conjunctivitis, or a scratch. See the red flags, how to photograph the eye, and safe next steps.

Bad breath in cats usually means dental disease, but can also signal kidney disease, diabetes, or oral cancer. Learn how to check at home and when to see a vet.

A dull, greasy, or matted cat coat is usually a sign of pain, obesity, or illness stopping normal grooming. Learn the common causes and what to photograph.

A male cat straining in the tray with little or no urine may be blocked. Learn why it is a same-hour emergency, what to check, and what to tell the clinic.

Cats hide when they hurt and when they are stressed. Learn how to tell the two apart, which signs need a vet today, and what to record before you call.

A cat that has eaten nothing for 24 to 48 hours needs a vet, not patience. Why feline liver risk changes the clock, and the signs that mean go today.

Frequent vomiting is not normal for cats, even with hairballs. How to tell a true hairball from a warning sign, and when your cat needs a vet.

Frequent sneezing in cats usually means an upper respiratory infection. What is mild, what needs a vet this week, and the breathing signs that mean go now.

A cat that suddenly drinks much more usually has kidney disease, diabetes or an overactive thyroid. How to measure intake and what tests answer it fastest.

A cat that starts limping usually has a soft tissue strain, a bite abscess or a claw injury. How to tell those apart and which limps need a vet today.

Cats almost never pant. Fast, open-mouth or belly breathing in a cat is an emergency. What to check, what to avoid, and how to travel safely to the vet.

Sudden drooling in a cat usually means mouth pain, nausea or something bitter or toxic in the mouth. What to check now and which signs need an emergency vet.

How often is too often for a vomiting cat? Red flags that need a vet today, what to photograph, and safe steps at home while you decide.

A blocked male cat is a life threatening emergency. The exact warning signs, how fast it becomes fatal, and what to do while you travel to the vet.

A visible haw across your cat's eye is a sign of illness, pain or dehydration rather than a normal look. What it means in one eye versus both.

Most cats pass stool daily. When a missed day becomes a vet visit, why straining can be a urinary emergency, and what is safe to try at home.

A rabbit that stops eating is on an hours-long clock. Learn the 8 to 12 hour threshold for GI stasis, the signs that mean go now, and what to do while you travel.

A rabbit holding its head to one side needs veterinary care, not time. The likely causes, the go-now signs, and how to keep a tilted rabbit safe meanwhile.

Rabbits grind their teeth for two very different reasons. How to tell soft contentment chattering from loud pain grinding, and why pain grinding cannot wait.

A rabbit with a runny nose, sneezing or crusty front paws has snuffles, a bacterial infection that needs treatment. Why waiting makes it harder to resolve.

No droppings for 8 to 12 hours in a rabbit that is also off food is an emergency, not a wait-and-see. Here is the hour-by-hour picture and what to do right now.

A calm rabbit breathes about 30 to 60 times a minute. Faster than that at rest, or any open-mouth breathing, needs a vet now. Count it and use this table.

Published figures put rabbit water intake near 50 to 100 ml per kg a day. A 2 kg rabbit drinking nothing for a day, or off food too, needs a vet today.

A baby or juvenile rabbit off food, and especially one with runny stool, is a same-hour emergency. Feeding intervals, weaning ages and the steps to take now.

Blowfly eggs on a rabbit can hatch in about 8 to 12 hours at body temperature. Maggots on the skin are a go-now emergency. Check the rear twice daily in summer.

A budgie fluffed up and quiet for hours, or sitting on the cage floor, is treated as an emergency in avian critical care guidance. What to check right now.

Tail bobbing with each breath is a documented sign of difficulty breathing in birds. When it settles on its own and when a cockatiel needs a vet right now.

A parrot that stays fluffed, quiet and sleepy, or sits on the cage floor, fits the sick bird pattern avian vets treat urgently. What to check right now.

A fluffed, quiet bird on the cage floor is a late sign of illness, not a mood. What it means, the signs that mean go now, and how to travel safely to an avian vet.

Feather plucking in parrots and budgies has medical causes as often as behavioural ones. How to tell them apart, what to photograph, and when to see a vet.

Straining with no stool, a firm belly and hind leg weakness in a bearded dragon point to impaction. Check the basking temperature first, then the red flags.

A wobbly, shaky or trembling leopard gecko most often points to metabolic bone disease. Signs to check tonight, the husbandry numbers, and when to go now.

Check the basking temperature and UVB first, then rule brumation in or out. Learn the signs that mean illness and need a reptile vet rather than a husbandry fix.

Most leopard geckos stop eating because of husbandry, not disease. Check temperatures first, then the signs that mean a reptile vet this week.

Snakes refuse food for many harmless reasons, from shedding to winter. How to tell a normal fast from illness, using weight, husbandry numbers and behaviour.

Soft patches, pits or odd colour on a turtle shell usually mean shell rot or metabolic bone disease. How to tell them apart and why husbandry is the real fix.

A black beard in a bearded dragon can mean display, stress, cold, or illness. How to read the context, what to check in the enclosure, and when to see a vet.

Veterinary owner guidance treats a ferret off food as a sign to be seen within 24 hours, and immediately if it comes with weakness or collapse. Here is the plan.

Staring, hind leg weakness and collapse in a ferret over three often mean insulinoma. The glucose values vets use, the warning signs, and what counts as urgent.

A still hamster can be in cold induced torpor, seriously ill, or sleeping deeply. What to check in the next few minutes and when to call a vet.

A torpid hamster breathes very slowly and feels cool but not stiff, and rouses with gradual warmth. The five minute check, step by step, and when to call a vet.

A chinchilla off hay with fewer droppings needs a vet quickly, and heat above 80 degrees Fahrenheit is its own emergency. What to check and when to go.

Bald patches on a chinchilla can be fur slip, fur chewing, ringworm or damp related. How to tell them apart and which ones need a vet.

A guinea pig normally breathes 40 to 100 times a minute. Count for 30 seconds, then read which signs mean a vet today and which mean a vet right now.

A tight, drum-like belly in a guinea pig is an emergency the same hour. What bloat looks like, how it differs from a full belly, and what to do next.

Most guinea pig lumps are abscesses, swollen lymph nodes, cysts or tumours. Where the lump sits, how fast it grew, and which ones cannot wait.

A guinea pig off food with no droppings is an hours-long emergency. Learn the 8 to 12 hour threshold, the red flags, and what to bring to the vet.

Wet tail in hamsters can kill in 48 hours. The signs, the same-day threshold, and how to keep a sick hamster warm and hydrated on the way to the vet.

Sudden weakness, staring, drooling or wobbling in a ferret often means an insulinoma crash. What to do in the next few minutes and why the vet visit follows.

A new lump on a hamster can be an abscess, a tumour, a hernia or a stuffed cheek pouch. How to tell them apart at home and why a small pet vet visit matters.

Crusty, weepy or closed eyes in a guinea pig can mean a hay scratch, infection, dental disease or low vitamin C. What to check and when to see a vet.

Guinea pig teeth grow continuously. Spot drooling, weight loss and dropped food early, and know when a stopped appetite becomes an emergency.