Retrospective Analysis of Chief Complaints and Causes of Dogs and Cats during Emergency Visits

Abstract

This study was performed to investigate frequent chief complaints and causes in dogs and cats visited to an emergency department, and to suggest minimum requirements for veterinary emergency clinics in South Korea. The medical records of 2,368 dogs and 347 cats visited to the emergency department of Haemaru Referral Animal Hospital from March 2012 to August 2013 were reviewed. Among them, 255 dogs and 35 cats visited more than one time and each visit was considered as an individual case. Therefore, 2,784 cases of dogs and 396 cases of cats were reviewed. Signalment, chief complaints, diagnoses, hospital admission, outcome were analyzed. In dogs, vomiting, diarrhea or both were the most common chief complaints, followed by dyspnea, trauma, seizure and lethargy. The most common causes of emergency visits were gastrointestinal disorders, followed by neurologic, cardiovascular, respiratory, urologic and hematologic disorders. In cats, dyspnea was the most common chief complaint, followed by vomiting, diarrhea or both, trauma, dysuria, lethargy. The most common causes of emergency visits were urologic disorders followed by gastrointestinal, respiratory, infectious and cardiovascular disorders. According to the results, vomiting, diarrhea, dyspnea and trauma were most frequently encountered chief complaints at the emergency department both in dogs and cats, accounting for approximately 48.6% of all cases. However common causes were differed between dogs and cats. In order to provide proper emergency service, it is required to prepare the clinicians and facilities to diagnose and stabilize these emergency patients.