You should have the contact name and details of your regular vet, telephone number, mobile number, email address, regular address, times of opening, any emergency numbers and/or any out of hours telephone numbers in a small notebook so that the dog’s weight, previous illnesses and any treatments (previous or emergency) can be recorded and the telephone number of a taxi company in case there is no transport available.

Your vet will more than likely only see your pet once or maybe twice a year, and even then, unless as a result of a medical incident, it may only be for check- ups or the likes of worming. As the owner, you are with your pet every day of the year. This means you are very strongly placed to be able to immediately recognise when things aren’t quite what they should be.

It is often quite hard to detect when dogs and cats are in pain. The only real way to notice is to be fully aware of their behaviour changing from outside the normal behaviour you have come to expect.

It’s all very well knowing how best to appraise your pet’s vital signs and any effects they have on its health. You must also be able to quickly evaluate how severe any problems might be, whether medical or physical. This is even more so should there be numerous injuries, say as the result of being run over in traffic.

Veterinarians generally use the colour of structures such as the “whites” of the eyes and the gums above the animal’s teeth to gauge a pet’s health, since the colour of the skin is normally very hard to see and evaluate because of their coats.

It’s relatively simple to determine a potential loss of fluid or any dehydration with your pet. The relative elasticity of the skin means that under normal conditions and with balanced water levels, the scruff of the neck is very easy to gently grab hold of. When you pull up the scruff and then let go again, if all is normal, the skin should spring back immediately to its regular position. It’s not a bad idea to test the top of the head in the first instance, because the skin there will probably show the result more easily.

As it is for humans, to measure your pet’s heart rate and check whether it is normal or not, they should firstly sit or lie in as relaxed a position as possible. With some pets, this can be difficult, especially with younger ones that may just think you are playing a new game, or others that may not be too happy to either remain still or be handled.

It is a very sad fact that thousands of, in particular, unwanted and unexpected puppies and kittens are put to sleep every year. Animal shelters around the country can be overflowing with these unfortunate animals who wait for their ill-fated end.

CPR combines artificial respiration with external heart compressions. This assists with moving blood around the body should the heart stop beating. Follow the instructions for rescue breathing, and alternate this with standard chest compressions. Two people should perform CPR, with one doing the breathing for the pet while the other person undertakes the chest compressions.