My dog bumped his back in the car. Is he okay or internally hurt?

The only method of ruling out traumatic brain injury with 100% certainty is with advanced imaging modalities like CT and MRI. If your dog is not experiencing any neurologic deficits, is reacting light and is visually sound, and has normal mental acuity, it is unlikely there is any brain damage. Regardless of what you may notice at home, getting struck by a vehicle is definitely something that I would take Otis to the vet to get looked over. Even though you aren't seeing anything obvious, they can make sure there isn't any free fluid in the abdomen or air in the thoracic cavity.

That was naughty of Roy to do! You are correct there could be a chance of internal bleeding, but you report he acting perfectly normal, which would not indicate any internal bleeding at this moment. Because I can't see your animal in person, I am always going to recommend taking them into your vet to be safe. In my opinion, it's best to spend the money for a visit and have nothing wrong than to not have them checked out and potentially end up with a serious (and more expensive) situation on your hands. You can get him checked out to be safe if you wish, but you can also monitor him if you'd like. If he has any changes in behavior, eating, drinking, and going potty, he will need to see a vet right away.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Max! It's a good sign that he ate and drank. It's hard to say if he will be fine with out examining him. Sometimes internal injuries do not show up right away, things like internal bleeding in the chest or belly, bruising on the lungs (contusions), abnormal air around the lungs (pneumothorax), diaphragmatic hernias, trauma to the urinary bladder. The obvious outward signs like a broken bone, wounds, back or head trauma you would have seen right away. I would rest him and keep him calm. Watch for increased and labored breathing, no urine production, lethargy and pale gums. He will likely be sore tomorrow. If anything changes he should be taken to an emergency hospital. It isn't wrong to have him checked out now and get pain medications in case he is sore tomorrow. I hope this helps and I wish Max the very best!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Murphy! You are doing all you can by having him at the Vet right now. When it comes to trauma some things don't show up for 12-24 hours, most specifically internal bleeding and bladder trauma. When I worked emergency I cared about 4 things: the lungs (was there a diaphragmatic hernia, pneumothorax, lung bruising, rib fracture, flail chest), the cardiovascular system (blood pressure, shock, internal bleeding), the neurologic system (head trauma, mentally appropriate, pupils, spinal trauma, can the dog walk on all legs) and the urinary system (can the dog pee, is the bladder ruptured). The last thing I cared about was wounds or broken bones. If Murphy is stable after 24-48 hours with the above 4 body systems he will recover just fine. After they know he is stable they can address wounds and broken bones as they are not life threatening, just expensive potentially to fix. You are going to have to be patient and wait to see how things go overnight. I wish you and Murphy the best!

It sounds like Bruno just banged his arm on something. While it is certainly possible he suffered an injury that requires attention, I think you should wait and see how he reacts over the next 24 hours. If he is not currently showing any symptoms of pain, it is likely that he simply injured himself in the equivalent way that maybe you or I would experience when we stub our toe or hit our funny bone. Dogs are a lot tougher than people. Lets give Bruno a chance and see how he does.

Oh no - poor pooch! Even if he does not seem painful limping is a sign of pain in the leg. He may have a simple bruise or sprain, but broken bones are also very common after being hit by a car. I would recommend seeing a veterinarian as soon as possible. It sounds like this may have happened a little while ago since the rash on his stomach has healed, but if it was recent you should see a veterinarian as soon as possible since internal injuries are sometimes not obvious right away.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Being hit by a car is very concerning as most of the time there is more damage than what can be seen from the outside. If he is not walking well and his breathing is abnormal, I highly recommend you consider having him reevaluated by a veterinarian since he has not improved. They may take chest x rays to check on why he is breathing loudly such as a pulmonary contusion for example. Treatment would be dependent on findings though at least pain control medications can be started. I hope he does well. Good luck and have a good night!