Seeing your dog or cat get hit by a car is frightening, and your first instinct may be to rush over and pick them up. Before you do, take a breath and look at the scene. A frightened or injured pet may bite or scratch, and moving them incorrectly can make certain injuries worse.
Even when a pet gets back on their feet and seems relatively normal after being hit, they still need immediate veterinary evaluation. Vehicle accidents can cause fractures, head injuries, internal bleeding, and injuries to the chest or abdomen that aren't obvious from the outside.
What to Do Immediately After Your Pet Is Hit by a Car
Your first priority is protecting yourself, your pet, and anyone else at the scene. Move away from traffic and other hazards before approaching your pet. Speak calmly, move slowly, and remember that pain and fear can cause even a normally gentle dog or cat to react defensively.
Once you can safely approach, keep your pet as still and quiet as possible. Don't encourage them to walk around to see whether they can move. If they are able to walk, they may still have injuries that could worsen with activity. Call a veterinary hospital or emergency clinic as soon as possible and tell them your pet has been hit by a car. They can help you prepare for transport and may give you instructions based on your pet's breathing, consciousness, bleeding, and other symptoms.
How to Move an Injured Pet
If your pet is small enough to carry, a thick towel or blanket can provide support while you lift them. For a larger dog, a blanket, board, or other firm surface may help you move them while limiting unnecessary movement. Keep the head, neck, and spine as stable as you reasonably can, particularly if your pet is unable to stand or has signs of neurological injury.
Don't twist or bend your pet's body to get them into a comfortable position. If they are having trouble breathing, allow them to remain in the position that makes breathing easiest while you prepare to transport them. Cats can be placed carefully into a carrier, but avoid forcing an injured cat through a small opening if doing so requires bending or manipulating the body.
What If My Pet Is Bleeding After Being Hit by a Car?
Visible bleeding can be one of the most alarming injuries after a car accident, but not every wound requires the same approach. If an external wound is actively bleeding, apply gentle, steady pressure with clean gauze, a towel, or another clean cloth. Keep pressure on the area rather than repeatedly lifting the material to check whether bleeding has stopped.
If blood soaks through the cloth, add additional material over it instead of removing the first layer. Bandaging may be useful for some wounds, but a makeshift bandage should not be wrapped tightly enough to interfere with circulation. Your pet still needs veterinary care even if bleeding appears to stop.
Don't spend time trying to thoroughly clean a traumatic wound before leaving for the veterinary hospital. The immediate priorities are controlling significant bleeding, minimizing movement, and getting your pet evaluated. Veterinary wound management can include cleaning, flushing, removal of damaged tissue, bandaging, and surgery depending on the injury.
Signs Your Pet May Be in Shock
Shock can develop after significant trauma when the body cannot deliver enough blood and oxygen to its tissues. Blood loss is one possible cause, but severe trauma can contribute to shock in other ways as well. A pet in shock may initially seem restless or unusually quiet before becoming increasingly weak.
Some signs can be difficult for an owner to interpret, particularly immediately after an accident. Watch for pale, white, or grayish gums, rapid breathing, weakness, a rapid heartbeat, cold extremities, collapse, or a reduced level of responsiveness. These are emergency signs and should not be monitored at home.
A pet does not have to be unconscious or visibly bleeding to be seriously injured. Internal bleeding may not produce an obvious external wound, and significant abdominal blood loss may not be readily apparent during a visual examination.
Why a Pet Who Looks Fine Still Needs Veterinary Care
One of the most important things to understand about car accidents is that visible injuries don't tell the whole story. A pet may have only a scrape or mild limp while also having internal trauma. Some complications can become apparent later, which is why veterinary teams closely monitor animals after significant trauma.
Blunt trauma from a vehicle can injure the chest, abdomen, bones, brain, or other organs. Fractures may be obvious, but injuries to the lungs, abdominal organs, or urinary and gastrointestinal systems may initially be less noticeable. Your veterinarian will determine which areas need to be assessed based on the circumstances and your pet's examination. For this reason, don't decide that your pet can simply rest at home because they stood up, walked away, or accepted food afterward. A veterinary exam is appropriate even when the accident appears minor.
What Injuries Can Happen After a Pet Is in a Car Accident?
The injuries that follow a collision depend on the size of the pet, how they were struck, and where the impact occurred. Your veterinarian may need to evaluate multiple body systems rather than focusing only on the area that appears injured.
- Fractures and orthopedic injuries: Broken bones, joint injuries, and damage to the pelvis or limbs can make walking painful or impossible.
- Chest injuries: Blunt trauma can injure the lungs, ribs, or other structures within the chest and may cause breathing difficulties.
- Abdominal injuries: Organs within the abdomen can be bruised, torn, or damaged, potentially causing internal bleeding.
- Head and neurological injuries: Trauma can affect the brain, spinal cord, or nerves and may cause changes in balance, consciousness, movement, or behavior.
- Skin and soft-tissue wounds: Scrapes, punctures, bruising, and more extensive wounds can occur even when deeper injuries are also present.
- Eye injuries: Trauma around the head can damage the eyes and surrounding structures, even when the eye itself initially appears intact.
Because several injuries can occur at once, your veterinarian may perform a thorough examination and recommend bloodwork, urine testing, X-rays, ultrasound, or other diagnostic testing. The first goal is to identify and stabilize the problems that pose the greatest immediate risk.
What Should You Avoid Doing After a Car Accident?
It's natural to want to help as much as possible, but some common responses can create additional problems. Don't give your pet human pain medication unless a veterinarian specifically tells you to do so. Many medications intended for people are unsafe for dogs or cats, and the appropriate treatment depends on the pet's injuries and overall condition.
Don't force food or water into the mouth of an injured or disoriented pet. Avoid encouraging them to walk, jumping them into a vehicle, or repeatedly repositioning them to look for injuries. When there is significant trauma, keeping movement to a minimum is generally safer until the veterinary team can assess them.
Don't assume that a pet who stops crying or appears calmer is necessarily improving. Some seriously injured animals become quieter as they weaken. Changes in responsiveness, breathing, gum color, or ability to stand are particularly important to communicate to the veterinary team.
When Should You Go Straight to an Emergency Veterinarian?
After a pet has been hit by a car, emergency veterinary care is appropriate rather than waiting for a routine appointment. This is especially important if your pet cannot stand, is struggling to breathe, has significant bleeding, appears unconscious or confused, has pale gums, or seems to be in severe pain.
Other concerning signs include repeated vomiting, collapse, seizures, severe weakness, a swollen or painful abdomen, or a limb that is visibly deformed. Even without these signs, the collision itself is enough reason to seek prompt evaluation because serious trauma can be hidden. Call the hospital before or while you're leaving when possible. Tell them your pet's species, approximate size, whether they are conscious and breathing normally, whether there is visible bleeding, and what happened. This gives the veterinary team useful information while you are on the way.
What Happens at the Veterinary Hospital?
When a traumatized pet arrives, the veterinary team will first determine whether there are immediate problems with breathing, circulation, or other vital functions. Stabilization takes priority over completing every diagnostic test at once. Treatment may include oxygen, IV fluids, pain control, bleeding control, wound care, or other emergency interventions depending on what your pet needs.
Once your pet is stable, the veterinarian can perform a more complete examination. This may include evaluating the nervous system, chest, abdomen, limbs, eyes, and other areas affected by the collision. Blood tests, urinalysis, X-rays, or ultrasound may be recommended to look for injuries that cannot be identified from the physical examination alone.
Some pets need surgery or hospitalization, while others may be treated and monitored with less intensive care. The treatment plan depends on the specific injuries rather than simply how dramatic the accident looked from the outside.
How to Help Your Pet After a Car Accident
If your pet is hospitalized, ask the veterinary team what signs they are watching for and what needs to happen before your pet can safely go home. Once home, follow all activity restrictions and medication instructions carefully. A pet recovering from trauma may need a quiet area, limited movement, assistance getting outside, or help getting to food and water.
Pay attention to changes in appetite, drinking, urination, bowel movements, energy, breathing, and mobility. Watch wounds and incision sites for increasing redness, swelling, discharge, or other changes. Don't hesitate to call your veterinarian if something seems different from the instructions you were given or if your pet's condition appears to be worsening.
A car accident can be overwhelming, but the most helpful thing you can do is focus on safe transport and prompt veterinary care. Keep your pet still, control serious external bleeding when possible, avoid giving medications unless instructed, and contact a veterinary hospital right away. Even a pet who seems okay after being hit by a car should be examined because some traumatic injuries aren't obvious at first.
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