Electrocution

Electrocution in pets means an electrical current has passed through their body, and in dogs and cats it almost always comes down to one thing: a young animal chewing an electrical cord. Puppies and kittens between about two months and two years old are the most frequent patients, simply because cords look like chew toys to them. Less often, animals are hurt by downed power lines or lightning, though lightning strikes are more of a concern for animals kept outdoors than for pets that live mostly indoors, and susceptibility appears to vary with body size.

The current does two kinds of damage. Where it enters the body, usually the mouth, the electrical energy turns to heat and causes a burn: pale, tan or grey patches on the lips, gums, tongue or palate, sometimes a scar tracing the exact line of the cord across the tongue. Then there's the damage you can't see. The shock can trigger a surge of stress hormones that raises pressure in the lung's blood vessels and makes them leaky, causing fluid to build up in the lungs even though the heart itself is undamaged. Vets call this noncardiogenic (or neurogenic) pulmonary edema, and it's one of the more dangerous outcomes of a shock. It can take hours to appear, sometimes over a day, so a pet who seems perfectly fine right after biting a cord isn't necessarily out of danger. Current can also throw off the heart's normal rhythm, and in rare cases people have described cataracts developing in the eye some time after an electrical injury, though this is not common and the exact risk in pets isn't well established.

Watch for these signs in the hours and days after a suspected shock:

• Mouth burns or drooling: pale, tan, or ulcerated patches on the lips, gums, or tongue, or pawing at the mouth
• Breathing changes: coughing, panting, or laboured breathing, which can appear well after the incident
• Weakness or collapse: including muscle tremors or seizures
• Colour change: pale, blue-tinged, or dark red gums
• General distress: agitation, restlessness, or an inability to settle

If you find your pet in contact with a live cord, don't touch them until the power is off: unplug the cord or cut power at the source first. If that isn't possible, use a dry, non-conductive object like a wooden broom handle to move them away, since current can travel through a wet floor or even through you. Once it's safe, check that they're breathing and get to a vet immediately, even if the injury looks trivial. Vets will examine the mouth, listen closely to the heart and lungs, and often recommend chest X-rays, bloodwork, or an ECG, because how bad the visible burn looks is a poor guide to what's happening internally. Treatment ranges from pain relief and wound care for a mild burn to oxygen support, IV fluids, and hospital monitoring for animals developing breathing or heart trouble. Most animals with only mild signs recover well; it's the ones who develop lung fluid or heart rhythm problems whose outlook depends heavily on how quickly they're treated.

Prevention matters most while pets are young: keep cords out of reach or covered, unplug what isn't in use, and use cord protectors or cable ducts in any room where a curious puppy or kitten spends unsupervised time.