How do I know my dog needs a vet urgently?

Do not wait if the abdomen is swollen and hard while the dog retches without bringing anything up (this can be gastric dilatation-volvulus — a matter of hours), if breathing is laboured or noisy, the gums are pale or bluish, there are seizures, a refusal to drink, blood in stool or urine, suspected poisoning, heatstroke or an injury. Everything else the reading ranks honestly: what can be watched and what should be seen this week.

Does breed change the reading?

Considerably. Breed changes both which causes are likely and what counts as normal: in brachycephalic dogs noisy breathing is not always pathology, yet their danger threshold is lower; large breeds bring joints, dysplasia and gastric volvulus to the front; small ones tracheal collapse and mitral valve disease; some lines carry inherited predispositions. Give the breed and weight and the picture narrows noticeably. What a joint scan shows is covered in X-rays of a dog's legs and joints .

How is this different from decoding my dog's lab tests?

Different input. Here you describe what you see and get a picture of possible causes — which is what you need when there is no report yet. Once tests are done, they are read by pet lab test decoding against canine reference ranges, and an X-ray or ultrasound report by pet imaging decoding . The natural route: first understand what is going on and what to test, then decode the result.

How much does it cost and do I need to register?

The reading costs 300 RUB — a one-time card payment with no subscription and no recurring charges; the receipt goes to your email. No sign-up needed. The current price, including any promotions, is shown in the form before you start.

Can I attach a photo?

Yes, and it helps. What works well is anything visible from the outside: the gums and their colour, an eye, an ear, skin and bald patches, a wound, swelling, the stool, the posture while breathing or limping. A photo is supporting evidence rather than decisive, but it often reorders the list of explanations. If a shot is unusable, the reading says so plainly.

What if my pet is a cat, a rabbit or a horse rather than a dog?

The reading works with any species — the complaint is read against the biology of the animal you name. Cats have their own door — cat symptoms . For small pets there is a guide to illness in rabbits, tortoises and rodents , and for horses — the equine blood test .

Can ChatGPT read my dog's symptoms?

Partly: a general chatbot will name common causes, but it handles breed and species specifics poorly, does not structure urgency and does not say what to actually check. Here the reading works from the biology of the species, the breed and the age, flags emergency signs separately, names the tests and scans that fit your picture, and says plainly where the data is thin. Neither path replaces an exam: a dog has to be seen, touched and listened to.

Dog symptoms: what could be going on

A dog shows illness earlier than a cat does, but it cannot explain it: you can see that it is lethargic, coughing or has turned away from its bowl — and you do not know whether this is nothing or a matter of hours. Describe in ordinary words what you notice, how long it has lasted and what changed — in a few minutes the AI reasons through the causes that genuinely explain this picture in a dog of that age, breed and lifestyle, flags separately the signs that mean the clinic today, and names the tests or scan that would clarify things. The price is a one-time 300 RUB, no subscription, no sign-up. This is an informational reading, not a diagnosis: only a veterinarian treats and prescribes.

paid decodings completed
5–9 minaverage decoding time

What the dog symptom reading gives you

Describe it in your own words
No terminology needed. Write what is happening: coughing as if something is stuck, tiring quickly on walks, leaving food, limping on a hind leg by evening, drinking noticeably more. Add age, breed and weight, whether neutered and vaccinated, what you feed and what happened the day before.
Likely causes read against canine biology
Breed changes both the risks and the reading: brachycephalic dogs breathe their own way, large breeds bring joints and gastric dilatation-volvulus, small ones the trachea and the mitral valve. The reading lists explanations that fit this particular dog and ranks them honestly.
How urgent this is
States that cannot wait are flagged separately: a tense swollen abdomen with unproductive retching, laboured breathing, pale gums, seizures, refusing water, blood in stool or urine, suspected poisoning, heatstroke. For those the reading says plainly — go to the clinic now.
Which tests would clarify
For the picture you describe, the reading names what is usually checked: complete blood count and blood chemistry, urinalysis, hormones where an endocrine cause is suspected. The report you get back from the clinic can then be decoded here too.
What each scan would show
Where the question is about structure, the reading says what a chest or limb X-ray, an abdominal ultrasound, a heart echo or an ECG would add and why a vet might order it.
Puppies, adults and senior dogs
At four months infections, parasites and anything a puppy could swallow come first; in adults it is injuries, the gut and allergies; in seniors the heart, joints, endocrine disease and growths. Age and breed are always taken into account.

Guides to common dog symptoms

Each guide covers one sign: what it can mean, when it is urgent, what not to do at home, and which tests or scans would clarify the picture.

Dog diarrhoeahow long to watch and what blood in the stool means
Dog whiningasking for attention or in pain — telling them apart
Dog coughingkennel cough, the trachea, the heart — and how they are told apart
Seizures in dogswhat to do during the fit and when it becomes life-threatening
Dog scratchingfleas, atopy or food — and why a blood test does not settle it
Dog breathing hardwhere heat ends and an emergency begins
Red eyes in a dogconjunctivitis, a corneal ulcer or glaucoma — hours matter
Blood in a dog's urinecystitis, stones or the prostate in a male
Dog not eatingwhen refusing food stops being fussiness
Dog losing furshedding, allergy or hormones — bald patches without itch
Dog shiveringcold and fear against pain, fever and poisoning
Dog droolingbreed, teeth, nausea — and when it is gastric volvulus
Dog scootingalmost never worms — it is the anal sacs
Lethargic dogthe least specific sign of all — where to start checking
Dog limpingligament, joint, dysplasia or the spine — what a scan shows
Dog drinking a lotkidneys, diabetes, Cushing's — what to measure and how
Dog vomitinga single episode, repeated ones, and the kind you drive in for

Other pets: cats, rabbits, rodents, birds, reptiles, horses

The reading is not tied to dogs: a complaint is read against the biology of whichever species you name. For small pets this is often the only practical way to work things out — blood is rarely drawn from them, so your account becomes the primary data.

Cats
Cats have their own door and their own logic: they hide illness longer than dogs, and small shifts in appetite, thirst and the litter tray count for more. The same sign — lethargy, coughing, limping — reads differently in a cat, so a cat is read against feline physiology.
Rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas
In herbivorous rodents and lagomorphs, gut stasis develops over hours rather than days: a rabbit that has stopped eating and passing droppings is an emergency. Teeth matter separately: dental problems cause drooling, refusal of hard food and weight loss with the appetite apparently intact.
Hamsters, rats, parrots
In small rodents and birds the picture is sparser and the time shorter: lethargy, a ruffled coat or plumage, squinting eyes, laboured breathing, changes in droppings already mean go rather than watch. A bird fluffed up on the cage floor is at a late stage.
Tortoises and reptiles
In reptiles almost everything traces back to husbandry: temperature, ultraviolet light, humidity and diet. Refusing food, a soft shell, swollen eyelids and wheezing usually point to a specific husbandry fault rather than to "an infection" in the abstract — which is exactly what the reading asks about.
Horses
In horses colic and lameness come first, and both move fast. It helps to describe what changed in work, appetite, the volume of droppings and behaviour in the stable. How labs and feeding connect is covered in our guide to the equine blood test.

How it works

Three steps to a clear result

Upload your data
Take a photo of a test or scan, upload a PDF — or just describe your symptoms. Several files at once, no sign-up.
AI analyses everything
It reads test values and findings on images and checks them against reference ranges. For tests from different dates, it tracks the trend.
A clear result
What’s normal, what’s off and what it means — in plain language, with advice on which doctor to see.

How this compares to a vet, chatbots and forums

	LabReadAI	Vet visit	General chatbot	Search and forums
Price	300 RUB one-time, no subscription	typically a paid appointment	free or subscription	free
Time	a few minutes	booking and a trip to the clinic	instant	hours on owners' forums
Input	your account in ordinary words; a photo may be added	an exam, palpation, temperature, auscultation	a question typed into a chat, unstructured	a symptom in a search box
You get	likely causes adjusted for breed and age, an urgency call and the tests to bring up	a diagnosis and treatment — something only a veterinarian may provide	general causes, often by human standards	from "nothing serious" to the worst case in adjacent tabs
Limits	an informational reference, not a diagnosis; the animal is not examined	takes time and booking	does not separate canine from feline physiology	other people's cases, often another breed and another age

The reading does not replace a veterinarian and does not cancel the visit: it helps you understand what is happening, how urgent it is and what to bring to the clinic. Diagnosis and treatment happen only in person.

Useful materials

Related articles and parameters — normal ranges, interpretation and causes of abnormalities.

Ask AI about health

FAQ

Common questions about dog symptoms

Do not wait if the abdomen is swollen and hard while the dog retches without bringing anything up (this can be gastric dilatation-volvulus — a matter of hours), if breathing is laboured or noisy, the gums are pale or bluish, there are seizures, a refusal to drink, blood in stool or urine, suspected poisoning, heatstroke or an injury. Everything else the reading ranks honestly: what can be watched and what should be seen this week.
Considerably. Breed changes both which causes are likely and what counts as normal: in brachycephalic dogs noisy breathing is not always pathology, yet their danger threshold is lower; large breeds bring joints, dysplasia and gastric volvulus to the front; small ones tracheal collapse and mitral valve disease; some lines carry inherited predispositions. Give the breed and weight and the picture narrows noticeably. What a joint scan shows is covered in X-rays of a dog's legs and joints.
Different input. Here you describe what you see and get a picture of possible causes — which is what you need when there is no report yet. Once tests are done, they are read by pet lab test decoding against canine reference ranges, and an X-ray or ultrasound report by pet imaging decoding. The natural route: first understand what is going on and what to test, then decode the result.
The reading costs 300 RUB — a one-time card payment with no subscription and no recurring charges; the receipt goes to your email. No sign-up needed. The current price, including any promotions, is shown in the form before you start.
Yes, and it helps. What works well is anything visible from the outside: the gums and their colour, an eye, an ear, skin and bald patches, a wound, swelling, the stool, the posture while breathing or limping. A photo is supporting evidence rather than decisive, but it often reorders the list of explanations. If a shot is unusable, the reading says so plainly.
The reading works with any species — the complaint is read against the biology of the animal you name. Cats have their own door — cat symptoms. For small pets there is a guide to illness in rabbits, tortoises and rodents, and for horses — the equine blood test.
Partly: a general chatbot will name common causes, but it handles breed and species specifics poorly, does not structure urgency and does not say what to actually check. Here the reading works from the biology of the species, the breed and the age, flags emergency signs separately, names the tests and scans that fit your picture, and says plainly where the data is thin. Neither path replaces an exam: a dog has to be seen, touched and listened to.

Online decoding