Oxygen is vital to life and, depending on the severity of oxygen depletion, the patient may suffer cell death, organ failure, or death. Giving a patient struggling for breath an oxygen supplement can make the difference between life and death. In the critically ill, it is a vital life-saving therapy used to stabilize the dog and make them strong enough to undergo diagnostic tests.

Oxygen tent: This is a sealed chamber in which the whole dog rests and breathes in an oxygen-rich atmosphere

Oxygen therapy can be life-saving and is an essential treatment in many circumstances. However, the very nature of the conditions for which therapy is given mean the patients are high risk and, therefore, some fatalities are inevitable.