First Aid for Dogs

Narrated from: Dog Health

As hard as we try to keep our pets safe, accidents will happen. They happen so quickly sometimes that we find ourselves unprepared to deal with them. If you are planning to get a dog or puppy start putting together a first aid kit now. If you already have a dog or a puppy put your kit together even faster! You can never be too prepared for an emergency. Most ASPCA’s offer classes on this topic and by taking one you can be confident in knowing that you can handle an emergency when it happens. It is a very good idea to take a first aid class and have certain things on hand! Once your kit is complete, you may want to make another one to keep in the car if your dog travels with you.

The size of the supplies in your first aid kit can depend on the size of your dog, so keep that in mind as you collect your kit items. You will need a Mylar blanket to keep in your kit. Mylar holds in heat. For a smaller dog you can use the ones sold in grocery stores for your groceries. This is used to wrap your injured dog in to hold in his body heat and keep him from going into shock. It is also very useful if hypothermia becomes an issue. If you reside in colder climates you may want to get a large one for yourself should you become snowbound in your car! Large ones are sold online.

If your dog gets cut or suffers from a puncture wound you will need to be sure to have rolled gauze with you. The gauze can be wrapped all the way around the dog if he has an injury to his body or around a leg if the injury is there. You must wrap it firmly and apply pressure to help slow the bleeding until a veterinarian can been seen. Get a good sized elastic wrap to secure the gauze in place. It is a very good idea to have a few elastic bandages on hand. You may also want to keep a stabilizing splint on hand should your dog have a possible broken bone.

Some other things you will want to have is eye wash or contact lens solution that can be used as an eye wash to clear debris from your dog’s eyes, large surgical gloves, scissors with blunt tips, tweezers, antiseptic wipes, antibacterial cream or gel, a cold pack and some hydrogen peroxide. Using scissors with blunt tips may sound odd unless you have tried to cut a bandage on an injured dog. They are usually fearful and they make every attempt to move around. The hydrogen peroxide is used to clean out smaller abrasions but it is also used to induce vomiting in case your dog ingests something that needs to come back out the way it went in. If you are ever in doubt about possible poisons please be sure to call the Canine Hotline for poisonous or toxic items and verify that you need to induce vomiting. Some of the things dog ingest should not be induced. It works the same way syrup of ipecac works in humans.

Having these items together and easy for you to get to will help you tremendously in the event of an accident to your furry friend. If you use anything from your kit, be sure to replace it as soon as possible.

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