Emergency Pet Care

Posted by Bob Newman

When your pet becomes sick or injured, getting to a professional emergency vet is generally your primary instinct, but understanding how to administer basic first aid for animals could make a huge difference in a an urgent situation. One of the most important things you could do now is to ensure you have the correct provisions at hand as well as the right information and contact information for a vet, poison control center and local animal shelter. It is also wise to get a well designed strategy for your pets in case of an emergency, natural disaster or family crisis so you can make a snap decision and stay calm, cool and collected.

Naturally, a well-stocked first aid kit is important to any household, and many of your everyday supplies may be utilized to treat illness or injury for your dog or cat. Topical solutions that ward off infection such as hydrogen peroxide, antibiotic ointment and sterile saline solution may be applied to abrasions on animals just like on humans. Remember that pets will do their best to remove a bandage, therefore learning how to properly apply them is crucial and takes plenty of clean cotton strips, gauze and first aid adhesive tape so store plenty at hand so you can be inventive in keeping the bandages in place. Get a digital thermometer for your first aid kit since ordinary human mercury thermometers often will not indicate high enough to get reliable reading on a dog or cat. When dealing with intestinal illnesses, have stock of standard treatments that could be endorsed by an emergency vet, like activated charcoal tablets, laxatives, mineral oil or Milk of Magnesia, however don’t administer them without the instructions of a professional.

Certain practical items like eye droppers and pet pill dispensers should be incorporated in your first aid kit so you may administer medications to your animals. If you have dogs, add a properly-sized muzzle for each one, since many dogs when panicked may bite. If you are handling a cat, wrap its body gently in a towel to avoid getting scratched or having the cat get away and hiding. As well have a crate available for all your animals, since moving an hurt animal by car without containing it could be dangerous for all involved. Your family accident kit could include backups of the medicines that your animals take normally if you are separated from their normal supply.

Being familiar with how to make the right choices during a situation which necessitates emergency pet care can be the difference between life and death or further injury. A important element to keep in mind is how effective water is in dealing with many of pet related situations. For example, you might distract fighting animals by pitching a bucket of water on them or showering them with a water hose. If an animal is bleeding, cleansing the cut with clean water is a first priority to ascertain the scale of the injury. If a dog or cat appears to be suffering from sun stroke or dehydration, get them cool wet cloths to help them stabilize their temperature.

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