Have you ever thought about what you need to do should your dog – or another dog – ever suffer a serious, life-threatening injury? What if they have a severe allergy to an insect bite or a bee sting? It’s great to know your vet’s phone number, but what if something happens during off hours? What if you don’t know where
closest emergency animal clinic is located?Augh! Enough with questions already, right? Any emergency is stressful and scary, and one involving that furry little four-legged member of your family is no exception. The toughest of owners can be instantly reduced to helpless balls of mush if something’s wrong with their dogs and they can’t figure out what to do.
1. Preparation is key.
The key to getting through a veterinary emergency is preparation. You may think you have that covered with a first aid kit and having phone number to your vet handy, but what if there isn’t enough time to move your dog? You need to be well-versed in some of more common animal emergencies just in case a situation ever arises. And hey, if a situation never arises, you’ll still feel more confident knowing that you have ability to deal with one.
2. Know how to care for wounds.
Did you know that you shouldn’t use hydrogen peroxide on a bleeding wound? Nope. It slows clotting to area, which means your dog could actually lose more blood than he would if you didn’t use peroxide at all. In fact, best way to treat a deep, severely bleeding wound is to apply a clean cloth and hold it in place for five minutes, then tape cloth to wound. That original cloth should never be removed – that also slows clotting – and should instead be layered with more clean cloths if blood soaks through.
