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Your Dog and the ERThe Resource for Everything About Dogs |
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Your Dog and the ERby Tracey Wilson
Has your dog been laying around, moping about the house and just in general acting like she's not feeling well? She may have a cold, or if she's a little older in years, she may be feeling the weather in her bones. Animals are much like humans in the way that they show illness. They all have their good and bad days, just like any of us do. They also have times when they have a bug, and just need to relax and drink lots of fluids. Do you have a thermometer and Buffered Aspirin, (children's aspirin for smaller dogs), on hand? How about Pepto-Bismol for an upset tummy? Maybe your furbaby suffers from allergies; do you keep generic Benadryl on hand for your pet? If you answered no to any of these questions, then you should go out and buy a supply. Call your vet for dosage amounts. They usually equal approximately the same dosage as the weight dosages on back. But check with an animal professional, just to make sure. All of the above ingredients should be in a Basic First Aid kit for your animals: Gauze Sponges ? 50 4x4 ? 2 per package Triple Antibiotic Ointment Rubbing Alcohol Ear Syringe ? 2 oz. Capacity Ace Self-Adhering athletic bandage ? 3? wide White Petroleum Jelly (like Vaseline) Eyewash Non-Adherent Pads Pepto-Bismol Tablets Generic Benadryl Hydrocortizone Cream - 1% Sterile Stretch Gauze Bandage ? 3x4 Buffered Aspirin Dermicil Hypoallergenic Cloth Tape ? 1? x 10 yards Hydrogen Peroxide Kaopectate Tablets Bandage Scissors Custom Splints Veterinarian Rap Bandage Thermometer All their paperwork Always keep regular veterinarian appointments, keep them up-to-date on their shots. Make sure you pretreat them for any kinds of parasites that can make them deathly ill, and can even cause death -- from heart-worms, to ear mites, to lack of flea and tick control. An animal who has to battle fleas all the time will be completely miserable. She can also develop severe skin infections, which can effect the blood stream. Preventative care is always less expensive, and much safer, not to mention, more comfortable for your furbaby. Make sure you always watch for persistent scratching, dry skin, wounds, bad odor, out-of-character behavior, tilting of head, etc . . . when you are checking your dog for good health. If any signs of these are present, take them to their doctor as soon as possible. So, you know what to have on hand in case of an emergency. Hopefully, you're now confident about having preventative care down packed, and you know you pay attention to their behavior; including any signs of depression, fatigue and illness ? but how do you know when what you're observing is an outright emergency? Especially if it isn't obvious? Keep this check list at hand ? at a sign of any of the symptoms below, get your dog to the emergency veterinarian hospital right away! Difficulty Breathing ? noisy respirations, blue tongue, gasping for breath. Bleeding that doesn't stop from any part of the body ? apply pressure with a clean cloth and go! Distended or Bloated Abdomen, even if not vomiting Unable to urinate or move bowels, but tries. Bloody stool or urine, or pain and discomfort while using the bathroom. Heatstroke ? Heavy panting, extreme weakness, body temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Unable to Deliver ? Contraction longer than one hour or more than fifteen minutes if you can see the fetus or membrane. Loss of Balance or Consciousness Seizure ? tremors, coma, staggering, convulsions, sudden blindness, tilting of head, biting imaginary objects, sudden changes in disposition Pain Trauma ? injury or shock from falls, Vehicle accidents, wounds, cuts, broken bones. Shows signs of weakness, collapse, shallow breathing, rapid heartbeat, bewildered appearance, dilated pupils. Penetrating wounds anywhere, but especially the chest or abdomen. Vomiting or Diarrhea with blood or violent episodes. Lameness ? can not bear any weight on the leg. Eye Problems ? severe itchy with self-mutilation, severe hives. If there is any possibility at all that your dog may have gotten into poison, bring the poison containers with you. This is extremely important for knowing how to treat the particular poison. (Emergency list from Norma Bennett Woolf).
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