What would you do if your dog ate a whole box of chocolates that your kids left on the living room floor? Or ate highly poisonous mushroom while you two were walking along the woods earlier? What if the closest animal emergency place and vet office is about an hour away? Your dog would already be in a very fatal condition by the time you get to the vet if you don’t give him a first aid.
Every household should have a first aid kit and the first aid kit should have emergency items for everyone in the family. Say you have a 5 member family, but only one has allergies, your emergency kit should still have medicine for allergies. Being part of the family, dogs should also have an emergency first aid kit because you can’t keep your dog’s medicines and medical supplies together with human supplies.
If you already have a first aid kit for your family and your dog then good for you. If not, better get one. Here are the thing’s you’ll need to have.
- Molasses of Ipecac – to make your dog vomit
- 3 % Hydrogen Peroxide – to make your dog vomit and also used for cleaning wounds
- Vaseline or KY Jelly – to help you get the accurate body temperature of your dog.
- Baking soda – this is an acid neutralizer and can be used for bee stings
- Milk of Magnesia – this is also an acid neutralizer
- Activated charcoal tablets – this is to be used in case your dog ingests poison
- Vinegar – to defuse alkaline caused injuries
- Antibacterial dog ointment –
- Kaopectate – this is for dog diarrhea
- Smelling Salts – this are ammonia capsules, in case your dog faints
- Germicidal soap – to wash any wounds
- Dog muzzle – to keep your dog from biting
- Stick – to be used when applying tourniquet
- Gauze bandages (1″ and 2 ” wide rolls)
- Gauze pads (3″ X 3″)
- Non-stick bandages – you want to have all available sizes for this one
- Adhesive tape (1″ wide)
- Tweezers
- Rectal thermometer – your dog should have his own thermometer
- Roll of cotton
- Dog (Pet) Swabs
- Sharp scissors with rounded ends – scissors with sharp ends can cause more injury.
- Pin light flashlight
- Splint
These are just some of basic things you’ll want to have on your first aid kit. I would suggest to have a handy box of medical supplies for your dog. You can always check with your vet if there’s anything else you need to add on this list. Remember to do a research on how to apply first aid before you do anything with your first aid kit.
Again, this is just for first aid, once first aid is applied make sure to bring your dog to a vet for professional assistance.
If you already have a medical kit and first aid kit, make a note on your calendar or planner to check the expiry date of everything that’s on those kits. We don’t want to keep or use anything that’s expired.
I know that keeping your dog safe and healthy is something that you want to do constantly to avoid any emergency situation. A first aid kit is designed to help you ensure your dog’s safety. As they say “Better safe than sorry”
