knowing how to go about administering first aid to your pets, and having the items you need within your reach is an important aspect of health management. If an emergency situation arise, your knowledge of first aid would help to keep your pet going until you can get her to veterinary clinic.

Situation that may require first aid include:-

Bleeding – Bleeding may occur due to cuts from sharp objects e.g the dog may run into a sharp protrusion, or attempting to pass through a hole in a wire fence etc.

Treatment Apply pressure over the area until bleeding stops, deep wounds will require stitching and the vet’s attention will have to be called upon.

Sores – A dog may develop sores on its skin for several reasons. Some of which include flea bite, persistent itching, allergic reaction to an internal or external substance. Many times, sores are -inflicted due to the dog’s preoccupation with an itch.

Treatment : Eliminate cause. More often than not, flea are the cause of itching, and dog should be treated for fleas.

Bite wounds Dog fights often result into one or both of the dogs sustaining severe injuries.

Treatment :- Because most dog bite wounds are deep ( puncture wounds), they are prone to infection, and the animal will require antibiotics shots. Clean the wound with saline or clean water. Apply pressure to stop aby bleeding, and get the animal to the veterinary clinic.

*  Burns :- could be cause by electrical shocks, chemical substances or heat. Symptoms include blistering, exudation, redness and swelling of the skin.

Treatment :- flush the area with copious amounts of cold water. If available, aplly ice wrapped in a towel over the burnt area for some minutes. Get the animal to the vet.

Seizures :- seizures could be due to several reasons. Symptoms include violent muscle spasms, salivation, unconsciousness etc.

Treatment - place the animal in a safe area to prevent him from injury himself. Keep the area as quiet as possible to enable the animal remain calm, and call for the veterinary attention.

Vomiting :-could be the result of several factors including obstructions.

Treatment :- withhold food for 12-24 hours. Allow it to take water after the vomiting stops if it shows interest. Call for the veterinary attention.

Shock : your dog may go into shock after bien involved in an accident causing severe infury. Signs include irregular breathing and dilated pupils.

Treatment :- rinse lower body to allow blood flow to the brain, and keep animal quiet and warm. Call for immediate veterinary attention.

Fractures: fractures would occur when your pet is involved in an automobile or domestic accident. Signs include limb spread out in an awkward fashion, favoring of limb, pain etc.

Treatment : control any bleeding that may occur, and give support to the point of fractures to prevent further complications.

* Do not attempt to set or repair fracture. Get the dog to the vet immediately.

Heat stroke or exhaustion

Dog become prone to heat stroke during very hot weather, more so, when ventilation is poor e.g leaving them inside a hot room or car during summer without air conditioning.

Signs include labored breathing, panting, high body temperature. Etc

Treatment

A case of heat stroke should be approached as an emergency  and immediate resuscitation is required. Place animal in a bath tub containing cold water. Use your hand to work the water into its coat properly. Do not stop until the dog shows some sign of normal breathing.

Snake bite and insect bite: dogs may get bitten when they attempt to attack or ‘play’ with  snake e.g  when they are roaming in the garden. It is usually for you to know if you are not present.

Signs and symptoms include;-

- swelling up of the dog’s face

- Breathing problems e.g panting.

Treatment locate the bite wound and thoroughly wash, before ‘hurrying’ the dog the vet. Do not attempt to ‘suck out’ the venom yourself. Insects such as the bee and wasp ,ay also sting your dog. Apply soothing cream or ointment to the spot. You may seek for veterinary assistance if it swells up and seems out of control.

Choking

Dogs are always picking thing up to chew them e. g toys, bones, sticks etc. they sometimes get there materials stick up in their throat, leading to choking etc.

Signs include blue tongue, difficult breathing etc.

Treatment

Open the mouth to view and see if you can locate the foreign object. Try removing it with tweezers if it is not lodge too deep into the throat. If deeply lodged, you may have to get the dog to the veterinary clinic for sedation and removal.

Poisoning

Your dog may get poisoned by picking up and eating some stuffs in the house meant for your use. E.g medicines (e.g aspirin), paint, detergents, chemicals (e.g fertilizer), rat poison, cigarette ends etc.

Signs and symptoms include  vomiting, salivation, spasms or convulsion, weakness etc

Treatment ; obtain some samples of the ingested material if possible, and call on your vet immediately. The sample you go along with could assist the vet in knowing how exactly to treat your dog.

Content of a mini First Aid Box

1. Cotton wool
2. Bandage (both gauge and adhesive)
3. Scissors
4. Thermometer
5. Syringes
6. Antibiotics cream or ointment
7. Soothing cream
8. Forceps
9. Eye drops etc

Nursing a sick dog is one of the vital measures that a dog owner needs to understand.  Similarly, when a dog becomes sick, the dog is in need of more care and affection based activities by the dog owners. Nursing a sick animal is often considered as an art and this should not be taken as a causal measure.

Yes. You need to take extra care to the dog when it becomes sick. For example, the sick dog with high fever needs to be given only some bread pieces and bulky non-vegetarian items may be avoided.  Such dogs should be kept in some calm place after medications are taken and should not be disturbed.  During the nursing of the dog who has taken the drug, the animal needs coaxing and stroking by the owner.  Don’t raise the dog’s head too much to avoid the passing of drugs given by the mouth directly into the respiratory organs like lungs.  During the nursing measures, take care by giving warm fluids.

Safety is to be given more priority during the nursing activity in any dog. When the dog has severe diarrhea, the animal may start showing signs of dehydration. Hence, the nursing care for dehydration includes an addition of small doses of salt and glucose to water in a careful manner.
Similarly, the vomiting dog also needs proper nursing care.  Ice cubes may be given in such cases along with egg whites to smooth the esophageal passage.

Nowadays, a non-contact based infrared thermometer has come up in the market to obtain the temperature of the animal without much stress.  Place the dog in a shaded place if the temperature is so high and provide good ventilation to the suffering animal.   If the animal is suffering from hypothermia, provide warm blankets to given comfort to the animal.

Signs of ill health are the most important signs of the health status in your dogs. For example, if the dog has continuous nasal discharge, it indicates the presence of nasal congestion and if the discharge is thick, most of the times, the dog may have pneumonia.

If the dog vomits one or two times occasionally, this may not be taken as a serious sign of ill health but if the dog continues this vomiting, then this is something significant to be looked into.

If the dog has continuous itching, then one needs to check up the dog first by closer observation and examination of skin by separating the hair material especially in case of long haired breeds. You may also come across a lot of ticks or lice on skin, which may look apparently normal at a distance.

If the dog passes loose stool for one or two times, this need not be given more emphasis but if there is continuous passing of loose stool, then the dog is understood to suffer from bowel disorders. If the dog does not pass stool for two to three days, the digestive upsets needs to be ruled out carefully.

Just patiently observe the dog’s walking movements and rule out any abnormal movements in the dog. If the dog is limping, the animal may have foot lesions. Similarly, if the aged dog has reluctant walking and less feed intake along with repeated vomiting, then acute renal disorders like nephritis needs to be ruled out.

If there is whiteness in eyes, suspect the corneal opacity that may occur in diseases like trypanasomosis. When the dog becomes anemic, the mucous membrane of the eyes becomes paler and in severe cases, this may have wall white color. If the dog bites chain and owners or others, look for behavior disorders and rabies needs to be ruled out.