You love your pets and want to see them happy always. As cat parents, it is hard to imagine our pets being in emergencies. However, being prepared to provide first aid to your cat is also a way we take care of our pets!
In this blog, you discover life-saving tips you should know in caring for cats in many circumstances. You will learn tips on giving preventative first aid for your cats and dogs, caring for the most critical emergency circumstances, including breathing and cardiac emergencies, injuries, bleeding, and seizures.
First-Aid Tips For Pet Owners
What would you do if:
- Your pet has consumed the bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips that was on the kitchen area counter?
- Your feline had a seizure right in front of you?
- Your dog dropped the staircases and started limping?
- Your cat had a heat stroke on a hot summertime day?
To avoid feelings of panic that may come with these circumstances, we want you to learn the actions you should take if a pet medical emergency happens.
Always remember that any first-aid treatment to your pet must be done quickly. It is also essential to know that first-aid treatment is not a replacement for veterinary treatment, but it can save your pet's life while waiting for the treatment.
What To Put In Your First-Aid Kit
This helpful checklist tells you of all the materials you need to have with you for pet first-aid. You can print this part used to use for shopping the items. Keep a copy of the contact numbers and addresses in your fridge for your family members to know quick recommendations in emergencies.
Your kit should include the following:
- Absorbent gauze pads
- Sticky tape
- Cotton balls or swabs
- 3% hydrogen peroxide to induce vomiting (always talk to a vet or animal poison control professional before giving to your pet).
- Cold pack
- Disposable gloves
- Scissors with the blunt end
- Tweezers
- OTC antibiotic lotion
- The oral syringe or turkey baster
- Dishwashing soap (for bathing)
- Towels
- Tiny flashlight
- Alcohol wipes
- Styptic powder
- Saline eye option
- Artificial tear gel
- Telephone number, center name, and address of your veterinarian in addition to regional veterinary emergency centers.
Ensure to inspect your pack every couple of months to see if nothing has run out or needs to be replaced. And also, naturally maintain your package out of the reach of kids.
Knowing how to comfort an injured family pet can help lessen your pet's stress and anxiety.
Whether confronted by natural disasters such as storms, or unforeseen catastrophes such as a house fire, you need to be prepared to look after your pet. A pre-set disaster plan will help you stay calm and think clearly.
Pet First-Aid: Basic treatments
First aid should never be used as a replacement for veterinary care. Yet, it can save your pet's life before you can get your animal to be given proper care by a veterinarian.
Poisoning And Direct Exposure To Toxins
Some food and everyday house stuff might be a danger to your pet. You can look through this blog to know some poison threats to cats.
If your pet's skin or eyes come into contact with the harmful product (such as many cleansing products), inspect the product tag for the guidelines for people exposed to the item; if the label instructs that you should wash your hands with soap and also water, then clean your pet's skin with soap and also water. Remember to not let the water get into its eyes, mouth, or nose. If the tag instructs you to flush the skin or eyes with water, do this process to your cat or dog as soon as possible (if you can do it safely), then call the vet instantly.
Be prepared to tell your vet the following information about your pet:
- Breed
- Age
- Sex
- Weight
- Signs and symptoms
- Name/description of the compound in question, the quantity the animal was exposed to, and how much time has passed since the exposure.
You should also save the product container/packaging for reference.
Collect any material your pet might have thrown up or chewed, and place it in a resealable plastic bag to bring with you when it's time to bring your pet for veterinary treatment.
Seizures
- Keep your pet far from any objects that could hurt it, including furniture. Do not limit their actions.
- Time the seizure (they usually last 2-3 mins).
- After the seizure has stopped, keep your animal as warm as well as silent as possible and also call your veterinarian.
- Muzzle your family pet.
- Carefully lay your pet on a flat surface to support their bodies.
Injuries
While transferring your injured pet to a vet, you can utilize a stretcher (you can make use of a board or other surfaces as a cot or use a throw rug or blanket as a sling). When possible, secure your pet inside the cot (ensure you don't further tax the damaged area or the pet's breast) for transportation.
You can try to support any fractures with a homemade splint, but keep in mind that a badly-placed sling may trigger more injury than good. If doubtful, it is constantly best to leave the bandaging and to a veterinarian.
- Muzzle your pet.
- Press a clean and substantial gauze pad over the open wound and keep pressure over the damage with your hand up until the blood begins clotting. This will usually take several minutes for the clot to be strong enough to stop the bleeding. Instead of checking it every couple of seconds to see if it has thickened, hold pressure on it for a minimum of 3 mins before rechecking it.
If bleeding is on the legs and is severe, use a tourniquet (using a rubber band or gauze) between the injury and the body and apply plaster and pressure over the wound. Loosen the tourniquet every 15-20 minutes for at least 20 seconds. Severe blood loss can quickly be deadly. Quickly get your pet to an emergency vet if this happens.
The signs and symptoms of internal bleeding are bleeding from nose, mouth, rectum, blood in pee, pale gum tissues, collapse, weak and fast pulse.
Keep pet as cozy and possible and also transport promptly to a veterinarian.
Burns
- Muzzle the animal.
- Flush the coat immediately with large amounts of water. You can also use ice water compress to scorched locations.
Choking
Signs and symptoms:
- Difficulty breathing
- Extreme pawing at the mouth
- Choking noises when breathing or coughing
- Blue-tinged lips/tongue
Use caution--a choking pet is more likely to bite in its panic.
If your cat can still breathe, keep it calm and get it to a veterinarian.
Look at the pet's mouth to see if a foreign object is visible. If you are confident, carefully attempt to remove it with pliers or tweezers. However, take care not to push the item further down the throat. Don't spend a great deal of time attempting to eliminate it if it's challenging to get to, don't postpone and immediately contact your pet to a veterinarian.
If you can not eliminate the item or your pet loses consciousness, put both hands on the side of your pet's chest and also apply firm, fast pressure, or lay your pet dog on its side and strike the rib cage firmly with the hand of your hand 3-4 times. The reason behind this is to press significantly air out of their lungs and press the things out from the inside. Keep repeating this until the object is out or until you reach the vet.
Heatstroke
Never leave your pet in the vehicle, especially on hot days. The temperature inside a car and can swiftly rise to dangerous levels, even on milder days. Pets can succumb to heatstroke quickly and should be treated promptly to for a chance of survival.
- If you can not immediately get your family pet to a vet, relocate to a shaded area and out of direct sunlight.
- Put a wet towel around the pet's neck and head (remember to never cover your pet's nose, eyes, or mouth).
- Remove the towel, wring it out to dry, and rewet it and rewrap it every few minutes to take the pet's temperature down.
- Keep water running over the pet's body (specifically the abdomen and in between the hind legs). With your hand, massage its legs, then sweep the water away as it takes in the temperature.
- Move the pet to a veterinarian asap.
Knowing how to give a first-aid set is essential, not just in the event of a natural calamity, but any time a pet is far away from instant help, like when you go camping. Knowing how to perform these life-saving steps is also proof of how much we value our pets.
