All of us who love our dogs are concerned about their well-being and what may happen to them. Therefore, it is good that we have basic knowledge about first aid necessary in different situations to preserve the he alth of our furry ones.
So that you can have easy access to this necessary information to attend to your faithful friend in some cases of emergency, on our site we have already talked to you in other articles about how to act in different cases such as poisoning, fights and other situations. But in this case we are going to tell you everything about dog injuries and first aid that we need to know to act effectively.
What types of injuries can my dog get?
Dogs, like people, can get various types of injuries from playing, running around, trying to do something complicated or in a fight, among other possibilities. Wounds in dogs can be:
- Cuts: Where we can most see cuts on a dog is on its paws. Normally by walking on lacerating floors such as asph alt or cement, by stepping on glass, cans and other possible materials, or they can get entangled in brambles and other plants on the mountain, which will cause some cuts and injuries.
- Nails broken or ripped: This is a very painful type of injury as it affects the nerve of the nail and is usually infected with quickly if they don't heal right away. Sometimes, if the nails of our furry ones are very long, especially the spurs, they can get caught in materials such as clothes, blankets, bars, etc. That is when, when trying to get rid of the snag, the dog pulls hard, injuring the nail and maybe the phalanx of a finger depending on the area and the intensity of the pull. These wounds usually bleed a lot and are very scandalous. Sometimes the nail is torn off and other times it is just broken.
- Other dog or animal bites: Sometimes we can't avoid accidents like fights because we realize it too late. In the event that our dog takes a bite, depending on the affected area and the severity of the bite (depth and size), the resulting wound will be more or less serious. But it is clear that we must always act quickly. These types of wounds are cuts and tears that will soon become infected if left untreated.
Also, in any of these cases, if the wound is serious and there is a hemorrhage we must know how to act to stop it since it can be fatal for our dog.
How should we cure them?
Next, we will explain how to proceed to heal wounds and how to stop bleeding. We should always go to the vet, even if we first act with some first aid.
When we come across an injury to our faithful friend, we want to help him, but for that we must know how to act effectively avoiding possible complications. Next, we are going to discuss some things about first aid and steps to follow to treat wounds:
- First we have to put a muzzle on the dog if we see that it hurts a lot and it won't let us explore it calmly. This way we will prevent it from biting us due to the pain that the wound may be causing and the fact that we heal it.
- We must clean the wound with lukewarm water, saline solution or a disinfectant such as chlorhexidine and remove possible remains of material (soil, leaves, twigs, glass, hair, etc.) that may be in contact with the wound. We can trim the hair around the wound if we think it can get into it and contaminate it, also making it easier for us to clean the affected area.
- With hydrogen peroxide we will disinfect and coagulate the wound. We will never do it with alcohol because it does not coagulate and therefore it will disinfect but it will not stop the bleeding, no matter how small. That is why we must use hydrogen peroxide that will disinfect while stopping the blood from coming out of the wound. We can help ourselves with a sterile gauze to finish removing residues, always making gentle touches and never rubbing the gauze on the wound. In the event of severe bleeding, we will apply pressure to the wound for as long as possible before covering it with a compressive bandage. If we cannot easily stop the bleeding, we should call the veterinary emergency room so that they come as soon as possible or notify us that we are going immediately. We will never perform a tourniquet unless the specialist veterinarian tells us to do so when we make the emergency call and explains exactly how to do it without causing more damage to our dog.
- Let us air the wound before covering it so that it dries as much as possible. We'll let it air out for a couple of minutes.
- We will cover the wound without pressing too much, just enough to protect it from coming into contact with possible materials before reaching the vet consultation. We will do it with a sterile gauze and adhesive tape, if we have removed the hair from around the wound, or with a sterile gauze and a bandage that holds it.
- We will go to the vet to check the wound and do whatever is necessary to make sure that our dog is perfectly fine. You may need antibiotics, a couple of stitches, or anything else only the vet can provide.
What should a dog emergency kit contain?
Something essential that we must know is what to have in the medicine cabinet to be able to take care of our dog at home. Actually, almost the same things that we can find in a medicine cabinet are needed to attend to people. This is a list of the most necessary things:
- The number of veterinary emergencies or our trusted veterinarian
- Muzzle suitable for the size of our dog
- Single-use latex gloves
- Sterile gauze, cotton, bandages and absorbent pads
- Physiological solution in single doses, chlorhexidine, iodine or an equivalent disinfectant spray, liquid or powder
- 3% hydrogen peroxide and 96º alcohol
- High-fix adhesive plaster
- Blunt scissors, nail clippers and tweezers
- Medicines that the vet has been prescribing to treat the he alth of our furry on a regular basis
- Syringes for oral administration
- Digital rectal thermometer
All this material is essential in our dog's medicine cabinet, but it is always advisable that when we fill the medicine cabinet, we consult with the veterinarian what other things can be useful to us in addition to those we have just seen.
