First Aid for Your Pet: Dealing with Cat and Dog Emergencies

For those of us who love our animals, it is as important to know how to cope with an emergency situation as it is when our human loved ones have an accident or a trauma. Animals, like humans, are prone to accidents and need caring and fast attention.

The most common injuries that animals tend to have are bites, bleeding, broken legs, choking, foreign objects in a paw, heat stroke, limping, poisoning and stings. In all of these cases get the animal to a vet as soon as possible but there are many things that you can do to relieve them of distress or pain.

BITES

For an animal that has been bitten use your fingers to find the site of the injury. Take a pair of small scissors and cut away the fur around the wound and clean it with warm water containing a little anti-septic lotion. Cover the wound with a pad of clean cloth, perhaps a folded handkerchief or gauze and then bandage it. Still have the wound checked by a vet as bites and scratches suffered during a fight may turn septic without correct treatment.

With CATS the first sign of a bite may be an abscess or swelling and the cat may become listless and off its food. If this is the case then bathe the swelling with warm water and a mild disinfectant and get the cat to a vet as soon as you can as the cat may need a course of antibiotics.

BLEEDING

Should your animal have a cut that is bleeding badly, cover it with a clean pad and bandage it firmly in place. Be sure to get to a vet without delay especially if the bleeding will not stop.

BROKEN LEG

An animal that has a leg that is lying in an awkward position may have broken it. As gently as possible ease the leg into a more comfortable position and attend to any bleeding that may have occurred. Once this is done carefully straighten the leg into a more normal position and firmly bandage it to a piece of wood or hardboard of roughly the same shape as the leg. In some cases a stick would make the perfect splint Again take the animal to a vet as quickly as possible.

CHOKING