Your dog's first aid kit
It's been a while since I tell myself that I should have on me A first-aid kit in case something happens to my dog during our vacation or on a walk…
A few days ago, I found myself very stupid when my dog was attacked by wasps...
Nose stuck to the ground as always, she sniffed a buried swarm. And there: the drama!!! 6 bites on the ears, leg and nose; luckily I had tweezers in my purse to remove all the stings, but I had absolutely nothing to relieve or disinfect it… No more mistaking it!
So I bought a first aid kit for my dog and read some information on first aid for dogs. In this article, you will therefore find the exhaustive list of everything that your dog's first aid kit should contain if you do not want to buy it ready-made.
Trixie First Aid Kit Test
So I ordered the Trixie first aid kit and I tested it for you. To complete the article, I interviewed Noémie, happy owner of 5 female dogs landseer et Newfoundland who did a specific “dog” first aid training to take good care of his little troop. She shares some additional advice with us.
Please note, it is not a question of replacing the work and care of your veterinarian, but of being able to intervene in the event of an emergency for first aid. Depending on your animal's health, some of the advice in this article will not be applicable and your veterinarian may not recommend it: check with him to validate the first aid kit of your pet!
In the Trixie first aid kit, there is :
- a compress
- band with integrated compress
- bandaging tape
- sticking plaster
- two disinfectant wipes
- a dosing pipette to rinse the wound, hydrate your dog or give him his medication
- tweezers
- a pair of sterile gloves to put on before handling your dog
- a tic tire
- un chip comb
- a muzzle cord: to muzzle the dog and avoid defensive bites if your care hurts him
The necessary for first aid
Recall that this is a first aid kit to provide first aid to your dog when you are on the go, on vacation or on a hike and not from your home medicine kit. With its contents, you can disinfect a small wound, keep it clean for the rest of the ride, remove a thorn from a pad or quickly intervene on a tick.
For my part, the Trixie first aid kit and its contents are a good base, but I replaced two things that I judged to be moderately adequate: the plastic tweezers with real tweezers that are much finer and therefore more precise to my taste and the muzzle cord by a strip of flat fabric, surely more pleasant for the muzzle of the dog.
To complete the kit
Following my discussion with Noémie, who followed the canine first aid training, I advise you to add the following elements in the Trixie first aid kit to deal with all emergency situations:
- pod of saline solution for the eyes
- betadine pod to be able to disinfect, the wipes of the kit are enough for small sores
- additional sterile compresses
- scissors to cut the tape
- thermometer to track dog's temperature
- blanket adapted to the size of the dog
- splint in case of invoice (adapted to the size of the dog)
- dog sock to be able to isolate a paw with an injured pad
- instant cold pocket which will have an analgesic and anti-inflammatory effect
Canine first aid training
Wondering what this canine first aid training consists of?
Over one or more days of training, the masters learn the gestures to be made to rescue a dog. The master learns how to transport his animal to the health specialist without worsening his general condition and not to replace the veterinarian. The training consists of a theoretical part and a practical part on dog mannequins to learn life-saving gestures: nose mouth, cardiac massage, dressing, disinfection, placing a splint...
To find out about the training, read theinterview of Fiji and Céline who have completed canine rescue training. They told us about their day and their learning.
Emergency homeopathy for dogs
For the rest of the elements to add in this first aid kit, I recommend that you ask for validation from your veterinarian, because he may see contraindications for your dog depending on his state of health (allergy, disease, etc.).
Musher apparently isn't allergic to wasp stings, luckily she didn't have any edema. Nevertheless, the pain was there and I could have relieved it with a granule of Apis Melifica 5CH (homeopathy granule) every half hour. These granules relieve puncture trauma. (The 9CH dilution is to be used outside of the emergency, in a dose of 5 granules.) Or even by rubbing the bite with slightly diluted white vinegar.
There are other “magical” tubes to have with you to relieve your dog in case of worries:
- Arnica Montana 9CH: in the event of inflammatory trauma (blows, aches, wounds, sprains, etc.)
- Gelsemium: anti-pain and anti-stress
- Arsenicum album: in case of fatigue or exhaustion of the dog and if food poisoning
- Nux Vomica: in case of digestive disorders. Smecta for humans can also come in addition if this first remedy does not work.
The Trixie first aid kit: a good basis
You will notice that this first aid kit improved may also be of use to you. I'll add an anti-inflammatory ointment for you...
To complete this little kit, add the number of your veterinarian, the 24-hour emergency clinic and the poison control centre. If you take it on vacation, take your animal's health record in it.
I therefore recommend the Trixie First Aid Kit for the basics and add a few things to it to be ready for all eventualities on a walk or on vacation with your dog. The tools in this kit will help you intervene in an emergency to relieve your companion, but do not save a visit to the veterinarian to ensure that the injury or the problem has been taken care of properly.
READ ALSO : Hiking with your dog can't be improvised!, What should your dog's first aid kit contain?, Taking your dog to the beach: some precautions to take
You can also check out the guide I designed on dog training !