Emergencies Can Happen

Claus found himself in the 24-hour emergency vet clinic early one morning despite my near-obsessive efforts to keep my pets healthy and safe. It can happen to any pet!

My mother and I completed a pet first aid course a couple of weekends ago. We spent our Saturday learning to perform rescue breathing and CPR on cats and dogs.

While I hope I never have to use any of my new skills, I would like to take a moment today to share five important tips on pet safety.

1. Know what’s normal for your pet. Like humans, animals vary. Examine your pet weekly by doing a snout-to-tail wellness assessment. This is great bonding time for you and your pet, and it gives you a chance to know your pet’s heartbeat and pulse. Pets very often mask their injuries, so it’s important to do a thorough exam each week and check your pet’s ears, eyes, tail, toes, teeth, tongue, and other parts. Yes, I know some animals do not like you to open their mouths and peer inside! Claus goes ballistic if I try to cut his nails, so I know it can be a challenge. Start slowly, and do the exam little by little throughout the week. Choose a quiet place, and make sure your pet is relaxed. You don’t have to get through every part of it all at once. If you are rushed, your pet will pick up on your energy and be less cooperative.

An added advantage of making this a new habit? Once your pet is used to this routine, going to the vet should be less stressful.

2. Be prepared, and remain calm. The more time you spend right now thinking about how to handle emergency situations, the more prepared you will be when you actually have to handle one with your pet. Car accidents, house fires, and natural disasters happen. Pets eat things they are not supposed to eat. We can not always prevent a situation from occurring, but we can educate ourselves and be prepared to handle emergencies. Even the CDC recommends preparing an emergency plan for your pets. The American Veterinary Medical Association also offers some great tips and a brochure called “Saving the Whole Family” which addresses disaster evacuation planning.

Take it a step further: Make sure your pet sitter or dog walker is familiar with the emergency plan for your pets. Why not ask if he or she is trained in pet first aid?

3. Every season has its own unique hazards. Be aware of ice-melting chemicals and Christmas tree tinsel in winter as well as heat stroke and sunburn in summer. Wag’N Pet offers some very useful print-outs for general hazards and season-specific hazards. Print them out today and keep them in your pet files so that you can reference them with the start of each new season.

Always keep these 24-hour poison emergency hotline numbers handy in case you need them:

ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center:

1-888-4-ANI-HELP or 1-888-426-4435

National Animal Poison Control Center:

1-800-548-2423

Unfortunately, there are times when we need to make our dogs vomit immediately. If you ever find yourself in this situation, remember that you should give your dog approximately 1-2 ml of peroxide per kilo or 1-2 tsp of peroxide per 10 pounds of body weight every 10 minutes until he or she vomits. Don’t forget to seek follow-up veterinary care in situations like this. Pre-measured doses of peroxide and Benadryl appropriate for your pet’s weight are two items you should keep in your pet first aid kit so that you always have them handy.

Arthur loves to play in the snow, but we always make sure to clean his paws thoroughly after a walk or a run outside. This helps keep the house clean, but more importantly, it prevents him from licking ice-melting chemicals off of his paws. Devices like the Paw Plunger make the job of cleaning your dog's paws much easier!

4. Plan carefully before taking your pet in the car. Pets can become projectile objects in car accidents. That could mean the death of your pet and serious injury or death to you. The thought of my 100-pound puppy turning into a projectile object is pretty horrifying. Please keep your pets harnessed or in secured crates for their safety and yours. Remember that your airbags can seriously injure your pets, so it’s always best to keep harnessed and crated pets in the back seat. The Ruff Rider is a great car harness recommended by many dog safety experts. Consider ordering this free kit to help make sure you are prepared in the event of a car accident involving your pets.

It’s not safe to leave your pet in the car unattended – even when it’s winter, even if you crack your window, and even if you park in the shade during the summer. Your car is a greenhouse, and animals can not sweat like humans. Dogs cool themselves down by panting, and they sweat through their paws. If there is no cool air for them to inhale as they pant, they will not cool down. They will slowly cook themselves. MyDogIsCool.com has compiled amazing resources to educate us about the dangers of leaving animals in our cars. They even have charts explaining how hot our cars can get, and they have some fabulous posters you can print out and leave in your car in case you see an unattended car with a pet locked inside. The Humane Society also has similar educational posters of its own.

Remember that pets can also be stolen from cars. If you are in a shop, it’s very easy for a thief to break a window and grab a small dog before anyone realizes what has happened.

And just in case you’re interested…

While researching this topic further online, I came across an interesting review of pet-safe vehicles.

5. Your first aid kit is different from your disaster evacuation kit. Partnership for Animal Welfare has a very comprehensive list of what you should keep in your first aid kit, but your disaster evacuation kit serves a different purpose.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, a pet disaster kit should include:

• A three-day supply of food and drinking water as well as bowls, cat litter, and a container to be used as a litter box.
• Current photos and descriptions of pets.
• Up-to-date identification including an additional tag with the phone number of someone out of the area in the event the pet becomes lost.
• Medications, medical records, and a first aid kit stored in a waterproof container.
• Sturdy leashes, harnesses, and carriers to transport pets safely as well as blankets or towels for bedding and warmth. Carriers should be large enough to comfortably house your pet for several hours or even days.

I would also print these handy evacuation cards to keep in your disaster evacuation kit or near your front door in case you do ever have to evacuate.

One note about the photos: Photos of you with your pets can be very useful in proving that you are their guardian in case you are ever separated from them and have to reclaim them in a disaster situation. Microchips also help greatly in such a situation, but pictures kept in your wallet are immediately accessible even if there is not a microchip scanner available.

Why not set aside some time this weekend to put together your first aid kid and your disaster evacuation kit?

This is Charlotte's ID photo. I chose this one because it clearly shows all of her features.

And one more easy thing you can do to help your pets on a daily basis and during true emergencies…

I had an amazing holistic vet back in Australia, and I learned so much from her about Chinese herbs and homeopathy for dogs and cats. I don’t have a vet like her here to prescribe all the right herbs and remedies, but I do still keep a bottle of Bach Rescue Remedy. It’s great for humans and pets, and it can be used to help dissipate negative emotions and energy. This remedy helps humans and pets recover from stress, injury, fatigue, fear, illness, irritation, and general malaise.

I use the human form in a spray bottle because I find it difficult to use the dropper which comes with the pet form. You can spray it in your pet’s water or on his or her tongue. Even if you just spray some in the air above your pet’s head, your pet will still benefit from the remedy!

Finally, keep in mind that you should always check with your vet about what’s appropriate for your pet. While I gladly share my research and education with you, I myself am not a veterinarian.

In case you missed it, check out my earlier post on three easy ways to help keep your pet safe.

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