First Aid
Conditions Requiring First Aid
Heat Stroke Symptoms
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Intense panting
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Weakness
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Racing heart rate
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Fainting
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Excess Salivation
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Coma
There is not a lot of time to waste if you suspect your dog is suffering from heat stroke. Survival depends upon removing the dog from the dangerous environment and cooling off the body gradually. Here is what to do:
- If you are not far from a vet or animal emergency center, go there
- If you are far from professional help, you can start bathing yoru dog in cool (not ice-cold) water, then get emergency professional help as soon as possible
Never leave your dog in a closed car on a warm day (anything over 65 degrees is too hot for a dog)
Choking
Four techniques to treat choking are:
- Try to pull out the object with your fingers
- A variation of the human Heimlich maneuver, Grasp your fists together and forcibly push them into the dog's abdomen, just behind the sternum, do this vigorously and repeat several times
- Performing a tracheotomy: This is making a hold in the windpipe and is typically done by the vet
Bleeding
Use the following techniques to stop severe bleeding:
- Raise the affected body part above the level of the heart
- Apply pressure to stop or slow down bleeding
- Try to wrap the area with bandaging in the form of cloth strips, towels, shredded T-shirts, Ace bandages, or anything else you have on hand, apply them right so they won't fall off, but not so tight to stop all circulation
- Apply ice packs to the area, cold temperatures slow down blood flow
- If blood is spurting, and a bandage cannot stop it, a tourniquet can be applied.
- If the bleeding is from a scrape and a large area of skin is bleeding, use a soft cloth to apply gentle pressure on top of the wound
- If a nosebleed occurs, use a tissue to apply pressure inside the nostril
Burns
- First degree burns are superficial burns involving the top layer of skin, the area becomes red and very painful
- Second degree burns are deeper, very painful and bleed or ooze, blistering is common, these take longer to heal
- Third degree burns are most severe and involve the full thickness of the skin
To treat burns:
- remove the source of the burn
- if it is chemical, flush the area with copious amounts of water
- apply ice packs
- If it is superficial, apply topical antibiotic ointment twice daily, If its deeper, go to the vet
Bee Stings and Other Bites
Dogs can have allergic reactions to bee stings just as people do. The following bites and stings have been known to cause dogs severe reactions:
- fire ant
- brown spider
- black widow spider
- wasp
- honey bee
- bumble bee
- hornet
- yellow jacket
Symptoms
- local reaction of swelling
- pain
- ulceration
- redness of the skin
- will last for days
If the dog scratches the area, it can become an infected mess.
Treatment
- use topical cortisone and antibiotic ointments to prevent infection
- vets recommend giving an antihistamine if the swelling persists for a day
- there might also be fever, joint pain, muscle aching, vomiting and diarrhea and a generalized alelrgic reaction called anaphylaxis in which the animal can go into shock
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