Pet Injuries
|| Car Accidents and Falls | Treating Minor Wounds and Cuts | Heat Stroke | Swallowed Objects |||| Poisons | Electric Shock | Distemper ||
Pet Medication
|| Dosing a Cat or Dog | Administering Pills | Liquid Medicine ||Pet Injuries
Car Accidents and Falls
- If your pet is injured by a car or in a fall and remains lying down, move it as little as possible. If it gets up, keep it from walking or running. If possible, have someone else call the veterinarian an or make arrangements to get you there while you comfort the animal.
Restrain a dog with a muzzle of gauze about 2 feet long or use a tie or stocking. Remove the muzzle if the dog starts to vomit.
Wrap a panicky cat in a towel or blanket. Or have an assistant hold the cat by the scruff of the neck with one hand and by the rear legs with the other; tell him/her to place the cat on a table, body extended, uninjured side down while you administer first aid.
To control bleeding, press a gauze or cloth pad on the wound; wrap it tightly with gauze strips. Don't use a tourniquet. If you suspect a bone fracture, restrict the animal's movement. Even if no wounds are visible, an injured animal may bleed internally and go into shock. Look for pale gums and shallow, uneven breathing. Cover the animal lightly with a blanket.
As soon as possible, get an injured pet to the veterinarian. To transport a dog, slide it gently onto a board or other rigid support. Or use a blanket or a coat as a makeshift stretcher. Gently lift a calm cat under the chest and place it in a carrier or box. Place a struggling cat in a pillowcase if you don't have a carrier.
Treating Minor Wounds and Cuts
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Restrain the animal. Clip the coat around the wound; rinse it with water. Gently remove surface dirt with cotton swab, wash the area with a germicidal soap, and apply an antibiotic cream. Bites, other easily infected wounds and cuts longer than 1 inch should be treated by a veterinarian.
Heat Stroke
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Leaving a pet in a closed car or tying it outside in hot weather without shade and water invites heat stroke. If on a hot day, your animal pants and drools heavily, is warm to the touch, or collapses, douse it with cold water from a hose or immerse it up to the neck in a cold bath; put ice packs on its neck and head. Continue treatment until panting stops and its temperature returns to normal; then take it to a veterinarian.
Swallowed Objects
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Prevent your pet from playing with small, swallowable objects, especially needles and thread. Consult a veterinarian if your pet swallows a foreign object. It may pass naturally or it may cause gagging, excessive salivation, and vomiting. Sharp objects require immediate attention.
Poisons
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Keep household cleaners, pesticides, car antifreeze, and other toxic substances away from all pets. In case of poisoning, try to determine what the substance was and call your veterinarian or a poison control center immediately. You may be told to induce vomiting with hydrogen peroxide and to administer a specific antidote or activated charcoal. After the animal vomits, take it to the veterinarian.
If your pet swallows a caustic or acid substance, or if you suspect poisoning but aren't sure what it has eaten, do not induce vomiting. Rush the animal to the veterinarian.
Electric Shock
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Don't leave electric cords exposed where a cat or puppy can chew on them. If you leave a young pet alone, unplug lamps and appliances in its confinement area and roll cords up out of reach. Don't touch an animal in contact with current. Cut off power at the circuit breaker panel or fuse box; or stand on a dry surface (newspapers or a rubber mat) and prod the animal off the cord with a wooden pole. Take it to a veterinarian without delay.
Distemper
- Symptoms to Watch For:
Prevention is the only real cure for distemper, a highly contagious viral disease of dogs and cats. Young animals should be vaccinated against distemper and other major diseases. The initial series of shots should be followed by annual boosters.
An unvaccinated animal can contract distemper from the air or by direct or indirect contact with an infected animal. Humans can't catch it, but they can carry the virus on their hands or clothes. Symptoms are loss of appetite, lassitude, sunny eyes or nose, a cough, diarrhea, fever, twitching, jaw chomping, and convulsions. Feline distemper (paleucopenia) produces similar symptoms, although it is caused by another virus.
Distemper is quickly fatal in many young puppies and may leave older dogs with severe muscle twitches, epilepsy, or temporary or permanent paralysis. Prompt treatment is crucial to survival. At the first signs of the disease, call you veterinarian.
Pet Medication
Dosing a Cat or Dog
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Administer medicines directly, not mixed in food. Follow the prescribed schedule, but if you miss a dose, don't increase the next one. Don't give an animal human medicine unless so directed by a veterinarian.
When giving medicine, be firm, but gentle; speak reassuringly to you pet. If a cat resists, wrap it in a towel or have an assistant restrain it gently around the neck.
Administering Pills
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Crasp a dog's muzzle or a cat's head with one hand so that your thumb and forefinger are on opposite sides of the mouth. Press the jaws apart by squeezing the animal's lips against its teeth just forward of the jaw hinge. Keep a dog's lips curled over its teeth to protect your fingers from a bite. Tilt the head back and up. Holding the pill between thumb and forefinger of your free hand, place the pill on the tongue as far back as possible; don't toss it in.
Quickly close the mouth and hold it shut while stroking the throat. With a cat, make sure the pill goes behind the hump of the tongue. Then close its mouth and quickly blow in its face.
Liquid Medicine
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Gently pull out a dog's lower lip just in front of the corner of the mouth to make a small pocket. Using a syringe or an eyedropper, pour the medicine into the pocket a little at a time. After each partial dose, close the pocket, lift the muzzle slightly, and wait for the dog to swallow. Hold a cat's lips open at one side of the mouth and administer liquid slowly with an eyedropper.
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