Critter Geek

I was recently part of a terrible situation that was a wake-up call about pet safety in a number of ways. A dog was injured, but we weren’t entirely sure how, as he’d been out of sight when the injury occurred, and we had no real indication of how bad the injuries were. Though clearly injured, he was able to walk and was completely responsive to us. His owner thought one wound might need stitches, and took him immediately to the vet. In reception area at the vet, she realized her dog was going into shock…he had been hit by a car, and was bleeding internally. Her understanding of the symptoms, as well as her decision to get the dog to the vet without delay, saved her dog’s life.

It made me realize that I know very little about pet first aid. For example, did you know a dog’s color could be “off”, the way a person becomes pale? Though their fur obscures this symptom, checking their mouth for the color of their gums provides the same clue…if their gums are pale, it could mean trouble. A related symptom is “capillary refill time”…when you press down on the gum above the canine tooth until the gum turns white, then release, it should take less than two seconds to return to its normal color. If not, the dog might be in shock.

First aid for dogs – K-9 First Aid by Adela Morris and Shay Cook was written for search and rescue dogs, but I found it to be interesting and informative…useful to any dog owner who wants to get educated on some of the basics.

The Red Cross offers pet first aid classes and publishes a book, Pet First Aid: Cats and Dogs, that’s gotten excellent reviews.

Another book that gets high marks is The First Aid Companion for Dogs & Cats (Prevention Pets).

I’m interested in putting together a good pet first aid kit. This pre-made one gets high marks from most reviewers, but I’ll be looking into building a DIY kit in the future. (If you have recommendations, I’d love to hear about them in the comments!)

The truth is, most of us could know all the first aid in the world, but it doesn’t do us any good if we don’t get our pet to a veterinarian when they need to go. My own first priority will be learning to recognize that.

At the beginning of this post I claimed that the experience we had was a wake-up call on several fronts. The importance of learning about first aid and emergency care were one. Pet insurance is another. I realized that I want to avoid a situation where I can’t provide medical attention for my dog because of money. There are a number of insurers to chose from; I found reasonable prices and easy sign-up with VPI Pet Insurance. (If you have recommendations on this…please also comment!)

One more wake-up call? I learned that just feeling that a situation for my pet is safe doesn’t make it so. My dog and another were playing off-leash on partially-fenced private property where we thought they’d be safe (and where they’d been ok countless times before). For whatever reason, this time they decided to explore the neighborhood, and the other dog was hit by a car.

Today, on Thanksgiving, I’m very thankful that we still have both of them.