Dog First Aid Kits

[Vegastrtle]

I went to the dog park with a friend and her dog yesterday. Both dogs were hurt (nothing major) and it inspired us to do what we should have done a long time ago (well, in August when we adopted Murphy). I've spent the morning assembling a First Aid kit. They do make dog-specific kits...but the list I found online was regular first aid stuff with a few additions. I even found and printed a CPR/1st Aid manual online (I'd share the links but didn't think of saving them). I just wanted to put the reminder out there...hopefully we'll never need it, but I'd rather be over prepared than not prepared at all.

I bought a basic First Aid kit at Longs (on sale for $8.00)..it has gauze, antibiotic ointment, tweezers, a cold compress, etc

To it, I am adding: hydrogen peroxide, an ACE bandage, scissors, gel to stop bleeding, the printed manual, a towel.

I'm making one for both cars (we debated making one for the house as well...but realized we have all the stuff in the house...and if needed, we'd have at least one car available for anything missing).

[ejs]

You should also put in a sticky with the phone numbers of your vet and the local 24-hour emergency vet.

Make sure you also have water available to wash out any wounds.

[katmg]

We have also added honey to our first aid kit. If you play or hunt your dog in the summer they can get overheated and get exhaustion. Apparently honey can help with that.

Sorry this isn't very clear. I'll ask DH why exactly the honey's in there and report back.

[Vegastrtle]

Thanks for the suggestions...I had the Vet info but forgot to list it. Water is a god idea too (I'm interested in more info about the honey as well)

[katmg]

I asked DH about the honey. Apparently when dogs get overheated they may not want to drink water and it can mess up their systems. (Maybe electrolytes or blood sugars?) The honey helps replace what they have sweated out.

I know that sounds like a load of crap, but DH has used it with our dog in the field after hunting and it perks him up so that he can drink water and get rehydrated.

[Vegastrtle]

I asked DH about the honey. Apparently when dogs get overheated they may not want to drink water and it can mess up their systems. (Maybe electrolytes or blood sugars?) The honey helps replace what they have sweated out.

I know that sounds like a load of crap, but DH has used it with our dog in the field after hunting and it perks him up so that he can drink water and get rehydrated.

Thanks! Definitely something I'll add! Murphy's pretty good about drinking water when we're hiking (She has her own water bottle) but it's better to be safe than than sorry!