First Aid Procedures For Your Pet In The Event Of An Emergency

Emergencies happen for all types of reasons, but when they happen to your furry buddy, it can be difficult to know what is wrong and what to do. It's our job as pet parents to take good care of our fur babies, so knowing what to in the event of one of those emergencies is extremely important. See below for some basic first aid procedures in the event an emergency strikes at your house.

1. Poison Or Toxic Exposure

Symptoms: Foaming at the mouth, vomiting, diarrhea, red eyes, whining or pawing at the face.

First Aid:

1. For toxic exposure, read the packaging to see how to rinse the toxin off. Try your best to rinse your pet's eyes out.
2. For poison ingestion, find the packaging of what was ingested, then contact your local poison control department for help or your veterinarian to see what exactly should be done to help combat that particular poison. Collect anything you can that your pet ingested and released, and take it with you to your veterinarian or to your local animal hospital.

2. Seizures

Symptoms: Not all seizures are the same; some can be as minimal as a shaking of the head, while others, such as a grand mal seizure, can be the entire body seizing at the same time. 

First Aid:

1. No matter the type of seizure, be sure to give the information to your veterinarian, such as how long it lasted, the time of day, if your pet's diet has changed, or if you've introduced anything new. Be sure to give all of this information to your veterinarian. 
2. Help keep your pet calm by repeating their name, telling them that you are right there beside them, and reassuring them that they are going to be OK.
3. Don't try to restrain your pet, as you can cause injury to either yourself or your pet.
4. Keep other pets away from your seizing pet, as it can rile up the seizing pet, or the other pet may attack the one seizing. Try your best to keep the room your seizing pet is in quiet, without too much movement or excitement going on around them.

3. Heatstroke

Symptoms: Panting excessively or rapid heartbeat

First Aid:

1. Take your pet to a shaded area and out of the sun. If you can get them to a cool (air conditioned) area, do so.
2. Give them cold water to drink to help cool them down.
3. Cool down their coat using cold, wet towels around their neck, between their back legs, and to the pads of their feet. Do not cover their head, mouth, nose, or eyes with the towels.
4. Allow them time to rest and get their heartbeat down, then take them to the veterinarian for a checkup once they're calm.

These are all emergency situations your pet could possibly endure during their lifetime. Always be sure to contact an emergency veterinarian at a location like Animal Emergency Clinic in the event of any of these situations. These first aid procedures should never replace veterinary attention.