First aid kit for doggies

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Anyone set up their own first aid kit for the pooch?

The other day my dog somehow managed to pull his claw completely off. Had to take him to the vets, who basically cleaned the area & bandaged it up.

If anyone has a first aid kit, what did you include in it?

krlyr

I have an actual mini first aid kit in the car - bandages, cleaning wipes, scissors, tweezers, etc. Not had to use it for the dogs yet, but it's come in handy a couple of times for dog-walk related incidents where I've hurt myself!

At home I have a basket I keep their first aid stuff in, and the basket goes in the car with us when we're going anywhere with the dogs, e.g. to my mum's. Off the top of my head, it contains stuff like
- boots. I have some neoprene boots from Ebay (only about £9 for the pair) in sizes to fit Casper and Kiki, different for front paws and back (thankfully they overlapped so I only needed 2 different sizes). These are good for things like cut paw pads, broken nails, etc. where you need the paw to stay clean on pee breaks/walks. Also good for stopping the dog licking at the paw!

- Piriton. Piriteze can be used but Piriton is recommended over it as more studies have been done on the active ingredient being used with dogs. I use this for stuff like nettle stings, wasp stings (especially if it's in the mouth - Casper has a thing for eating things like wasps and nettles!). Also supposed to buy you some time with adder bites, to minimise swelling before you get to the vets for treatment.

- Crepe bandages, the paper tape stuff to hold them in place, and co-hesive bandages (like Vetwrap - Poundworld do their own version in the human first aid kit that works well though)

- Hibiscrub, to dilute to wash minor wounds. A few different creams/ointments for minor wounds or irritations too - Hypercal which is calendular oil, a manuka honey ointment, Dermacton which is for itchy/irritated skin. Also a pack of cotton pads for applying said lotions/potions.

- A few days' supply of Kiki's thyroid medication, just incase we stay overnight somewhere as I do try to keep from missing a dose

- Not a first aid piece of kit but I do try to carry water with me as well, e.g. 2l bottle filled up, so there's water if we get stuck somewhere, or I have water to rinse out a wound/something in the eye on a walk. I also tend to carry a small bag of dry biscuits as an emergency meal too. I also tend to pack a spare lead, as well as the dogs' muzzles (both are used to muzzles and I would probably muzzle them if they were injured incase they reacted to someone from pain trying to assist us)


Mean to get a few other bits, e.g. emergency blanket (the foil type) which could double up as a sling to lift one of the dogs if they collapsed (not sure how I'd manage them on my own - maybe roll them onto the blanket and drag them?!), some pods of sterile water for rinsing eyes, some glucose gel type stuff you can rub on their gums to raise blood sugar level in an emergency, etc. but haven't needed any of them so far thankfully.