Have you ever had a pet get hurt? Hopefully, the answer to that is no. No one wants to think of their beloved animal friends being injured. However, accidents can—and do—happen. While taking basic precautions, such as keeping your dog leashed, can reduce the risks of an accident or mishap, there’s no way to eliminate every possible threat. If your furry buddy is ever injured, you’ll need to think and act fast. A Cherry Hill, NJ vet offers some emergency pet care tips you will hopefully never need below.
Heading To The Vet
Hopefully this goes without saying, but you’ll need to head to your vet or the nearest emergency clinic right away. However, you may need to do some first-aid to stabilize your furry friend so they can travel safely. Call ahead, so they can prepare for you.
Use Caution
It doesn’t matter how sweet Fido and Fluffy usually are: any animal that is injured may bite if they are hurt. Don’t try to hug or kiss your furry pal. With dogs, you should also keep your face away from their mouth.
Precautions
You may need to muzzle Fido. However, there is a caveat here. If he is vomiting, or if his airways are blocked or compromised, then don’t muzzle him unless your vet advises it. As for Fluffy, try to wrap her in a towel, burrito-style. Make sure she can breathe easily!
Common Injuries
While pets can get into all sorts of mishaps, the most common emergencies are car accidents, eye injuries, lameness, bite wounds, and poisoning. These all require different first-aid treatments. As mentioned above, you should immediately contact your vet for instructions. However, it’s good to have information on hand. Get a pet first-aid brochure, or download a pet first-aid app. (The Red Cross has a good one.)
Transport
You’ll need to secure your pet for transport. If you safely can get them into their carrier, that would be ideal. However, you can also use a box. You can also make a stretcher out of a blanket, throw rug, or board.
Medical Records
We always recommend keeping your pet’s medical records handy. Put hard copies in your glove box, or upload digital files to a cloud-based storage system you can access from your phone.
As your Cherry Hill, NJ animal clinic, we’re always to help! Call us anytime.
