adventures with pets
Pet First Aid: 6 Procedures You Should Know for the Outdoors
We consider our pets to be family members, so we should make sure that we take the necessary precautions for their safety just like we would with humans. In the event of an emergency, knowing how to recognize serious issues while out in the wilderness might just help save your pet’s life. Here are some basic pet first-aid procedures you’ll want to know for your next trip. IMPORTANT: These procedures should always be followed by an immediate trip to the veterinarian.
Pet First Aid: 6 Procedures You Should Know For The Outdoors
Table of Contents:
1. Heatstroke
2. Ticks
3. Fractures
4. Choking
5. Burns and Scalding
6. Internal or External Bleeding
1. Heatstroke
Though you might think that you’re not pushing your pet to keep up with you, your pet might definitely be trying so hard to keep up with you out on the trails. Our pets don’t want to let us down, and they’ll make sure to keep up their pace with us; Whether we’re power walking or running down those switchbacks. PetMD defines heatstroke as “a condition that occurs when heat-dissipating mechanisms of the body cannot accommodate excessive external heat.” The most common causes while outdoors is due to excessive exercise or an excess of heat and humidity in the environment.
Symptoms of Heatstroke in Dogs
- Panting
- Dehydration
- Increased body temperature
- Production of little to no urine
- Excessive drooling
- Rapid heart rate
- Stoppage of the heart and breathing
- Vomiting blood
- seizure
Symptoms of Heatstroke in Cats
- Rapid pulse and breathing
- Redness of the tongue and mouth
- Vomiting
- Lethargy
- Stumbling, staggering gait
So what do you do if you notice any of these heatstroke symptoms in your dog or cat?
- Move your pet to a cool shaded area and place a cool wet towel around its neck and head (don’t cover your pet’s eyes, nose, or mouth)
- Make sure you provide your pet with plenty of water to drink but do not force your pet to drink
- If you’re near a water source, try to apply cool water to the rest of your pet’s body or try immersing your pet in cool (not cold) water. Never submerge your pet’s head in the water
- You can also use a cold pack and place it on the head to help reduce body temperature quickly
**Take your pet to a veterinarian immediately**
2. Ticks
So you go on a 3-day camping trip and you bring along your furry companion to enjoy the outdoors. On the second day, while you are petting him you feel a bump on it’s ear flap. You take a look and you realize it’s a tick. Ticks are parasites that can transmit deadly diseases such as Lyme disease to animals and humans. You’ll want to make sure to remove it soon in a safe manner.
- You’ll need: gloves, tweezers, rubbing alcohol
- You’ll want to wear gloves when removing the tick so as to prevent any “infectious agents” from entering your body through any broken skin on your hands
- Keep your pet calm or have somebody help hold your pet
- Use the tweezers to grab the tick as close to your pet’s skin as possible and pull it out
- Do not twist the tweezers while pulling it out in order to prevent leaving the tick’s mouth embedded in the skin
- Kill the tick by placing it in a container with rubbing alcohol (for convenience while in the outdoors you can also place it in a doggy bag)
- Clean the bite and your hands with some rubbing alcohol when finished
You can also use a tick removal gadget like The Tick Key.
3. Fractures
If your pet ends up with a fracture you’ll want to get your pet to a veterinarian as quickly and as safely as possible. Follow these recommendations:
- muzzle your pet
- lay your pet on a flat surface (it is recommended that you place your pet on a flat surface like a firm board to transport them to the vet)
- When you’re in the outdoors this might be a little tricky for you may not have access to firm board around. Consider obtaining an emergency hiking harness for pets like the Pack-a-Paw
**Take your pet to a veterinarian immediately.**
4. Choking
Pets love to explore the outdoors just as much as we do. Curious pets might find something of interest that may want to chew on. You should always be watching your pet in case they do get into something and watch for any symptoms of choking.
Symptoms of choking:
- choking sounds when breathing or coughing
- difficulty breathing, repeated pawing at their mouth
Follow the American Veterinary Medical Association’s procedure:
- Carefully look into your pet’s mouth. If you are able to see a foreign object in there, try to carefully remove it with some tweezers. Do not push the object back further.
- If you aren’t able to remove the object and your pet collapses, you’ll want to follow the following procedure.
- lay your pet on its side
- firmly strike the rib age using the palm of your hand (do this 3-4 times)
- this will help to push air out of the lungs in an effort to push out the foreign object
- you’ll want to keep repeating this procedure until the object is out or you reach the veterinarian
**Take your pet to a veterinarian immediately.**
5. Burns and Scalding
On outdoor trips, burns can happen with humans and pets at any time you have a campfire or while using a campfire stove. Curious pets might end with burns if they perhaps get too close to your backpacking stove. In the outdoors, the two primary ways this could occur are from hot liquids or hot objects.
Treating burns and scalding:
- First, restrain your pet
- Use clean cold drinking water to pour on the affected area. The purpose is to cool down the area of the skin quickly to avoid further damage to the skin.
- After you flush the area with water you’ll want to apply a cold compress for 20 min. (use a cold compress from your first aid kit)
- Cover the area with a non-stick bandage
**Take your pet to a veterinarian immediately.**
6. Internal or External Bleeding
In Case of External Bleeding:
- first muzzle your pet
- press thick clean gauze pads over the wound and maintain the pressure until the blood starts to clot
- if the bleeding is severe, use an elastic band or gauze to hold the bandage pressure over the wound
**Take your pet to a veterinarian immediately.**
In Case of Internal Bleeding:
For internal bleeding you’ll want to get your pet to the vet ASAP! Make sure to keep your pet warm while you transport him to the vet.
Symptoms of internal bleeding:
- Pale gums
- weak and rapid pulse
- bleeding from the nose. mouth, or rectum
- blood in the urine
- coughing up blood
For more information please visit AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association)
We certainly hope you’ll never have to perform any of these procedures for your pets. Our pets enjoy exploring just as much as we do, and knowing pet first aid will be the key to helping them stay safe and preventing further harm while being outdoors.
