April is National Pet First Aid Month, and as the weather changes and pet parents get more active in the outdoors, so do our pets. Unfortunately, great weather also comes with great injuries, so welcome the season for bug bites, broken nails, cuts, punctures, scrapes, allergic reactions, and more! With all these potential injuries lingering around you, do you think that you are prepared to treat your pet for a spontaneous injury? Do you know how to stop bleeding? Can you soothe those nasty red bug bites? Here are my top 5 First Aid Kit suggestions to aid you.
1. Carnivora Miracle Dust
My FAVOURITE item every pet owner should always have access to is Miracle Dust. This powdered product is made of a combination of minerals and charcoal and is safe to use on open wounds. It is often used on hotspots, but also great for cuts and scrapes as it works well to stop bleeding, like a clotting agent. I used to work with cats occasionally in the past, and I got scratched often when doing so. We always kept a container of this stuff close due to its exceptional clotting properties; it doesn’t always look pretty going on, but it does the trick and keeps the wound closed and clean until you can properly clean and treat it.
2. Colloidal Silver
This is another item that I kept close while working with cats. Colloidal silver has been documented for its ability to inhibit bacterial growth and promote tissue regeneration. It has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties that speed up wound healing and help to keep redness and tenderness to a minimum. I still use this regularly on cuts soon after they happen. You can continue using the product on skin until the wound heals. When applying the product to an open wound, there is no stinging. The main ingredient is water, so it does not have a smell or a sticky feel to it. It is a perfect first aid kit addition.
3. Manuka Honey
Such a versatile product that tastes good, and what do you know, it heals too! Honey has been used for wound care as early as 3000 BC. This product would do wonders for scrapes and cuts, bites, burns, and hotspots! It also has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. I have even had luck using this product on acne in the past. Honey can aid in debridement, which moves damaged and dead tissue from a wound. Last but not least, honey can work as a pain reliever, especially when placed on burns, as its coolness provides temporary relief.
4. Vet Wrap
I have used dozens of rolls of vet wrap. I love vet wrap. How do you keep your pet from licking a wound? Regular band-aids won’t stick to your pet’s fur, and cloth wraps loosen too easily with the constant movement of pets. Vet wrap is a very versatile product. It sticks to itself, but not to fur or skin, it can be placed on as loosely or tightly as required, and its elasticity allows it to move beautifully with regular body movement. I have a pet who never stops licking if he has an injury – he is the single reason why I used so many rolls of vet wrap. My dog Sam had a terrible cut on his hind leg ankle area, but due to his activity and constant licking, his wound just would not close. I hate to say it, but it took almost a month to fully heal, and I only found vet wrap in the last week after fighting with dozens of different types of human medical tapes and bandages. Finding vet wrap saved my sanity and what I am sure would have been a hefty vet bill.
5. Chest Vest
This one is more of a preventative, but I take one with me whenever we are hiking or exploring any brush-covered area! Dogs should always have a protective vest on their chests. I had a customer many years ago with a vizsla, who went hiking all the time. On one hiking trip, the dog was running through a brush area, the owners heard him whimper and found him in the bush with a branch puncturing its chest! By some miracle, it just missed the vital organs in the chest cavity. The recovery was terrible, and the poor dog had tubes coming out of him in 2 places for at least a month. Neither the customers nor I have ever gone anywhere without a chest vest for our dogs since! It can save your pet’s life, and I highly suggest it.
There are sure to be some injuries that these products won’t fix, for instance, bone breaks, sprains, heat exhaustion, etc…They will not magically heal broken bones, but they may give you support for the smaller injuries that you encounter this year, and for future, because these products will last for a long time in your first aid kit. Make sure you get out there and enjoy this beautiful weather, and always ensure that you are prepared for a small pet emergency. With these 5 products, your DIY first aid kit will be well on its way to treating minor cuts, bites, broken nails and hotspots, plus protect your pets from more serious injuries.
