Tips & Tricks: Building a First Aid Kit for Your Dog

It is always helpful to familiarize yourself with what a first aid kit would look like for your mutts because accidents can happen at anytime. If you are prepared, you can help significantly reduce the severity of an injury and maybe even avoid death. It may also be wise to have multiple kits for emergency use, like a larger kit at home and a smaller kit in the car.

Below are some of the essentials of building your first aid kit for your dogs:

• A clean blanket
• Nail clipper
• Rectal therometer
• Vaseline or KY jelly
• A muzzle
• Tweezers
• Hemostats
• Styptic powder
• Bandaging materials: roll of gauze, first aid tape, non-stick pads at minimum
• Medication: your dogs' regular meds (if any - be sure to follow instructions regarding storing the meds in certain room temperatures), multi-purpose wound care gels/sprays that can help clean/treat/heal wounds, and any other easy & quick products like eye solution to flush out unwanted bodies or cortisol cream for itchy bug bites
• Other items that may come in handy depending on the type of first aid kit you are putting together (i.e. first aid kit for hiking, camping, search & rescue...etc.)

Keep in mind that the purpose of a first aid kit is to try to temporarily stabilize the situation in an event of an injury. Depending on the injury, your best option may still be to visit a vet as soon as possible. For more information on which products and other items to add to your canine first aid kit, consult with your trusted vet.

Keeping your mutts happy, healthy, and hearty!