How to give first-aid to a sick dog?
What do you do when you find a sick dog on the road? You of course need to take the dog to the vet. But what if there's no immediate veterinary help nearby? Here's your complete guide to handling the first-aid for sick dogs.
DISCLAIMER: Our advise cannot replace that of a qualified veterinarian. We strongly advise you to rush any sick animal to your nearest vet. The only reason we decided to create this guide is to help you take care of an animal in case there's no immediate professional help available.
Now, here are the most common scenarios you'll encounter with sick dogs on the street. While the first-aid is important, you must take the sick dog to the vet. If at all there's no veterinary help available, you can get in touch with us and we'll do our best to assist you and if possible, put you in touch with qualified veterinarians.
Scenario-I : The dog has a skin infection.
A) Bacterial Infection
What are the symptoms?
Formation of pimple-like lesions on skin that are red in colour with pus filled center. Bacterial skin infection appears as small red bumps, which later increase slowly in size.
How to give the first-aid?
Make sure you move the dog to a dry area. Apply topical spray containing benzoyl peroxide, or chlorhexidine. For example, you could use Savavet Chlorhex Chlorhexidine Gluconate 4% w/v or any other alternative with same chemical composition.
What would a vet visit yield?
If you have access to a vet, it's important you take the dog there. What looks like a skin infection (bacterial or fungal) can sometimes be caused by an autoimmune disease. It's a condition where the dog's immunity starts attacking the body's own skin cells. The vet will perform skin cytology and skin biopsy to rule out such possibilities and create a treatment plan according to the diagnosis.
B) Fungal Infection )
What are the symptoms?
Fungal skin infection appears as scaly, itchy rashes, or discoloration of the skin.
How to give the first-aid?
Make sure you move the dog to a dry area. Apply topical lotion containing Clobetasol Propionate, Ofloxacin, Iconazole Nitrate, Zinc Sulphate. You could visit a local pet store to purchase Intas Kiskin Antifungal Skin Lotion or any other alternative .
What would a vet visit yield?
If you have access to a vet, it's important you take the dog there. What looks like a skin infection (bacterial or fungal) can sometimes be caused by an autoimmune disease. It's a condition where the dog's immunity starts attacking the body's own skin cells. The vet will perform skin cytology and skin biopsy to rule out such possibilities and create a treatment plan according to the diagnosis.
Scenario-II : The dog has ticks.
What are the symptoms?
You'll find ticks stuck onto the dog's body. You'll generally find them in areas with high density of exposed blood vessels such as ear, nailbed, etc.
How to give first-aid?
To kill the ticks, spray the infested area with a solution containing Dimethicone, cyclomethicone, benzyl alcohol, and isopropyl myristate. You can visit the nearest pet store and purchase Ravtix Anti Tick and Flea Removal Spray or any other alternative. Just make sure you don't spray this in a wound or a cut. Please note that dogs infested with ticks can have tick fever which is a lethal condition if left untreated. To rule out that possibility, take the dog to the vet and get a smear test or PCR done. Once those possibilities are ruled out, you can give the dog Bravecto. That will prevent further tick infestations in the dog for at least three months.
What would a vet visit yield?
To rule out tick fever, the vet will take a blood sample for CBC (Complete Blood Count) along with Blood Smear. In some cases, the vet might even send the blood sample for PCR (polymerase chain reaction). If the presence of a tick fever causing parasite is confirmed, the vet will most likely prescribe an antibiotic such as Doxycycline for an effective treatment.
Scenario-III : The dog has a minor wound.
How to give first-aid?
Clean the wound with Betadine (Povidone-iodine) liquid several times a day. Make sure the area around the wound is clean. If possible, try to remove the fur around the wound.
What would a vet visit yield?
If the wound is minor and the dog is otherwise healthy, the first-aid should do the job. You can still choose to take the dog to the vet as a precautionary measure.
Scenario-IV : The dog has a major wound.
How to give first-aid?
If the blood flow from the wound is not stopping, subcutaneously administer 5ML of Revici Injection. If you don't know how to administer an injection, give 250mg of Revice orally and pour the contents of the revici ampule directly on the wound. Once the bleeding stops, clip off the fur around the wound. Then cut off the tip of a Normal Saline (NS) bottle and fill it up in a 50mL syringe. Use the syringe to flush the wound until all the debris is gone. Make sure you drain all the NS solution out of the wound and dry it by gently dabbing gauze over it. After that, generously pour Betadine (Povidone-iodine) liquid over the wound. Then evenly pour Neosporin Dusting Powder over the wet layer of betadine. To finish it off, pour another layer of betadine. Do this every few hours until you can get access to a vet. If you can't reach out to any vet for the foreseeable future, start the dog on antibiotics such as amoxicillin-clavulanate. Ask any nearby medical store for that and start orally giving 150mg per 10 kg of body weight twice a day with food. The duration of antibiotics course would depend on the nature of wound. You can get in touch with us we'll help you figure that out. All this while, make sure the dog stays in a dry and clean area.
What would a vet visit yield?
If you're new at this and don't feel too confident about giving this first aid. We'd highly recommend that you let the vet do the cleaning and dressing of the wound. Once you see the vet doing it, it'd be much easier for you to do it by yourself. The vet then might do a CBC (Complete Blood Count) to rule out any infection or a drop in hemoglobin due to blood loss. According the results, the vet will then present you with a treatment plan to follow.
Scenario-V : The dog has a maggot wound.
How to give first-aid?
Take Ivermectin Injection in a 5mL syringe and pour it directly over the maggot wound. This will kill all the maggots in the wound over the span of next 2-3 hours. Once all the Maggots are dead, you can use forceps to carefully take out dead maggots out of the wound. If you don't feel confident doing that, you should take the dog to a nearby vet to take the maggots out. Once the maggots are out, we need start treating the wound. For that, refer to the aforementioned instructions for minor or major wounds. Moreover, if you can't reach out to any vet for the foreseeable future, start the dog on antibiotics such as amoxicillin-clavulanate. Ask any nearby medical store for that and start orally giving 150mg per 10 kg of body weight twice a day with food. The duration of antibiotics course would depend on the nature of wound. You can get in touch with us we'll help you figure that out.
What would a vet visit yield?
If you're new at this and don't feel too confident about giving this first aid. We'd highly recommend that you let the vet take out the maggots and dress up the wound. Once you see the vet doing it, it'd be much easier for you to do it by yourself. The vet then might do a CBC (Complete Blood Count) to rule out any infection. According the results, the vet will then present you with a treatment plan to follow.
Scenario-VI : The dog's urine has blood.
How to give first-aid?
Blood in dog's urine is generally an indication of UTI. But if you can take the dog to the vet, we'd recommend you to stop reading this and simply do so. But if that's not an option, you can start the dog on Augmentin (amoxicillin and clavulanate) 150mg/10kg twice a day with food. Along with that, you can give Neeri Tablet once a day. The course generally lasts for ten days. If there's still blood in urine after ten days, you have no other option but to visit the vet.
What would a vet visit yield?
A vet visit in this case would simply help you identify what exactly is wrong. For instance, an ultrasound of the urinary bladder and urine cytology could confirm the extent of UTI and its cause. For instance, a common is reason when the formation of Struvite crystals due to pH imbalance irritates the bladder wall, damaging it and causing an infection. In such cases, the dog is kept on a Struvite diet to manage the formation of such crystals.
Scenario-VII : The dog has high fever.
What are the symptoms?
Clinically speaking, you may find the dog being more lethargic than usual. The dog my shiver, pant a lot more, and may lose appetite.
How to give first-aid?
To confirm the dog's temperature, you should take a digital thermometer and slide the tip of it in the dog's rectum. Once you're able to confirm that the dog has fever (temperature is greater than 103 degrees Fahrenheit), you should immediately try to arrange for a way to see the vet. While you rush the dog to the vet, you can use ice-packs on the parts of the dog's body where it doesn't have fur. This may help stabilize the dog's temperature. If you know how to administer an injection, you can inject 1mL/10kg body weight of Vitalgin. While the first-aid might work, it's extremely important that you rush the dog to a vet as soon as possible. If there's no professional help available for next 5-6 hours and the temperature is constantly rising, you'd need to administer 100ml/10kg cold NS (Normal Saline) solution intravenously (IV) or get someone to do it. If the temperature is still rising and there's no help in sight, you can get in touch with us and we'll do our best to help you out.
What would a vet visit yield?
A vet would perform CBC (Complete Blood Count), and possibly an LFT (Liver Function Test) to zero down on the reason that is causing the fever.
Scenario-VIII : The dog you've found is an orphaned puppy.
How to give first-aid?
If the puppy is too small, it won't be able to control its body temperature. In that case, you should try to keep it in a warm place. Since the pup is orphaned and its mother isn't there to feed it, there's a chance the pup is hypoglycemic (low on blood glucose) and is getting tremors because of that. Feeding the pup a few drops of honey would help in that case. You should then purchase a mother's milk replacement for pups and feed that to stabilize the pup further. If you feel like the pup is in a critical condition, you should immediately reach out to a vet.