#NotAllHeroesAreHuman

At Pet Health Academy, our goal is to teach humans how to be a pet's hero by teaching the skills and knowledge needed to save their lives. However, sometimes we need to step back and recognize the pets that are humans' heroes. 

Without many of our canine counterparts in the line of duty, we would be less effective at search and rescue, a thousands times less effective given a dog's nose alone. These animals deserve to be recognized and celebrated. In fact we recently just celebrated the 16th birthday of a 9/11 Golden Search and Rescue Dog named Bretagne, who traveled all the way from Texas to help search for the thousands of people buried in the rubble.

The most recent events in Paris are what sparked me to take a step back and change the focus from human's as heroes to pets as heroes. Following the tragic attacks in Paris on Friday November 13th, the French were performing a raid on a suspects' home that following Wednesday. While they were able to capture 7 suspects, one took the life of a canine police officer, a 7 year old Malinois named Diesel. Before the human police went into the raid in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, Diesel had been sent into the apartment building before the humans to assess the situation. Several sources state that Diesel was killed when a woman detonated a suicide belt that killed both the terrorist and Diesel. People took to the internet posting pictures of their pets with the hashtags, #NotAllHeroesAreHuman and #JeSuisChien (“I am dog”) to honor Diesel's life. Without his devotion and skilled training, the French authorities would have lost more lives and would not have been able to apprehend the 7 suspects. 

There was a wonderful gesture that came from Russia regarding Diesel's heart-wrenching passing. The Russian Interior Ministry announced on social media that Russia will give the French government a puppy, “This dog will be handed to France in a testament of solidarity with the French people,” the tweet said. 

But there are thousands of pet heroes we should celebrate. Going back to WWII, in my Boxer club we recently just celebrated on Veteran's Day, Vittles who was the only dog to log more than 130 missions from Erding, Germany, to Berlin and back. He even had his own parachute, on orders from Air Force Gen. Curtis LeMay. Vittles brought comfort to his owner Lt. Clarence “Russ” Steber, a former Air Force pilot, who had acquired him in Germany. He realized he had nowhere to leave him during his missions so he started taking him on the planes with him. He boosted morale so much that Gen. Curtis LeMay made certain a parachute was made specifically for him so he could always be with the troops. 

So while it is crucial for us to know how to perform pet CPR & 1st aid to save our trained couch potatoes, let's never forget those pet heroes that save us. From search and rescue dogs to therapy cats, these animals have a greater purpose in life which includes saving ours.   

Pet First Aid Kit

The less obvious benefit of having a pet emergency kit within reach is many of the products arranged neatly in that portable container can be used on you! While this blog post is certainly about the benefits to your pets and what makes a pet 1st aid kit different from one built for humans, I wanted to first point out the human benefit. I have dove into my pet first aid kit to clean out a wound from a cat scratch with hydrogen peroxide and certainly used the pepcid to help combat tummy trouble when I had pets to visit and no time to be sick.

But the focus of this piece is not just why you should have a pet first aid kit, but what should be in it, what type of container, how to use it and its contents and where it should kept be so that in an emergency, you can use the contents to buy critical time needed to aid your pet before you can get them to the vet.

The why; accidents happen, its a cliche statement but certainly a fact of life. In my 12+ years of caring for other people's pets and my own I have used my kit to deal with puncture wounds, lacerations/deep cuts, allergic reactions, broken toes, foreign objects in pets' eyes, to check vitals on an out-of-sorts pet and a host of other issues. Many of these incidents ended with a trip to the vet but because I had performed some first aid techniques prior to getting to the vet, the recovery and care was made better. On a puncture or laceration, infection was better prevented by cleaning of the wound prior to bandaging, the broken toe was splinted so the dog had a much more comfortable ride to the vet, the Golden never had breathing difficulties and experienced decreased swelling from her allergic reaction within minutes and so on. Life was made a little better by having certain items in my kit for many pets.

What should be in your pet emergency kit; the complete pet emergency 1st aid kit that we built includes these items:

Pen light for pupils, Digital thermometer, Chemical ice pack, Blunt tip scissors, Metal Tweezers, Triangle bandage & safety pins, Rubber gloves, Tongue Depressors, Long handled Q-tips, 10 ml (2 tsp) Syringe, Roll of Poop bags, Roll Adhesive tape ½ inch, Standard gauze Pads, Non Stick gauze pads, ABD pads, Gauze rolls, Saline solution, Alcohol prep pads, Iodine prep pads, Styptic powder, Triple antibiotic gel, Hydrogen peroxide in a light block bottle, Packet of Vaseline, Emergency blanket, Antihistamine gel caps in blister packs, Pepcid tabs 10mg 

Rather than take the time to go through each item, I did want to take some time to highlight some kit contents that might not seem obvious as to why they are included or that have multiple uses in an emergency situation. A digital thermometer is a terrific gauge for a pet that seems off, lethargic or really just not themselves. If their temperature is high they could have a fever from an infection or exposure to heat, cold it could be shock, exposure to the cold or other issues. Either way it is one tool that can tell you if all is well inside or not in a very short time. Metal tweezers are not often found in any pet or human emergency kit, usually plastic ones, but metal are essential for tick removal, delicate splinter extraction and best for cleaning/keeping sterile. In the kit you will also find a 10ml syringe, this is wonderful for flushing wounds and of course administering hydrogen peroxide to induce vomiting. Poop bags are pretty obvious but not just for the poop, they can act as an emergency glove or barrier between something that could transmit disease. An ABD pad, much like a large maxi pad does what it was built for, it absorbs large quantities of blood better than any gauze. Having hydrogen peroxide in a light block bottle is critical for cleaning superficial wounds or inducing vomiting, and almost never comes in a regular first aid kit. The last 2 items to point out are medications that can help avoid allergic reactions and tummy troubles. 

The container: 

Pet first aid items should be kept in a water resistant container that is durable so if it will be in the car or your pack for hiking, it could withstand a tumble without causing the contents to be damaged by force or water.

How do you use what's in your pet first aid kit? The best way to learn how to use your kit and all about what's in it is to take a pet first aid and CPR class. A course that is specific to caring for pets in an emergency can mean the difference between life and death for your pet, it really can be that critical. If your pet has an allergic reaction to a bug bite and their airway swells to the point of near closure, just driving to the vet as quickly as you can may not be enough to save your pet's life. They could asphyxiate from the swelling so dosing them with antihistamine and removing their collar might just make that huge difference in their chance of survival. Never underestimate the importance in having the knowledge and skills of being certified in pet first aid and CPR.  

Where should you have a pet first aid kit? I have one in each car and have two at home, one that stays put and the other we use for traveling that goes in whatever bag we are using.

So hopefully I have provided you with the reasons why you should have a pet first aid kit. Remember, there is always space for a band-aid or too because even for humans, accidents happen. For more information on pet first aid kits, their contents and especially on how to use them, take a pet first aid and CPR course.