If you’ve a dog, you’ll know that there will be incidents from time to time while on a walk, drive or even at home. Some bruise here some dirt there that can cause infections. Unless such incidents are major requiring veterinary intervention, having a first aid kit at home can be of great help. We’ve learnt from our experience that often certain items in a first aid kit can easily heal small-time injuries. So, if you’re preparing a first aid kit for your dog 10 items that you must include are highlighted in this article.

While you’re at it, also read about: 5 gentle wipes for dogs

Five vet recommended items

So, here are some recommendations from Dr Sam Westhead, Veterinary Surgeon at Amity Veterinary Clinic.

• Antiseptic wash such as Betadine or Chlorhexidine.
• A bottle of sterile saline to flush dirty wounds or abscesses. It’s great for cleansing your dog’s eyes as well.
• Cotton wool or gauze swabs
• Melolin dressing is useful. It’s a dressing which is absorbent but one side has a non-stick coating so it doesn’t attach to wounds.
• Alongside the Melolin an elasticated bandage is useful to hold it in place and apply some pressure to a bleeding wound before taking to the clinic.

“Other than that, there is not much else I’d include. But the most useful of all of these is the saline. It’s just the best thing out there for flushing, cleansing and cleaning. It doesn’t ever do any harm. And it doesn’t interfere with any therapy your vet will do if and when your dog is presented at the clinic for veterinary intervention,” Dr Sam added.

Five more items to consider

That list is quite exhaustive but if you like you may also throw in the below items in your dog’s first aid kit, as recommended by the American Kennel Club.

• A medicine pill box if your dog takes regular medication. It helps while you are travelling or even when the dog goes to a day care. You can also add a pack of syringes to administer oral medication or even to flush out wounds.
• A digital thermometer to measure temperature.
• A pair of scissors to help cut bandages or gauze to size.
• Tweezers with stainless steel slant tips that can be used to pick out ticks from your dog’s paws and fur.
• Finally, having a super absorbent towel is helpful too should you need to dry your dog if they get wet.