ITP March 2013 - Caroline Allenden - Basic care for dogs and cats
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Information on Pet First Aid.
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ITP March 2013 - Caroline Allenden - Basic care for dogs and cats
- 1. Basic care for Dogs & Cats Caroline Allenden RVN MBVNA
- 2. How do you know if a dog is healthy?
- 3. The Healthy Dog • Keen to eat and exercise • Bright eyes and clean nose and ears • Shiny coat, clean and odour • Sharp response to stimuli • Firm brown faeces • Clear yellow urine • Pink gums
- 4. The Healthy Animal Dog Cat Body Temperature 38.3 – 38.7°C 38.0 – 38.5°C Pulse Rate 60 – 180 110 – 180 Respiration Rate 10 – 30 20 - 30 Gum Colour + Pink Gums Pink Gums Capillary Refill Time < 2 seconds < 2 seconds Temperament Bright, alert, responsive, Bright, alert, responsive, relaxed Appearance Bright eyes, clean ears Bright eyes, clean ears and nose, normal coat, and nose, normal coat, normal posture, odour free normal posture, odour free (!) Behaviour Eating, drinking, urinating Eating, drinking, urinating and defecating normally, and defecating normally, keen to exercise. easy fluid movement.
- 5. The Un-healthy Dog • Often loss of appetite • Generally less enthusiastic • Diarrhoea, constipation, vomiting, coughing • Difficulty passing urine or faeces • Difficulty (or increased) eating or drinking • Discharge from eyes, ears, nose or vulva • Restlessness • Abnormal pulse, or respiration rate • Pale or blue tinged gums • Abnormal posture
- 6. The Unhealthy Animal Watch Out For: • Diarrhoea / Vomiting / Loss of Appetite • Straining to Urinate / Defecate • Change in Behaviour • Change in Posture • Unresponsive / Lethargic
- 7. The Importance of Recording …and completing assessment sheets
- 10. Urine Hall of Fame
- 11. Coat Condition • What are you looking for? • Shiny, no odour, no flaky skin, dry, full, non itchy, no red patches
- 12. First Aid
- 13. Main Aims • Preserve Life • Prevent Suffering • Prevent the situation deteriorating • Promote recovery
- 14. Personal Safety and Restraint • Approach slowly and calmly • Quiet, calming voice and body language CATS DOGS • Require considered handling – • Use suitable restraint, at the very least “Scruffing”? • “Swipes” very common a slip lead • Handling aids can help • Muzzle, even if friendly for procedures • Can calm down when handled correctly
- 15. Triage • Assess the situation > Danger to the animal AND YOU! > Suitable place for First Aid treatment? > Can the animal be moved? Assess the injuries > Life threatening injuries FIRST. Remember ABC… A = airway B = breathing C = circulation > Consider the injuries that may be causing pain for handling > Blood does NOT always signify the worst injury
- 16. Preventing Accidents and Disease
- 17. Know What to Look For
- 18. Reasonable Protection – Vaccination / Parasite Control – Kennel / Run Security and Upkeep – Trained Handlers – Basic lessons – Animal Behaviour – Cleaning Protocols
- 20. External bleeding • Severity and types of bleed • Control: Direct pressure Tourniquets: emergency ONLY Field dressing – only in emergency situations and until you can get Veterinary help (more on this later…..)
- 21. Internal Bleeding • Bruising • Watch following trauma / surgery • Watch MM colour • Beware of Hypothermia
- 22. Over to you….. Two dogs are having a fight. What are you going to do?
- 23. Fights • Your Safety • Puncture Wounds • Infection Highly Likely • Flush, Flush, Flush! • Antibiotics If Possible
- 24. Over to you….. You have found an animal that is not using one of it’s legs. You suspect that it may be broken. What are you going to do?
- 25. Fractures • Very Painful • Swelling & Immobility • Transport Carefully • Splinting will be painful
- 26. Bandaging – how not to
- 27. Over to you…… You come into work in the morning to find an animal having a fit. What do you do?
- 28. Convulsions • Do Not Touch! • Clear Area • Remove All Stimuli > Light > Sound > Touch • Phases of a Seizure > Causes > Epilepsy > Poisoning > Head Injuries / Tumours > Systemic Disease
- 29. Hypothermia Hyperthermia • Core body temperature is • Core temperature is above normal below normal • More common in dogs • Trauma, collapse, shock • Move away from heat • No direct heat! • Cool with water and fans • Insulate the animal • Small frequent drinks • Control environment • Ensure temperature correction gradual • Special care with infants and geriatrics.
- 30. Gastric Dilation Volvulus GDV • Life threatening emergency • Get immediate veterinary attention • Swollen abdomen, tympanic • Non productive vomiting • Deep chested breeds • Feeding regimes
- 31. Any Questions?
Editor's Notes
- NB: Not always obvious that a dog is unwell
- Have looked at healthy vs unhealthy dogs, but often signs may only develop over a period of time e.g. weight loss. For a hairy dog, may be difficult to confirm weight loss, particularly if it has not been recorded Equally for intermittent signs, it may be that a pattern builds up. One of the key things for a canine carer is going to be vomiting and diarrhoea…..
- “ First Aid” is the initial steps taken following an accident, illness or injury. First aid does not mean making a diagnosis or to giving any medication but to help to promote a good recovery. Where possible expert help should be called ASAP. Your aims in first aid are to: Preserve life Prevent suffering Prevent a condition from getting worse
- It is extremely important to stay calm in a first aid situation as you are more likely to do the wrong thing in a panic. Take a second to assess the situation, take a deep breath and if possible call for help. When assessing the situation, remember to consider the dangers to you as well as the dog. Consider if the dog can be moved from where it is and if appropriate, find a suitable place to administer first aid nearby. Remember that the most serious and most life threatening injury must ALWAYS be treated first. Consider that this may not be the injury that looks the most dramatic. Be aware of possible alternate methods of restraint or handling that may be adopted to prevent further pain or injury. Hopefully you will have another person nearby that may be able to help you. If they are not trained, ensure you give them clear instructions. It may be necessary to have a “Plan B” a second treatment plan, if what you attempt to do first is ineffective.
- No one can tell exactly what will happen in the future and the sad fact is that accidents happen. All you can do is put as much protection as possible in place to ensure that your animals remain in good health. Vaccination and parasite control are an obvious way to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. This is especially relevant if you have a lot of animals close together as infection and parasite infestation can spread fast if uncontrolled. A large part of preventing accidents depends on the security of your kennels and runs. Animal that escapes can run across roads, get in fights or injure themselves in many ways. Keeping them in a safe and controlled environment is an excellent way of maintaining their safety. Consider also that the pens themselves should be in good condition, any protruding nail, piece of wood or metal can cause a nasty injury. The training of your handlers is vital also to protecting your animals. Ensure that each handler knows animals that can and cannot be socialised, protocol for entering runs to prevent escape, correct methods of handling and grooming dogs and cats to prevent injury, and basic signs of illness. Consider a system of behavioural analysis to be recorded and displayed by each animal to inform an unfamiliar member of staff normal traits for specific animals, for example cats that only like specific flavours, combinations or consistencies of foods, or who will only eat at night, or dogs that will finish a bowl of food in world record timing! Specific Toys or blankets that are popular and normal reaction to human interaction. All this information is extremely valuable when attempting to assess if an animal is unwell. Finally, ensure you have a protocol for cleaning kennels that is used on a day to day basis, to ensure that health and hygiene is maintained. In addition to this, a “lock down” protocol to be implemented in case of an outbreak of infection. This should include thorough cleaning and disinfection of each infected kennel and good barrier nursing techniques.
- Following trauma INCLUDES surgery!
- It can be very dangerous to try and separate two animals that are fighting and you will most likely come away with some sort of injury yourself if you are not careful. A bucket of water or hose is the easiest way to separate dogs and cats that are fighting, the shock to them will stop them long enough to separate them. This is best done by two people. Bites are nasty puncture sounds that leave a pocket of tooth bacteria at the bottom. As the small surface wound heals, the bacteria remains deep in the tissue and can multiply, causing a nasty infection or abscess. This is the same for humans, so if you are bitten by a dog or cat, you should seek medical attention. All wounds need to be thoroughly flushed with a saline solution to remove as much bacteria as possible before it has a chance to multiply. This should be repeated regularly while the surface wound is healing. Bite wounds are usually best left open to drain as they will almost always be infected. The patient will also benefit from a course of antibiotics if you are able to see a vet.
- Fractures of the limbs are generally extremely painful. This should be a major consideration in deciding a first aid plan. There is generally a large amount of swelling around a fracture site and angulations of limbs may also be apparent. Fractures of deep structures such as the pelvis and spine are common consequences of road traffic accidents and falls from heights. It’s reasonable to assume that any animal which is showing signs of pain following an accident has a fracture and should therefore be treated as such. There is controversy about whether some support should be provided for limb fractures while the animal is being transported. A judgement is to be made as to whether supporting a fracture with a dressing is likely to cause more distress than moving the animal carefully. In cases of severe or angulated fractures, the limb must be splinted and a chemical restraint will be necessary, which must be administered by a veterinary surgeon. More simple fractures can be treated with strict rest. Bones heal in around 4-6 weeks. STRICT rest but be implemented to prevent movement in the fracture sight, which will slow the healing process.
- There are many things that cause an animal to convulse, but the convulsion itself is the primary problem in a first aid situation. A convulsion is, simply explained, the brain sending out lots and lots of messages simultaneously. Animals in this state are not conscious and have no control of the movement their bodies are making. The jaw will be spasming and there is a serious chance of being bitten if you put your hands near the dogs face. Stimulation of ANY KIND could cause the convulsion to continue. It is the first aider’s job to remove any stimulus from the area. Consider removing or reducing light, touch and sound. Turn off lights, music, move other animals away and do not touch or talk to the animal. Clear a space around the animal to prevent striking anything and causing further injury. It is best not to move the dog unless it is in danger of further harm. After the major tremors, or “tonic-clonic” phase of the seizure has finished, the dog will re-gain consciousness, but will still be in the “post-ictal” phase. This phase will see the animal staggering around, probably walking into things, seeming to be confused. Be careful at this stage as the animal may still lash out without careful handling. Wait for the seizure to end, and allow the animal to approach you before attempting transportation. Seizures that last longer than 10 minutes are serious and it is unlikely the dog will make a full recovery. It will most likely need to be sedated and in this case, if possible, a vet must be consulted. The most common reason for a seizure is primary epilepsy, a condition directly linked to the brain. However, seizures may also occur as a result of other things such as poisoning, brain tumours, head trauma or advanced systemic disease (i.e. a heart condition).
- When an animal has a low core body temperature is below the normal range. Generally the animal’s extremities (paws and ear tips) will feel cold as the blood supply is concentrated to the major internal organs. Take steps to control any haemorrhage There are many causes for this but animals that have suffered trauma, blood loss, shock or collapse, generally suffer a drop in body temperature When treating an animal with hypothermia, increase the environmental temperature and insulate the animal to prevent further heat loss by wrapping it in blankets or towels. NEVER use a direct heat source onto the animals skin, this will encourage the blood supply to the surface removing it from the circulating volume to the vital organs. In extreme cases, a warm rectal lavage may be used to increase the body temperature. This should be done with a small amount of tepid water. When dealing with a hypothermic patient, warm them SLOWLY and regularly check the temperature to monitor progress. Infants and geriatrics are particularly susceptible to hypothermia and fast changes in body temperature so extra care should be taken for these.