If you have a beloved dog at home, you should really consider making a dog first aid kit. A first aid kit allows you to keep all the essential items you might need to stabilize an urgent problem with your dog quickly. I’ve compiled a list of 32 essential items that will help you address common emergencies in dogs. You can keep all these items in a tackle box you can travel with easily .
See below for a graphic that details all the essential items that a great first aid kit for dogs will contain. All these items are easily found on Amazon and clickable on the description below so you can create your own first aid kit for your dog!
Read on to learn how the items in the first aid kit for dogs are used and in what situations.
If you are at home and want to read more about a particular health problem in your dog, I recommend checking out Veterinary Partner as a great resource.
- Chlorhexidine 2% solution, pee pads, surgical skin tape, Baskerville muzzle
- Battery operated beard trimming kit, Benadryl, Cortisone 10, cotton balls
- Cloth muzzle, gauze pads, collapsible dog bowl, microfiber towel
- Hands free headlamp, cast padding, heavy duty bandage scissors, instant cold packs
- 3% hydrogen peroxide, clamping hemostats, light up thermometer, non stick pads, lubricating eye drops
- Cotton tipped swabs, eye irrigation solution, Neosporin, nitrile gloves, emergency warming blanket
- Oral syringes, sterile saline for irrigation, tick twister, surgical lubricant
- Self adhesive wrap, nylon slip leashes, Tweezerman tweezers, Tacklebox
Table of Contents
Treating wounds or lacerations on your dog
For any skin wound, cut, abrasion etc. you will want to clean the wound first. I’ve linked above to a 500 ml bottle of sterile saline that works well to flush out a bigger wound. The chlorhexidine solution is a great skin antimicrobial solution. It treats bacteria and yeast topically and we used it all the time in our hospital to clean wounds daily. You can moisten a gauze pad with the chlorhexidine solution and apply it to clean and disinfect the skin.
We deal with lacerations all the time in dogs. When the skin is cut, the dog hair, dirt and debris get into the wound. In order to properly clean the wound, you will need to remove the hair and flush out the dirt. To do this you may first need to place a muzzle on your dog. You cannot do a good job tending to a wound if you are worried about being bit by a possibly painful dog.
The baskerville muzzle is a little more difficult to place on your dog, but is allows you dog to pant and if they vomit the fluid will not be trapped. However, a cloth muzzle is easiest to place quickly before placing a muzzle becomes dangerous.
The surgical lube is what you want to squeeze onto the laceration and hair over the wound. This allows the clippers (the beard trimmer) to gently remove the hair in the field of the wound and also lift off dirt and debris with it. Once the hair is gone you can properly see the wound and clean it. It is a good idea to use gloves when tending to wounds.
Treating a skin abrasion
The neosporin can be lightly applied to any mild abrasion after it’s cleaned with chlorhexidine solution. Curad non-stick pads have a margin of adhesive around the border. They are great to apply as a light covering for a wound and they won’t adhere to the wound bed. You need to have clipped away the fur so you can apply the adhesive to the skin.
If you suspect a fever in your dog, take their temperature
Surgical lube is also what we use to lubricate the end of the digital thermometer before gently inserting it into the anus. Note, you do not need to insert the thermometer more than 1-2 cm inside. A normal dog temperature is between 99 and 102.5 degrees. A very stressed and panting dog can elevate their temperature to the fever range, but this should normalize once they are calm again. Dogs feel unwell and sluggish at temperatures over 103 degrees.
Cleaning out crevices or removing debris from eyes
The cotton tipped swabs are good to remove debris from crevices. You may want to moisten the swab so it slides more easily. If you suspect a plant awn fox tail inside an eyelid for example, a swab can be used by a skillful person to gently lift it out. I would always first try copious eye irrigation first with the sterile eye irrigation solution. Cotton balls can be soaked in saline and used to moisten and clean around the eyes. Do not put chlorhexidine near the eyes.
Bee stings and splinters in your dog
For bee stings or allergic reactions or hotspots you will want to use oral Benadryl dosed at 1mg per pound three times a day. If you can’t give you dog a pill, you can crush the tablet and mix it with water and syringe it into your dog’s mouth.
The Tweezerman tweezers have the best grip to remove small stingers or splinters. Cortisone 10 can be applied to hives or hotspots to help reduce localized itch and inflammation.
Avulsed nails on your dog
For a really good grip on something like a dangling nail that was partially avulsed, hemostats are great to use. You can clamp the hemostat on the dangling nail and quickly tug and the nail will come off. Once the dangling nail is removed, your dog will be a lot more comfortable. You should rinse the toe with the chlorhexidine solution and for the first day you can apply a bandage with a non stick pad or gauze on the bleeding nail bed. You can then apply a layer of the self- adhesive wrap. I generally don’t keep the bandage on a nail bed wound for more than a day. You use the bandage to stop bleeding and then it’s best to allow the site to dry out with exposure to air. Heavy duty bandage scissors cut more easily into a bandage and won’t cut the skin underneath.
With any bandage, you never want the bandage to get wet. A wet bandage will wick onto the wound and create an infection. You can wrap the bandage in a plastic bag to keep it dry.
Accidental ingestion: treatment for your dog
The hydrogen peroxide bottle is NOT intended for skin wounds. You want an UNOPENED bottle of hydrogen peroxide around to give your dog to induce vomiting. The hydrogen peroxide needs to be fizzy to work. The dose is 1 tsp per 5 lbs of body weight , maxing out at 3 tablespoons in a dog. This is helpful to see if you can “decontaminate” your dog in case they ingest something like a lot of chocolate or a stray sock. Vomiting is not recommended if your dog ingests something caustic like a battery or sharp like glass. You don’t want to damage the esophagus when you bring something back up.
What you do for a fracture
If you suspect a fracture, you may be tempted to splint it. However, if you cannot immobilize the joint above and below the fracture, splinting can do more harm than good. This is because it can weigh down the body part and act to distract the bones apart more. It’s best to leave it alone until you can have it x-rayed at your veterinary hospital. If it’s an open wound, place a light layer of cast padding and self adhesive wrap over top. Cold packs are useful to apply to areas that are swelling. Apply for 5-10 minutes 2-3 times a day.
Warming up your dog and keeping them dry
A microfiber towel is a light super-absorbant towel that is easy to pack for camping and is portable. If you need to dry off your dog and quickly warm them, you can then use the packable warming blanket. If you need to transport your dog with an oozing wound, laying down a pee pad can keep the area where they are laying dry and clean.
Removing ticks from your dog
For any attached ticks, you can ether use the tweezerman tweezers or the tick twister tool. For better visibility, a head lamp provides good light and keeps your hands free.
Removing sticks from the roof of the mouth
If your dog is suddenly drooling a lot, open their mouth wide and look inside. Check the roof of their mouth too. Sometimes sticks and bones get lodged between the molars. Take the clamping hemostats to grip the object or use it as a lever to pop it out.
Found a stray dog?
If you ever find a stray dog, it’s hard to catch them without an extra leash. These nylon slip leashes can be easily looped over the head of a dog and then tightened. You’ll want a bowl for water or food. This collapsible bowl can be attached to your backpack with the carabiner.
Conclusion: It’s wise to keep emergency supplies on hand for your dog
The above are a few examples of accidents and injuries dogs can face. Having an emergency kit will make it less stressful during those situations when your dog has an accident. These tools are intended to help you stabilize a problem, but you should always have your pet evaluated by a veterinarian as soon as possible.
You can print your own copy of this First Aid Kit List for dogs by clicking on the image below!
