Preparing An Emergency First Aid Kit For Your Hound

By Treyton Jai Diggs, DVM

I was recently engaged in conversation with Mr. Jerry Wheat at Playtime Kennels and we were speaking of various things about hunting dogs. And we began to discuss how much of a risk we take every time we cast them into the woods whether it be to train them or to hunt them. So I asked myself, “What are some ways that I can help my fellow houndsmen to be prepared if their hounds encountered a field emergency or field injury?” After several hours of pondering, the best thing that I could come up with is a “field first aid kit” for the hunting or sporting dog.
Supplies:
For your box I would recommend purchasing a tackle box or a tool box with compartments. The size of the box depends on how much you plan to keep in the box. The boxes I use are big enough to fit in the top storage of my dog box.
*Ointments:
* Triple antibiotic ointment (Neosporin or something similar). This works great for open minor wounds.
* Ear Ointment (RX) Animax, Panalog, Mometamax, or Surolan. Keep one of these ointments on hand in case a hound is shaking his ears or sustains an ear injury.
* Eye Ointment (RX) Triple antibiotic eye ointment helps if there is an eye injury. I DO NOT recommend keeping one with steroids in your box because it can delay healing if used improperly.
* KY Jelly or Sterile Lubricant- Apply to open wounds after they have been cleaned, once the lubricant has been applied cover the wound until it can be closed or veterinary care is sought.
* Sterile water or sterile saline- This can be used to clean or rinse wounds. (If this can’t be found just carry along unopened bottles of drinking water).
* Betadine Solution- Mix 1% solution, add Betadine to a sterile bottle of water until it looks the color of iced tea. It usually takes about 4 ml Betadine to 1 liter of saline to get the desired solution. Use 20 cc syringe + 18 gauge needle to flush wounds, this gives optimal psi to clean the wound without further traumatizing the tissue
* Chlorhexidine Gluconate soap (Hibiclens)- Use to wash your hands prior to cleaning a wound. Use this mixed with water to clean wounds if you don’t have Betadine solution.
* Sterile Eye Wash- used to clean out eyes
* Ear cleaner or wash (use those recommended for use in dogs) – I like Epi-otic, Triz- Edta or Triz- Ultra.
* Syringes and needles of various sizes
Syringes 20 ml, 12 ml, 6 ml, 3 ml, 1 ml Needles 18 gauge, 20 gauge, 22 gauge
* Cotton Applicators- Q-Tips work great. They are used to clean, remove, or apply things.
* White Goods:
Gauze, telfa pads, cast padding( good for splinting and wrapping wounds), cotton balls, rolled gauze
*Coban or Vetrap- or an ACE bandage is great for the outer most layer of a bandage.
* Tape of various types-
1″ porous tape
3″ waterproof tape- great for wrapping wounds for short periods of time that need to stay dry
2″ or 3″ Elastikon-great bandaging tape.
* Plastic Kitchen Wrap (Saran Wrap)- Good if there is a gunshot wound to the chest wrap around the dogs chest and transport to the nearest veterinary clinic immediately.

To see the rest of this list along with some photos of examples, check out page 32 of our January issue.