Top Veterinary Articles of the Week: Putting Together a First Aid Kit, Toxic Plants, and more ...

How to Easily Put Together a Pet First Aid Kit For Your Dog
Dr. Jason Nicholas/Preventive Vet

Do you have a first aid kit for your dog? In an emergency, two things are crucial - knowing what to do and having the supplies to do it. It took me a while to work up my way to a comprehensive first aid kit for our dogs. At first it was just a couple of things here and there. Eventually I decided to find out what exactly should be in one and gathered that together. Since then it grew and now we have two versions of it. A field version with bare necessities and a home version that contains about everything one could ever need.


You're not going to need all those things all the time. In fact, hopefully you won't need any of them ever. But if you do, you'll be very happy you have them. So far, from our first aid kit, we used saline solution, betadine solution, hydrogen peroxide (we used it for inducing vomiting only as it it hard on wounds and we don't use it for that), thermometed, bandages, Benadryl, tick twister ... to name a few.

Check out Dr. Nicholas' recommendations on what should go into your pet first aid kit.


ASPCA List of Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants
ASPCA


Keeping in the loop about plants that could harm your dog can be life-saving. Many of these are quite beautiful but that doesn't make them safe. The ASPCA compiled a list of the most frequently encountered plants that have been reported to cause ill effects.

African Violet. Photo ASPCA Animal Poison Control

If you think that your dog is ill or may have ingested a poisonous substance, contact your local veterinarian or the 24-hour emergency poison hotline directly at 1-888-426-4435.


New Advancements and Current Medications to Manage Diabetes in Dogs and Cats
Dr. Jean Dodds/Dr. Jean Dodds' Pet Health Resource Blog

Diabetes in dogs is on the rise. According to Dr. Dodds, it has doubled within the past 5 years. What is going on?

The mainstay treatment for diabetes are insulin injections. Some exciting developments in genomic diabetes research might eliminate the need for these. Spanish researchers used gene therapy to successfully regulate Type 1 diabetes in dogs for over four years. This treatment allows more natural glucose control without the risk of hypoglycemia.

Check out Dr. Dodds' article to find out more.


Euthanasia and Your Pet – What You Need to Know
Dr. Christopher G. Byers/Critical Care DVM

However heartbreaking, euthanasia can be one of the greatest gifts you can give your dog. I still mourn Jasmine's passing and I still wish things could have played out differently but at the end, letting her go was the last gift of love. We let her go BECAUSE we loved her so much.

It's the hardest decision one ever has to make for their dog but it can save a lot of suffering.

Read Dr. Buers' thoughts on the subject.

Comments

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