Tag Archives: Veterinarian

First aid for cat : how to bandage an ear ?

Reminder :
BEFORE helping an animal, you need to :
– Protect yourself, protect the present persons, and protect the animal : muzzle the animal and held him, establish a safety zone, or go away from a danger zone, and put gloves on.
– Give warnings : warn the veterinarian, and if needed the police or the fire brigades.

How to bandage an ear ?

Before making the bandage, put a compress bent over backwards into the auricle to prevent the blood from passing inside, and if possible clean and disinfect the wound before putting a compress on it. Fold the wounded ear lengthwise and stick her on the top of the skull.

An about 2m band (6.5 ft) is needed to bandage a cat ear. Any bandage begins with a holding turn to hold the beginning of the band in position. For an ear, the holding turn is made on the forehead and passes in front of ears and on the bones of the jaw.

Pass the band on the wounded ear.
Go BEHIND the other ear.
Go under the jaw.
Pass on the wounded ear.
Go IN FRONT of the other ear.
Repeat.

Zorro agrees to present this bandage, but without the compress in the ear :

At the end of the bandage, attach the end of the band under the last turn, and fix well with the plaster.

This bandage is also suitable for dogs with straight ears. For a dog with floppy ears like our friends Tommy ou Bentley, don’t fold the wounded ear at the very beginning of the bandage, but turn it flat over on the top of the skull.

First aid for cat : how to bandage a paw ?

How to bandage a paw ?

If there is a small wound, you need to clean it if possible, to disinfect it, and to put a compress on it before making the bandage.

An about 2m band (6.5 ft) is needed to bandage a cat paw. Any bandage begins with a holding turn to hold the beginning of the band in position. For a paw, the holding turn is made under the joint.

Begin from the TOP of the paw and come down in diagonal up to the end of the paw.
Cover well the end of the paw, and go back up UNDER the paw, by following the same diagonal.
Go to the other side of the paw by following the holding turn OVER the paw.
Come down in diagonal UNDER the paw up to the end of this one.
Cover well the end of the paw, and go back up ON the paw, by following the same diagonal.
Go to the other side of the paw by following the holding turn UNDER paw.
Repeat.

Our friend Fluffy kindly agreed to help us to make this video :

To wrap the paw well, diagonals will be slightly moved, what will reveal a chevron motive on the bandage.

At the end of the bandage, nail the end of the band under the last turn, and fix well with plaster.

First aid for cat : the bases

On Caturday, Claire attended a class of first aid for dogs and for cats in Carouge, very close to Geneva. She took the train at 6:30, and after 120 km and some meters with the tramway, she arrived at the classroom. Valérie drove 710 km by car from Bordeaux to share her knowledge as first-aid worker and to teach the gestures that save.

It was a pawsome day, rich in teachings which we’ll let you discover in video during the next weeks.

First aid for cat : the bases

Do not want to replace the vet !

A well equipped case

The ideal case contains the following material : single-use gloves, small and medium sterile compresses, haemostatic pillow, plaster roller, 2 elastic bandages (5 and 10 cms wide), 2 instant cold packs, at least 2 monodoses of physiological salt solution, 2 monodoses of disinfectant (chlorhexidin), 2 monodoses of hydrogen peroxide, plastic tongue depressor, big syringe, razor, scissors, thermometer, metal tweezers, foil blanket, mask for mouth-to-truffle, cotton strips, hydro-alcoholic gel, cohesive band.

The hydrogen peroxide serves to clean a wound before disinfecting it, and the physiological salt solution serves to moisten a wounded eye or viscera (yuk !) for example.
The syringe is useful to rehydrate in small dose.
The thermometer has a flexible tip, and it takes the temperature within 10 seconds ! (Phew …) Valérie recommends to have a monodose of lubricating gel to make its use less unpleasant.
Scissors are special scissors called “scissors Jesco” and can cut thick materials as harness or seat belt.

The cotton strips (1 m and 1 m 50) can serve to put a withers or to muzzle a dog (except the brachycephalics who must have a muzzle adapted to their very short snout). For us, cats, Claire bought a “special cat” muzzle : this model also covers eyes. These devices, if needed, allow the first-aid worker to intervene in safety with a wounded animal.

The good gestures

What’s to be done if an animal is unconscious ? What’s to be done in case of airway obstruction ? How to do a resuscitation and a cardiac massage ? What’s to be done in case of bleeding ? What’s to be done in case of wounds or in case of burns ? What’s to be done in the event of an ocular accident ? What’s to be done in case of intoxication or in case of poisoning ? What’s to be done in case of drowning ? How to put correctly a bandage that holds on a tail, an ear, eyes, or a paw ?

Claire learnt all this in the course, but BEFORE helping an animal, it’s necessary :

Protect yourself, protect the present persons, and protect the animal : muzzle the animal and held him, establish a safety zone, or go away from a danger zone, and put gloves on.
Give warnings : warn the veterinarian, and if needed the police or the fire brigades.

Then, we can really help : the mission of the first-aid worker is to help the hurt animal to arrive to the veterinarian with the best possible chances of survival.

And don’t forget to replace the used material !