Two-year-old Labrador Reggie was out enjoying a Sunday evening walk with his loving owner when disaster struck, and PDSA’s pet first aid advice had to be put into practice.
While running through the woods with his canine brother, Ronnie; Reggie sliced his paw open on some broken glass that had been discarded on the ground.
With blood pouring from his cut paw, over a mile from the car and unfortunately no supplies on hand, Reggie’s owner, Jess, utilised her recently learnt pet first aid knowledge to wrap the serious wound with a makeshift bandage.
To help stem the bleeding, Jess ripped off a piece of her clothing and applied pressure to the cut. She then covered it with a poo bag, tied loosely round Reggie’s ankle, to keep it clean while they made their way back to the car.
Once home, Jess unwrapped the bandage to clean Reggie’s paw and realised it was still bleeding heavily. She immediately called the vet, who directed them to head straight to their out of hours service.
After being examined, the vet informed Jess that the deep cut had damaged a major blood vessel and would need stitches under general anaesthetic. Luckily the procedure went smoothly and just a few hours later, Reggie was discharged and able to go home for some well-needed rest and recuperation, while his paw heeled.
PDSA Vet Lynne James said: “It can be extremely worrying when your pet has an accident or gets injured, especially if you’re far from home and you haven’t got your pet first aid kit with you.
“In Reggie’s case, his owner did exactly the right thing and helped stem a potentially life-threatening bleed, preventing further contamination and infection to the wound – thanks to the lifesaving advice learnt from our pet first aid leaflet.
“Our guide covers everything from what to do if your pet is having a seizure, to how to cool your pet down safely if they develop life-threatening heatstroke.
You never know when disaster might strike so it’s very useful to be clued up on pet first aid – it could save a life in an emergency.”
Jess said: “After reading through all of PDSA’s pet first aid advice in the guide, we made sure we had a complete pet first aid kit for the dogs, but I didn’t have it with me on our walk. Despite that, the advice in the guide ended up really being a ‘lifesaver’ when Reggie cut his paw.”
PDSA’s pet first aid guide is available for FREE, you can download your own copy from PDSA’s website: https://www.pdsa.org.uk/pet-first-aid
PDSA relies on donations to deliver life-saving treatment to hundreds of thousands of pets through its 48 Pet Hospitals across the UK. To help keep people and their pets together in times of need, the charity is urgently calling on the public’s support.
To find out more about PDSA’s vital work, or to donate, visit www.pdsa.org.uk