Since you never know when an accident will happen, keeping a pet emergency kit at your home is a good idea. You can put a first aid kit together yourself and buy the items separately, or buy one ready-made.
If you make a kit yourself, use a small plastic tub with a tight fitting lid to store the following items:
Important phone numbers
- Veterinary clinic phone number and directions to the clinic
- Emergency clinic phone number and directions
- Poison control center phone numbers
Equipment and supplies
- Magnifying glass
- Scissors
- Tweezers
- Nail clippers and metal nail file
- Styptic powder or sticks,
Kwik Stop, or cornstarch
- Penlight
- Scalpel blades and handles
- Eye dropper
|
- Cotton swabs
- Turkey Baster
- Clean towels - cloth and paper
- Rectal thermometer
- Lubricant such as mineral oil or KY Jelly (without spermicide)
- Disposable gloves
- Syringes of various sizes
|
- Tub large enough to soak the reptile in water
- Wire cutters (if enclosure is not acrylic or glass)
- Pet carrier, cloth bag, or other items needed for transport
- Gram scale
- Stethoscope
- Heat pack or hot water bottle (to keep pet warm during transport; wrap the pack in a towel - do not apply directly to your pet, or burns may result)
|
Bandaging materials
- Square gauze of various sizes - some sterile
- Non-stick pads
- First aid tape - both paper (easily comes off of skin) and adhesive types
- Bandage rolls - gauze and Vetrap
- Wooden sticks of various sizes for splints - tongue depressors, Popsicle sticks, toothpicks
- Stockinette
- Gel foam - stops bleeding from wounds (ask your herp veterinarian)
- Band-Aids (for humans)
Nutritional support
- For carnivores: one or more of the following: meat baby food, canned cat food, Hill's a/d
- For herbivores: fruit and vegetable baby food
- Nutritional supplement such as Nutri-Cal, Vitacal, or Nutristat
- Rehydrating solution such as Gatorade or Pedialyte
Medicines*
- Wound disinfectant such as Betadine or
Povidone-Iodine Scrub
- Triple
antibiotic ointment for skin
- Antibiotic ophthalmic ointment for eyes, e.g.,
Terramycin
- Eye wash solution
- Sterile saline to irrigate (wash out) a wound
*Watch the expiration dates on any medication, and replace as needed.
