Pet Haven

Cats are curious, and even though they’re reputed to always fall on their feet as well as have 9 lives, there are still times when you need to step in an apply some degree of first aid to a cat that’s got itself into some kind of mess.  Although most times you should at least ring your veterinary practice and speak to either the vet or his/her assistant, having a first aid kit at the ready means you are prepared to deal with anything that needs immediate attention until you can transport kitty to a place she can receive proper medical attention.

Keep a sturdy box in an easy to reach place in your home that contains your feline first aid kit.  This should be far enough out of reach to stop your children from using it on their dolls, but close enough to hand for you to grab if your cat has an accident.  It should be easy to open and you should be able to take the items out of the box with one hand (whilst holding your cat with the other!)  Inside the lid of the box tape the phone number of not only your veterinary practice, but also a 24-hour 7-day a week practice within your area so that you know you can always get medical advice for your cat when it’s needed.  Periodically (at the time of your cat’s annual injections for example) check that these numbers are still valid and if not, make sure you update them.

The first thing you should have in your cat’s first aid box is a towel.  This will have two purposes, it will not only keep your cat warm if she’s going into shock, but it will also shield you from defensive claws whilst you administer any treatment that’s required.

Other things that you should keep in your box are:

Bandages (both 2.5cm and 5cm gauge variety)
Tape for securing the bandage
Cotton wool
Gauze pads for stemming any bleeding
Blunt edged scissors
Tweezers
Rectal thermometer
Silver nitrate pencil (useful if you draw blood from a nick when claw trimming)
Eye wash
Fur ball treatment
Tick remover (if you live, or are holidaying, in an area that has ticks)

You should also have a small booklet of how to treat emergency first aid situations such as bleeding and poison ingestion so you know the steps you can take to prepare your cat for transfer to your veterinary’s practice.

As with first aid on humans, this is not meant to take the place of proper veterinary care for your cat, but it does allow you the security of knowing if your cat does have an accident you do have some form of kit available that you can quickly get hold of and so try to help your cat as soon as the incident occurs.

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