October is Animal Safety & Protection Month, a month dedicated to the safe care and handling of our favourite animals. Parnell Living Science is honouring this month with dog safety tips to prepare you, should there be an emergency. This article focuses on how to be prepared in an emergency and provides a free downloadable to help you guide you.
Almost 38% of Australian households have a dog, with about 4.8 million dogs in Australia. This means there are 20 dogs for every 100 people in Australia. Surprisingly, it is estimated that 1 in 3 of these pet parents will need to seek unexpected emergency veterinary treatment. Pet emergencies happen but seldom are we prepared for them. Are you?
In our pet emergency (written below), I realized we made a very stressful situation became more stressful because we hadn’t planned ahead. There were so many questions we didn’t know the answers to. And trying to do it in an emergency situation is not the right thing to do. Hopefully, you are more prepared than I was. Use this as a good reminder to think ahead now, should there ever be a pet emergency!
Be Prepared
After attending a recent pet conference, one point was made which rang true for me: many of us have pets, yet we are not prepared for a pet emergency. One person told the story of their own pet emergency when they were on vacation. They hired a family member to stay at their house with the dog while on vacation. When something happened to their dog, the family member didn’t know what to do or where to go because they were not from that area of the city. They realized they really didn’t even truly know the house address to call for help.
With this in mind, Parnell Living Science is offering a FREE downloadable Pet Emergency Info Sheet to use in your own pet emergency kit. Simply download the 8-1/2” X 11” PDF and print it out. By going through and filling out the emergency information detail, you will save valuable time in an emergency. Use it in many ways:
- Fill it out for yourself so you have all the numbers you need in one place. Be sure to put this somewhere you will easily find in case you need it, such as hanging on the side of the refrigerator.
- Leave it with your pet sitter or pet boarding facility, should you chose to travel without your pet.
- If you are travelling by plane or car, secure this sheet on the travel crate in case you and your pet become separated.
Part of being prepared is thinking ahead. Simply by reading this article, you are more prepared should there be a pet emergency in your life. If you fill out the new Pet Emergency Info Sheet, you will be ready, and so will the people who care for your pets. Parnell Living Science wishes you nothing but good health and safety for your pets!
My Pet Emergency
Amazingly, my beagle, Lucky, was bitten by a snake! We were on a walk in our neighbourhood when she found it. It struck her on the nose before I could register what it was. As we ran away, Lucky started to slow down. I scooped her up and ran home carrying her. Once in the house, I yelled who knows what at my family. They couldn’t believe it, until they saw me holding Lucky in my arms, her nose now twice as large, and her body limp. We all quickly jumped in the car to get some help.
As we started to drive, we realized: where were we going? It was Saturday afternoon: our veterinary clinic was closed. In my panic, I forgot my cell phone at the house. My husband thought he had his phone. But in his haste to leave, he had brought the remote control to the television instead.
I was trying to keep Lucky awake as she was moving in and out of consciousness; we needed to get somewhere fast. We saw a police vehicle and waived the officer down and asked what to do. He knew the location of the closest pet emergency room. He gave us verbal directions on where to go. I’ll admit, we wanted a police escort but it was clear it wasn’t an emergency to the officer. Once we arrived at the emergency clinic, they were real professionals and took us back immediately for treatment. We learned about how rare poisonous snake bites were and why my dog reacted as she did. This is another story for another time. Bottom line: Lucky was appropriately named. We are lucky she survived!
Now we are more prepared! Fill this form out and keep it in a handy location, should you need it. You can also leave this form filled out with those who watch your dog if you should go on holiday. Then they have the numbers in case they need it too!
