Pet Project Allows Owners To Learn Pet First Aid
Staff Photo By Mark Roberts
Jennifer Reeves, from left, locates the femoral artery in her stuffed animal while Susan Allen helps Carla Hughes during a pet first aid class at Pets and Friends, LLC in Tyler.
Story By JACQUE HILBURN
Feature Writer
When Alana Ginsel's tiny Shih Tzu, "Cali," picked a fight with her other dog, the outcome wasn't good.
Feature Writer
When Alana Ginsel's tiny Shih Tzu, "Cali," picked a fight with her other dog, the outcome wasn't good.
The Shih Tzu lost.
"Her eye was pulled out of the socket," she said. "I was shocked. I started thinking, 'Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. What do I do?'"
"Her eye was pulled out of the socket," she said. "I was shocked. I started thinking, 'Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. What do I do?'"
Gathering her wits, Ms. Ginsel quickly called the vet, prepared the dog for transport and raced from her Palestine home to seek emergency medical assistance.
Cali eventually lost her eye, but not her life.
The outcome could have been much worse, said Ms. Ginsel, who learned her response know-how a month earlier through an American Red Cross-certified pet first aid course.
The outcome could have been much worse, said Ms. Ginsel, who learned her response know-how a month earlier through an American Red Cross-certified pet first aid course.
Staff Photo By Mark Roberts
Susan Allen, co-owner of Pets and Friends, LLC, demonstrates the proper way to lift a dog during a pet first aid class
"I would not have known what to do without it," she said. "It took a few weeks for her to get back to herself. I cried for weeks, but I'm content with it now. I still look at her like she's my little baby."
ANIMAL EDUCATION
Ms. Ginsel is not alone in the quest to improve her pet preparedness.
Increasing numbers of pet sitters, trainers, boarders, groomers and concerned owners are signing up to learn pet first aid.
Staff Photo By Mark Roberts
Gloria Reeves, an employee at Kritter Kutz, breathes through a tube attached to the mouth of a stuffed dog during a CPR exercise.
Susan Allen of Tyler is the only Red Cross-certified pet first aid instructor in the Tyler area.
First aid information she presents in class is intended to be an immediate and temporary care measure to be used until an injured animal can be taken to a professional veterinarian.
"There are two goals," said Mrs. Allen. "One is to help you take care of an emergency. Two is to keep someone from getting hurt as they are trying to help."
Without knowing the facts surround pet emergencies, serious situations can quickly get out of hand, experts say.
"If a dog or cat is injured, they will bite you, it's a natural defense mechanism," said Mrs. Allen. "If you don't know how to properly muzzle a dog, you could be bitten and then you would not be able to care for your pet."
It's assumed that pets are safe if confined primarily indoors, but situations can arise just about anywhere.
Dogs who like to chew can choke if an object lodges in their throat.
"Tylenol is highly poisonous to cats," she said. "If you drop one on the floor and they eat it, it has to come back up. Do you know what to do? The core to all this knowledge is, 'Are you prepared?'"
Gauge your level of preparedness with these true or false questions from the American Red Cross:
The answers are false, true and false, according to test results.
EMERGENCY RESPONSES
Participants attending the Red Cross' pet first aid receive books with instructions on dealing with dog and cat injuries, a DVD, a training certificate and a few pet "goodies."
Local classes are four hours and cost $39 to attend.
Using Red Cross-approved CPR "dummy" animals, participants are instructed on how to respond to everything from electrocutions and car accidents to finding a pulse and performing CPR.
How-to's are almost identical for small dogs and cats. Because of their size, larger dogs require a different set of guidelines, said Mrs. Allen.
The first step is determining normal behavior for your pet.
From there, talk turns to recognizing atypical behaviors such as signs of choking, allergic reactions, cardiac arrest, poisoning, stroke and unresponsive animals.
Other instructions will be given on how to respond to abrasions, pad wounds, eye injuries, ear infections, burns, hypothermia and heat stroke.
Participants receive guidance on preventing injury or accident and assembling a mobile first aid kit.
"With Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, so many people left their pets behind," said Mrs. Allen. "They were told it would be away three days, but three days stretched into weeks. Some people didn't go back at all."
Pet first aid courses were already available, but the hurricanes prompted new procedures to help people evacuate with their animals, including assisting with shelter.
"If the Red Cross opens a shelter, by law they can't have pets inside because they are serving food, but they are starting to provide shelter for pets, usually outside or in another facility," said Mrs. Allen.
Helping pet owners respond to and avert crisis situations benefits everyone, said Dr. Carol E. Black, a Tyler veterinarian.
"This is an excellent program," she said. "It's thorough and gives appropriate ways to respond to an emergency. It's just like for people; you wouldn't send your kid off to camp without making sure they are properly prepared."
The same preparation should be extended to pets, she said.
Additional classes in Tyler are set for 1-5 p.m. on May 10, June 21, July 19 and Aug. 9 at Pets and Friends, 2979 Texas Highway 110 North. A start-up session in Longview is planned for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on May 17 at American Red Cross Building, 1604 E. State Highway 31.
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