What to Do If Your Dog is Bleeding

What do you do if your cherished dog comes in from outside and is covered from head to foot with blood? Or maybe you come home from work, walk in the house, and your pet is bleeding and lying on the floor panting. What do you do?

The initial thing to do is to keep your dog calm and still. You have to ascertain where the blood is coming from so grab a clean towel or cloth to look for the injury's location. If it is a deep cut or puncture with major bleeding (vivid red blood spurting from the dog's injury or darker colored blood flowing freely from it or bleeding is difficult to stop), grab another clean towel or cloth and gently apply pressure on the injury. Do not put on a tourniquet. Whenever the pad becomes saturated, substitute the pad with different clean one. Only apply gentle pressure. Do not discontinue applying pressure for at least five minutes. If the injury does not quit bleeding or is deep, take your dog to the veterinarian as soon as possible for additional treatment. Whenever the wound is a puncture wound, there is a major likelihood of infection and the most effective thing to do is to calm down your dog, apply pressure with a gauze bandage and take your dog to your veterinarian.

What if it is merely a shallow cut with insignificant bleeding? In this case, softly clean your dog's wound with saline solution or clear water. Apply pressure with a clean cloth or a gauze bandage pad until the bleeding ceases. Apply the pad in place with a stretchable non-stick bandage or tape. Be sure that the tape is not overly binding.

Additional bleeding to be concerned about is when your dog rips his/her toenail on the carpet or an unsmooth surface and bleeding happens. If the broken toenail is broken at its base inside the fleshy part of the toe you may prefer to take the dog to your veterinarian. If the break is further down from the flesh of the toe, cut back the broken toenail with regular nail clippers. If the toenail stump is bleeding profusely, put on cornstarch, flour or styptic powder to make it stop. Position a cotton ball or gauze bandage pad across the toenail and wrap up your dog's paw firmly. Make certain the wrap remains in place for eight to twelve hours. If the nail is still bleeding when you remove the pad, take your dog to your veterinarian for additional treatment. A broken toenail is frequently very painful and you might have to muzzle her/him to avoid being bitten.

Whenever your dog is bleeding from the eye, ears, nose or mouth, the most beneficial thing to do is to keep your dog calm and quiet and take your dog to your veterinarian as soon as possible. Your doctor will want to see what the problem might be and they will diagnose it and treat it properly.

I also strongly recommend that you keep a dog first aid kit convenient. There are a number of dependable sites on the internet that give you a list of items that you need to have on hand just in case your dogs needs immediate medical treatment before you can take them to your vet. One site I discovered that has a very detailed list is at:

http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_FirstAid.php

Keep your dog safe and be sure to always have your veterinarian's telephone number where you get to it in an instant. There is ordinarily someone available to assist you anytime day or night. Enjoy your dog!