[CorkyMax]

IMPORTANT INFO FIRST!!----IF YOUR PET GETS A DEEP LACERATION, ABRAISION, PUNCTURE WOUND, OR BITE MARK;
-------------------------------IF A WOUND BLEEDS HEAVILY OR WON'T STOP BLEEDING; SEVERE BLOOD LOSS---YOUR PET MAY NEED STITCHES, ANETHESIA, OR A TRANSFUSION. SIGNS OF INTERNAL BLEEDING INCLUDE BLOOD IN URINE OR VOMIT, PALE PINK OR WHITE GUMS, AND LETHARGY.
-------------------------------OR IF A WOUND DEVELOPS AN INFECTION, TAKE YOUR PET TO THE VET!!!----A DEEP WOUND MIGHT REQUIRE STITCHES OR ANTIBIOTICS.

If your dog or cat gets severely wounded or injured, use a blanket as a stretcher. Place your pet in the center of the blanket and have 2 people each lift 2 corners of the blanket to carry the animal.

An injured animal tends to become defensive and might snap at you if you attempt to provide help. Before treating a wounded dog or cat, protect yourself by muzzling your pet's mouth closed. Improvise a muzzle by cutting off a leg from a clean, used pair of sheer panty hose, wrapping it several times around your pet's mouth, and tying the ends back behind the animal's ears. DO NOT COVER THE PET'S NOSTRILS. Remove the muzzle if the pet experiences difficulty breathing, starts vomiting, or bleeds from the mouth! --------------If you can't muzzle the animal before administering treatment, loosely wrap your pet's head in a pillowcase or hand towel to avoid the possibility of being bitten.

Ways to try to stop the bleeding---
1. Stop any bleeding by applying firm pressure with your hand, a cloth, or gauze. Another idea---->

2. Use a maxi pad (Stayfree) as a compress to stop the bleeding from a wound by applying firm pressure for a few minutes. In an emergency, you can hold the maxi pad in place by tying it with sheer panty hose.
If your dog or cat gets severely wounded or injured.

Cleaning and Bandaging a Wound---
1. To protect a wound from getting infected, apply Betadine Solution and then flush the wound clean with lukewarm running water. Pat dry with a towel.

2. Do not use hydrogen peroxide or isopropyl to clean a deep wound. These antiseptics might aggravate damaged tissue.

3. If you are unable to bandage a wound on your dog or cat, dab some vegetable oil liberally on the wound. VEGETABLE OIL CAN STOP THE BLEEDING.

4. To keep a wound clean and protected, wrap it with gauze, but not too tightly. Change the bandage daily, but 1st wash the wound and apply antibiotic ointment before rebandaging daily.

5. While some wounds require bandages, most do not. Bandages tend to slow healing.

6. Rather than bandaging a MINOR wound, use electric clippers to trim the hair around the wound to allow air-drying. Hair retains bacteria, dirt, secretions, and debris, hindering the healing process.

7. To protect a paw injury, insert the paw into a clean white sock. Whatever you use to keep it on---rubber band--tape (I prefer the tape as rubber band could be restricting blood flow if too tight!!)--as could the tape if too tight!! You don't want that to happen!!! I used either baby socks or small child's socks---Can get a good sized (amount) package fairly reasonable at Walmart.-----If your pet needs to wear it for a period of time----Best to have several pair as they get dirty fast and need changing!

If your dog won't stop disturbing the wound, have your pet fit with an Elizabethan collar---a conical plastic casing that fits around the dog's neck. Me here: I have had to use one of these a couple of different times and it is for sure that dogs hate them (and so do I!) and have a hard time getting around with them on.----bump into things, hard to jump up or down, eat, etc. You should be aware of what is happening and where your dog is at all times--my opinion. They aren't cheap either, esp. for the small amount of time they get used---cost me $17 the last time.--and all it is, is a hard piece of 'flat' plastic shaped to be able to bend and tie around your dog's neck!

Tip for cuts/scratches/abrasions---Quicken healing of cuts, scratches, skin irritations, and paw abrasions by rubbing on Bag Balm, the salve created to relievecracking in cow's udders.