Pets

Do you know what to do if your pet gets sick and there’s no way to get to the vet? You actually have several home remedies for sick pets sitting in your cupboards right now! There’s absolutely no substitute for your vet’s expert advice, BUT if you’re in a bind, here are a few items you can use to help a sick animal, courtesy of ABC News.

• To start, I want you to call your vet right now and ask them if it’s OK for your dog to take Benadryl. It works great for common allergic reactions, but you need to get a vet’s stamp of approval first. For dogs under 30 pounds give them 25 milligrams, 50 for dogs over 80 pounds and 75 milligrams for even bigger dogs.
• If your pet’s eaten something harmful like chocolate or his favorite tennis ball, try some Hydrogen Peroxide to induce vomiting. Check the label first; you want to make sure you’re using a 3% solution. The dosage here is one teaspoon for every five pounds. Also, it’s a good idea to write down your dog’s dosage, because if you need to get something up in a hurry you don’t want to be sitting there struggling with the math!
• For an upset doggie stomach, Pepto-Bismol works wonders. You’ll want to give your dog a child’s dose for every 40 pounds. So if the dog’s 10 pounds they get a quarter of a child’s dose, if the dog’s 80 pounds, it’s a double child’s dose. NEVER give Pepto-Bismol to cats; it contains an aspirin like substance that they can’t tolerate.
• There are also a couple of items in your kitchen that’ll be handy in an emergency. Corn starch or flour can be used to soak up blood if your animal gets a cut that isn’t too deep, and baking soda is great for bee stings. Just make a paste with some water and pack it onto the sting, after it dries use a credit card to scrape out the stinger!