There are a few medicines I keep with me all the time. These are small medicines that will fit easily into a purse, but when need comes can save a life! Sharing the info with friends, hoping to save an animal in distress. None of these medicines are harmful and will not cause problem to the animal if licked.
Please be careful with the medicines if you are applying to cats, as they have a tendency to lick the wound and they may ingest the medicines, which is not good in long term.
While handling an unknown cat or dog, please be careful that it does not get aggressive. If the dog/ cat knows you, then they wont harm you, but if you are approaching an injured dog/ cat, who is not known to you, approach carefully or you may get bitten. Incase the dog growls, back off and call an ambulance and let them do the treatment.
1. Ivermectin tablet (strength 6 mg)- This is very effective in case of a maggot wound. If the dog is friendly, then crush the tablet, and dab the powder on the wound to cover it completely, then apply some cream like soframycin or acrilin to prevent the powder from falling off and cover it with cotton. This is very effective and maggots are killed next day (only in cases of severe infections, you need to repeat the procedure).
Incase the dog is not friendly and dosent allow u to go near, this tablet can also be crushed and mixed in milk and given orally. It can be
repeated next day (I dont prefer oral medication if external works, as I have heard that overdose of Ivermectin causes kidney problems in dogs). It is much better than chloroform which is difficult to carry and burns a lot! I have used Ivermectin tablet externally in small quantities on 1 month old pups with maggots and they got better in 2 days!
Do remember that prolonged use of ivermectin causes kidney failure in dogs and is definately not suitable for cats. So try to administer externally if possible.
2. Acrilin ointment- It is a cream like burnol or soframycin, which is really good for healing wounds. One can apply it on wounds/scratches and they will heal faster. For open wounds with maggots, first maggots need to be removed and only then acrilin should be applied.
3. Tincture iodine (red liquid)- This is a human medicine, but works really well in healing wound on animals also. It can be applied with help of cotton, and then acrilin can be applied on open wounds. It is also useful to kill ticks. If a drop is put where the tick is, it will fall off after 2 days, and this medicine is not harmful if ingested orally also, but that dosent mean that the animal gets a bath in the medicine! Apply only to the injured area to clean it and heal faster.
4. Neosporin/Nebasulf/Negasunt/gotbac powder- This is a dry powder which can be sprinkled on wounds which are wet. If the dog dosent allow u to touch and apply cream, then u can spray this powder from top and it will help to dry the wound. Aparna says- Negasunt powder is better than Neosporin/Nebasulf powder as it helps to grow animal tissue back on the wound apart from healing.
Negasunt and gotbac powder are used to kill maggots in maggot infected wounds.
My vet suggested not to use these powders on cats because they keep licking themselves and injesting the powder will not be good for their health.
5. Topicure/ Dmag spray- It is a spray which heals and also kills maggots. You can spray it on dogs who allow you to touch them, as most of the dogs will run away when they smell it. This is only for external application and not to be given orally. Also, spray only in the area of injury and keep a check on the animal if the maggots are dead, then keep applying acrilin to heal. Not to be sprayed on cats where they can lick. Please do not spray the whole bottle on any cat or dog to remove ticks/maggots. Apply only where needed.
6. Arnica (strenght 30)- This is a homeopathy medicine and very useful for pains. It is a pain killer and keeps the dog little better. It
sometimes helps in healing wounds which are not externally visible and are painful. Since it is homeopathy medicine, it has to be kept away from strong smelling items in your bag (say medicine like hymax) or its effect will be nullified. When giving homeopathy, either open the mouth and put the pills directly or mix it in milk and give. Homeopathy when mixed with any strong smelling food or liquid, will not have any effect on the animal.
7. Drontal/ Prazi/ Plozin/ Mebex- These are deworming tablets to be given to dogs or cats when you see worms coming out of anus. Give these tablets only if you see that the animal has worms, dont give it unnecessarily. Drontal and Worex are dog medicines and cause kidney failure if given to cats. Also, the dosage should be checked with a vet before giving the pill, as the dosage depends on the weight of the animal.
DO NOT GIVE THESE TABLETS TO YOUNG PUPPIES AND KITTENS.
8. Neem oil/ Nilgiri oil- If there is a dog with a lot of fleas, then Neem oil can be applied over the body. While using Nilgiri oil, care
should be taken to mix 2 drops of nilgiri oil with 5 drops or water, so it is not concentrated. This will get rid of fleas or ticks on the
dogs and Neem oil can also be used on dogs (external application) who have a bad skin condition and are loosing hair.
9. Potassium Permanganate crystals- This the same chemical which is used to purify water. Well, this is available in a crystalised form in bottles. When an animal is bleeding from paw or other part of body (not very severe or not from nose or eyes0, then dabbing these crystals can help in stopping the blood from oozing out. Please DO NOT use it in eyes, nose, inside the ears or anus region. Please check with a vet before dabbing this on the animal.
These are medicines, which will fit into a medium size bag easily, or u can even keep a bag in your vehicle. I did not carry them earlier,
but after I started feeding street dogs, there was always someone or the other injured that I found every week, so I am always prepared.Apart from these medicines, I also carry a wad of sterilised cotton (to pour medicine/ apply on wound or clean eyes of young kittens and pups) in a separate plastic bag and even a couple of ear buds. If the pups are small, or if the wound is too painful for humans to touch, application with ear bud will be less painful and if hands are not clean, less chances of causing infection for dog also (at times u have played with some dogs, and need to treat an injured dog, but cant wash your hands, that time, ear buds are helpful).
Also keep a little bit of soap or wet tissues handy so after treating an animal, you can wipe your hands properly before touching another animal. I have started carrying a bottle of surgical spirit in my food bag since it is the most effective. Even hand sanitisers are useless. Surgical spirit is the most effective and kills all bacteria if hands are washed thoroughly. So please DO NOT HANDLE A HEALTHY
ANIMAL AFTER YOU HAVE TREATED A SICK ONE WITHOUT CLEANING HANDS PROPERLY.
Please feel free to share with fellow animal lovers. You never know who where when may need help!
More information in my blog-
http://teakdoor.com/farming-and-gardening-in-thailand/34493-vital-info-for-dog-lovers-harrell.html
Vital info for Dog Lovers From Harrell. - TeakDoor.com - The Thailand Forum
Hi David, I think I mentioned I am writing a ?Field Care Manual? for dogs and so in this letter I am including some of the material from it. I know it is a lot and you don?t have