Dog First Aid Kit: Useful Home Remedies

For dog owners, it is particularly important to have a dog first aid kit at home.

This can help avoid an unnecessary stay in waiting rooms, crowded together with other people.

Simple tips and tricks or even "home remedies" can repeatedly protect against more serious illnesses and help your pet.

Of course, you can get all the remedies mentioned in the following article from any veterinarian or pharmacy, and in some cases online, without a prescription.

Skin injuries

When it comes to injuries, the range and severity vary enormously.

If they are scratches or minor bleeding wounds, it is always a good idea to treat them.

It is therefore advisable to have an antiseptic in your dog first aid kit. Here, I recommend iodine-based solutions or antiseptic sprays.

After successful cleaning and disinfection, it is recommended to apply a wound ointment (containing zinc), of course only if it stays on and is not immediately licked off.

For safety, sterile swabs, self-adhesive bandages, and gauze should also be readily available in your dog first aid kit.

We would like to emphasize here that for more serious and deeper injuries, a veterinarian should definitely be consulted, as these wounds often need to be stitched.

In case of heavy bleeding, you can of course also apply a tight, hemostatic bandage to prevent excessive blood loss on the way to the veterinarian.

Diarrhea in dogs

Diarrhea that is not accompanied by severe general malaise or blood in the stool can often be treated by the owner using the dog first aid kit.

However, if the diarrhea lasts longer than 2 to 3 days, the patient should be presented to a veterinarian for further investigation.

For milder cases of diarrhea, it is recommended to offer the dog (if tolerated) mushy cooked and salted rice (cooked with three times the amount of water), steamed chicken breast (lean), cooked carrots, and probiotics—for example, mixed with cottage cheese.

Probiotics are live microorganisms, such as bacterial strains and sometimes fungal strains, that are ingested orally. In the gut, they reach their target and, in the right composition, can have a positive effect on overall health.

Sobamin and Dysticum also often help excellently with intestinal imbalances.

Top tip for home remedies for diarrhea: Morosche carrot soup

Morosche carrot soup is known as a proven and scientifically sound home remedy for diarrhea. The recipe is very simple:

• Cook 500 g of peeled and finely chopped carrots in half a liter of water for at least 90 minutes
• then drain the cooking water
• Puree the carrots and top up with fresh boiling water to one liter
• Then add 3 g of table salt

Morosche carrot soup can be offered to the dog in small portions 5 to 6 times a day at the beginning of the diarrhea illness. This also ensures adequate fluid intake.

TIP: The soup can also be cooked in advance and kept frozen for up to 3 months.

Dog first aid kit for loss of appetite

If your dog suddenly no longer wants to eat its usual food, please do not try to coax it into eating with treats, ham, or sweets.

There is certainly a reason for it, and that is what needs to be found and addressed. Think carefully about what the cause could be. What has it eaten in the last few days? Could it have ingested something spoiled? Is it very stressed? Could it be due to hormones (heat cycle).

It is not easy to say after how many days you absolutely must contact a veterinarian, as it depends very much on the age and size of your pet!

Young animals and underweight animals have fewer reserves and should be presented earlier (max. 1 day).

If your pet is in good general condition and is larger and heavier, you can wait a little longer. But I would in no case accept more than 2-3 days.

For this case of itching in dogs, it is therefore at least advisable to have a home remedy against fleas at home.

Please do not resort to purely plant-based products here. That would be nice, but they simply do not help with an acute parasite infestation.

Don't forget that fleas also live in the environment, i.e., in your home.

Antiparasitics are available in a wide variety of forms. Common ones are spot-ons to apply to the skin or tablets. Most products are also helpful against other parasites, such as mites.

Allergies of any origin also often manifest as itching.  Above all, food allergies are important to mention here.

As a rule, pay attention to healthy, organic food with few artificial additives. Dogs with food intolerances particularly tolerate industrial food very poorly; here I recommend fresh food.

More serious cases can also react allergically to protein (meat) or individual carbohydrate sources. With food intolerances, your pet likes to excessively lick its limbs, but also recurring ear infections are a sign of this illness.

The same applies here: if symptoms persist, or if there is no improvement – go to the veterinarian!

Eye infection in dogs: home remedies

The eye is a very important and sensitive organ. So please do not "doctor around" with it yourself for longer.

If you notice a mild redness of an eye with discharge, you can use cooled cheese tree tea to carefully clean the stuck areas on your dog. It works best with a non-linting cotton pad.

You also cannot go wrong with moisturizing or cornea-nourishing (vitamin A-containing) eye drops or ointments. Please always wash your hands thoroughly before and after.

Common cold / cough in dogs: home remedies

Common colds and respiratory infections naturally don't spare our beloved pets either.

If your dog starts coughing or sneezing, you can initially try some remedies from the dog pharmacy.

Never give them cold food, and their drinking water should also be slightly warmed. You can also try giving them tea.

Another home remedy for dogs with a cough and cold: Keep them warm at all times, and even a scarf when you leave the house is always a good idea.

Short-haired dogs without an undercoat should also wear a coat in the cold season.

You can also give your dog vitamin-rich fruit (e.g. berries of any kind, apple, banana or pear) and vegetables (e.g. carrot, zucchini, cauliflower or fennel).

For optimal vitamin absorption, I recommend steaming the vegetables gently and chopping them up. Here too, of course, special attention should be paid to healthy, easily digestible food.

We would not recommend dry food, especially for throat infections.

If the symptoms do not improve after a short time, it is also here essential to go to your trusted veterinarian.

A trivial cough can hide heart failure, for example.

To assess how much an infection weakens the body, it is always good to measure the internal body temperature. In dogs, this can only be done rectally.

Keep a fast-reading digital thermometer with a soft tip ready for your dog pharmacy. It is also helpful to have a lubricant on hand.

Oils (please not essential oils!), Vaseline, or ointments are well suited for this.

The body temperature of dogs can vary greatly depending on size and age. The normal temperature range for healthy adult dogs is 37.5 to 39 °C.

When something is wrong with your four-legged friend, it is very worrying at first for their owners.

That is precisely why it is important to stay calm in such situations and to be prepared with a dog pharmacy.

In these exceptional situations, you can also ask your veterinarian for an assessment over the phone and act accordingly.

Here are the physiological values of dogs as a small guide for you:

• Breathing: 15–30 breaths per minute
• Temperature: 37.5°–39.00°C (puppies up to 39.5°C)
• Pulse: 80–120 beats/min (depending on breed, age, size)

Please pay special attention to hygiene and cleanliness at home during this difficult time.

Wash your dog's bowls after every meal and always make sure there is enough fresh water.

Try to pay attention to your beloved pet's mental stimulation, especially if they have to spend most of the day at home, to prevent kennel cough.