Monday, August 27, 2012

Emergency Care for an impaled dog

By Jerry Welsh


Impalement injuries are not as common as nicks and cuts, fractures or ingestion of foreign objects. Dogs though can sustain impalement injuries because these are very active and playful animals. Due to the inquisitive nature that puts them in tight spots, dogs are always injured. The conditions arising from the pet's ingestion of poisonous substances or foreign objects that caused a blockage in the airways would make an owner consider the true condition of the pet before treatment can be administered. An impalement injury will be easily noticed so that the dog owner will not wonder what accident happened to the pet.

Falling from heights is one of the most common cause of impalement injuries as the dog can be speared by a tree branch or a fence. A dog running with a stick in the mouth can be impaled as well if the end of the stick is shoved into the ground. Dogs have the inclination to roam and one that has trespassed and destroyed other people's property can be meet a sad fate from the arrow of an irate person.

An impalement injury can be serious enough to be the cause of the dog's death. Dogs are hardy animals and some minor impalement injuries would not really have serious effects on the pet. Serious or non-serious, an impalement injury would need a vet's attention. A dog owner may not think of bringing the pet to a vet if the small stick that has impaled the dog on the chest was removed. However, the condition of the dog may be more serious than it appears to be. The stick may have caused severe damage to an internal organ. Internal bleeding is another possible outcome of an impalement injury.

Professional medical attention must be given to the dog but before transporting the pet to a medical facility, first aid treatments must be administered to save the pet from a lot of pain.

Dogs in pain can turn aggressive and an impalement injury would certainly cause the dog immense pain. Muzzle the injured dog before administering first aid treatment. The foreign body that was stuck into the dog must not be removed. The owner has to calm the dog so that movement of the dog and the foreign object will be minimized. Moving the foreign object stuck into the dog could cause more internal damage. However, if the life of the pet is in grave danger as when it was impaled on the steel bar of a fence, there will be no other choice but to separate the pet from the stationary object. Once the pet was removed from the stationary object, first aid measures to control the bleeding must be administered while the pet is being transported to the hospital.




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