Pawsh Dog Boutique and Back Bay Veterinary Clinic teamed up this week to present a Pet First Aid seminar for their clients and neighbors.
Beth
Waisburd, DVM used Pawsh's own spokesdog, Balki as her model. Nearly 40 dog lovers were in attendance. They learned the basics of caring for pets in an emergency.
(Below: Dr. Waisburd demonstrates how to find a pulse on a dog.)
Topics included, CPR, choking, bleeding, heatstroke, seizures and poisoning. Perhaps the most important lesson learned was what Dr. Waisburd called, "What you see is not what you get."
She described instance after instance, when a dog seemed fine right after an emergency but became desperately ill within a short time because of hidden injuries or systemic problems.
She said that most of the emergency procedures she described should be done on the way to a veterinary clinic or hospital. She urged anyone who does perform emergency first aid on a pet to contact a veterinary professional immediately to discuss follow-up care.
She followed her presentation with a very lively question and answer session. People asked about tick removal, deodorizing a skunked dog, itchy dogs, first aid supplies to have on hand and how to avoid some of the common contagious canine diseases and parasites.
Hosting the session, in their Gloucester Street shop were Nancy and Mike Maida and their Boston Terrier Balki. Mike said, "We had a great turnout for the event and Dr. Waisburd provided some very helpful first aid tips. We hope to have more events like this in the future and continue to be a valuable neighborhood resource."
I agree with Mike. We all learned quite a bit. In fact, we'll be inviting Dr Waisburd to repeat some of her best tips in upcoming "Sunday Dog" pieces.
We'd also like to know how many of our readers would be interested in attending a 4-hour course to become certified in Pet First Aid. Leave a comment or click the "email me" button to let me know if you might want to take a course this fall. If there is enough interest we'll work with Pawsh to organize it.
Details:
Pawsh Dog Boutique & Salon
31 Gloucester Street, Boston MA
Back Bay Veterinary Clinic
324 B Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02115
