Health Manual for Pet Lovers

Main Category: Veterinary
Article Date: 08 Aug 2005 - 0:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

Homes with pets should not be without "Pet First Aid," a guide from the American Red Cross to preventing, preparing for and responding to emergencies involving four-legged furry loved ones. "Pet First Aid" explains emergency care procedures for cats and dogs in simple terms. Written by Bobbie Mammato, DVM, MPH, it runs just over one hundred pages, features more than 130 illustrations and offers step-by-step directions for topics from administering medication to administering CPR and rescue breathing. The book retails for $12.95 and is available at local Red Cross chapters or through the organization's online store at www.redcross.org.

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, almost 38 million households had a dog and a little over 33 million had a cat in 2002. "We know pet owners enjoy a very special bond with their pets-they're a part of the family," says Scott Conner, vice president of American Red Cross Products and Health and Safety Services. "We're here and committed to helping save lives-training some 12 million people each year in courses like First Aid/CPR for adults, children and infants. The pet first aid manual meets an important need of those we serve. In addition to being a novel resource, it is another lifesaving resource that supports the Red Cross mission of keeping families healthy and safe."

Guidance from "Pet First Aid" includes:

* Pay attention to what is normal for your pet so you can detect signals when something is wrong.

* Dogs who hang their heads out of car windows can be injured by flying debris. Keep your pet safely inside any moving vehicle and never transport your pet in the back of an open pickup truck.

* Keep contact information of your veterinarian, 24-hour veterinary emergency hospital, National Animal Poison Control Center and animal shelter or animal care and control agency readily available.

"Pet First Aid" is a must-have for pet lovers and a perfect addition to home reference libraries. A list of select Red Cross chapters offering pet first aid courses.

The American Red Cross is where people mobilize to help their neighbors-across the street, across the country and across the world-in emergencies.

Each year, in communities large and small, victims of some 70,000 disasters turn to neighbors familiar and new-the nearly 1 million volunteers and 35,000 employees of the Red Cross. Through almost 900 locally supported chapters, more than 15 million people gain the skills they need to prepare for and respond to emergencies in their homes, communities and world.

Some 4 million people give blood-the gift of life-through the Red Cross, making it the largest supplier of blood and blood products in the United States. The Red Cross helps thousands of U.S. service members separated from their families by military duty stay connected.

As part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, a global network of 181 national societies, the Red Cross helps restore hope and dignity to the world's most vulnerable people. An average of 91 cents of every dollar the Red Cross spends is invested in humanitarian services and programs.

The Red Cross is not a government agency; it relies on donations of time, money, and blood to do its work. Marsha J. Evans is the President and CEO of the American Red Cross.

American Red Cross

• Additional
• References
• Citations