In my Pet First Aid 4U classes, I alert my students who are pet professionals and pet parents that they need one valuable item to protect their pets:  a well-stocked pet first aid kit.  This kit can help you respond to minor injuries, stabilize your dog or cat while arranging veterinary care, and avoid wasting precious time during an emergency.

I highly recommend that you keep a pet first aid kit at home plus another in your vehicle.

Our dogs and cats can’t tell us when something is seriously wrong. They depend on us to recognize changes in their behavior, appearance and breathing that may signal a medical emergency. As I teach students in my pet first aid classes, knowing what to watch for can help you act quickly — and potentially save your pet’s life.

Let me run down 10 situations that signal a pet emergency and your need to seek immediate veterinary care:

In the past few years, I have taught Pet First Aid 4U classes to students living in New Zealand, South Africa, Egypt, Greece, Canada and most of European countries without ever packing a suitcase or catching a flight.

How? Easy, through ZOOM.  When COVID pandemic struck, ZOOM soared in use by educators, business leaders and others to communicate needed information to their audiences.

Everyone of all ages in all places relies on the Internet these days.  We search for all kinds of things on our phones, tablets and laptops. Now with the emergence of AI, info searches are blazing fast and more comprehensive.

As founder of Pet First Aid 4U, I have been conducting veterinarian-approved courses since 2011.  From day one, every single class has featured a real dog and a real cat as my teaching assistants. For years, I relied on word-of-mouth, my website and social media posts to spotlight my pet first aid/CPR classes.

I adopted Nova 6 Toes about a year ago from the East Lake Pet Orphanage in Dallas. I fell in love with everything about her: the quiet way she surveys her surroundings, the fact she has 20 different dog breeds, her ability to learn quickly and her respect for cats. She has become a welcomed addition to our Pet First Aid 4U teaching team that includes Pet Safety Dog Kona and Pet Safety Cat Casey.

The one challenge?  Nova 6 Toes sports two extra nails on each back paw and her nails are black and long.

‍Pet microchips are only the size of a grain of rice, but the identification information packed in those chips could greatly increase the chances of you reuniting you with your lost pet.

‍As America’s Pet Health and Safety Coach, I am always teaching pet parents and pet professionals ways to keep their pets healthy and safe in my Pet First Aid 4U and pet behavior classes. Topping the list: microchips.

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Because cats are both prey and predator, they do their best to disguise any weakness, including in their health to keep themselves safe.  They are naturally skilled hunters who do their best to avoid being hunted even by perceived threats.

That’s why in my Pet First Aid 4U classes, I educate my students about the need to be a cat detective. Yes, a cat detective.

This is a very personal blog post for me as it took me a year to find this very special dog.

Let me unleash the tale that is Nova 6 Toes. Realizing that my Pet Safety Dog Kona is now 11, I knew I would need to find a dog who would want to be my teaching assistant in my Pet First Aid 4U classes as well as my pet behavior presentations that I give in person and via interactive ZOOM to pet parents and pet professionals.

We often admire our dogs for their athleticism, speed and agile moves.  But here’s the reality check: Dogs are not invincible to serious leg injuries.

In fact, up to 85 percent of all knee and orthopedic issues in dogs are cruciate ligament damage, according to veterinarians.  I found out that directly when my terrier mix Kona, better known globally as Pet Safety Dog Kona, greeted me one recent morning with a limp and the desire to not put any weight on her back right leg.

What’s better than getting away for even a few days by heading to a campsite in a RV? Why, that’s easy:  inviting your well-mannered dog (or dogs) to join you.

We recently rented a 25-foot RV and headed to the nearby Cedar Hills State Park outside of Dallas.  By we, I mean my wife, Julie and our three dogs:  Kona, Emma and Nova 6 Toes.

It marked the first time any of our dogs had stepped a paw into an RV.

When busy bees and curious dogs meet, it is often Bees 1, Dogs 0.  Chances are that your dog gets stung on the muzzle or nose – ouch!

Let’s not forget our cats.  Even your curious indoor-only cat can get stung on the paw while pursuing a wayward bee that slips into your home.

If your pet gets stung and breathing normally, do the following:

Love taking your dog on walks? It’s a great time to bond. It is also a time for your dog to explore with his nose, eyes and ears.

Your main job is to keep your dog safe on those walks. You know how to watch out for other dogs, traffic and coyotes. But you also need to steer your dog from puddles and wet that can harbor hidden dangers that can wreak havoc on your dog’s health.

Welcome to Spring and for many, that means ambitious gardening projects are underway.  Before going to the garden store, prioritize your dog's health and safety.  

Ensuring your yard is dog-safe starts with the mulch you select for your garden beds.  All mulch is not the same. Some can be downright dangerous – even deadly – if swallowed by a curious dog.

Unfortunately, our dogs and cats can’t tell us if they don’t feel well. But one quick way to assess your pet’s health is to look at the color of the gums. Healthy gums are bubblegum pink. If the gums are not that color, that signals something is not normal.

Yep, gums can change to red, blue, yellow and off white. What color means what?

In my pet first aid and CPR classes, I inspire my students to be their pets’ best health allies by becoming what I call pet poopologists.  Yep, the color, look and smell of poop from your dog or cat can serve as important signals to your pet’s overall health.

Bottom line: poop matters. It may surprise you to learn that veterinarians score the quality of your pet’s poop on a scale of 1 to 7.

In my pet first aid and CPR classes, I love teaching people how to be their pets’ best health allies by showing them how to do weekly head-to-tail wellness checks. We perform them on Pet Safety Dog Kona and Pet Safety Cat Casey.

Here are the three key benefits:

·         These one-on-one sessions give you the opportunity to bond with your pet without any outside distractions or disruptions.

·         You may discover healthy issues……..

When a cat under your care starts choking, it is vital to use your eyes and your ears so you can time when to render pet first aid.

Choking actions and sounds differ from that of a cat experiencing a hairball. A cat will tend to shrug his shoulders and make quick gulp sounds before opening his mouth and releasing a hair-filled hairball.

In households occupied by dogs and cats, there should be a no-dog zone for safety reasons. The area, of course, is where litter boxes are located. This area needs to be off-limits to dogs at all times.

Cats need and deserve to urinate and poop in litter boxes that are in safe, private locations. They don’t want to worry about a dog in the home accessing that area in an attempt to raid the litter box for a stinky piece of poop.

Yep, I said it. Poop.

Like to cook? Enjoy trying new foods? Before you consider sharing anything edible with your dog or cat, do a safety check.

Some items we may love to consume can cause digestive upset – or even death in your pet. As the founder of Pet First Aid 4U, I make it my mission to educate my students on ways to avoid accidental poisoning in their dogs and cats.

Thousands of dogs go missing from their homes every day. It happens in every state. And thousands of panic-filled pet parents search neighborhoods and animal shelters, create lost dog posters, and check in with neighborhood apps like Next Door to try to find their missing pets.

But do you what to do if you spot a free-roaming dog who definitely appears lost? As America’s Pet Health and Safety Coach, I am all about playing it safe.