First Aid Kit for your Guinea Pig

Thursday, June 18th, 2009 at 9:54 am

Just as you have a first aid kit in your home, and hopefully in your automobile, to help deal with minor emergencies that can happen occur with you and your folks, you need to also consider the sudden wants of your guinea pig and either buy or create a guinea pig first aid kit, which commercially are called Cavy Kits.

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A correct cavy kit will contain numerous items meant to help you and your guinea pig thru emergencies. Guinea pigs basically can hurt themselves reasonably simple, but it usually is insignificant, and with correct care, should heal fast.

Your cavy first aid kit should contain a bottle of sterile eye wash. This is helpful for removing waste from the eyes, and you may find that you use this more often than you might imagine. This is one item that is often overlooked when putting together a first aid kit. Benebac is also overlooked, but highly useful, in case your guinea pig ever has issues with digestion.

Because guinea pigs truly rely on vitamin C for survival, you must keep sample packs of substances that are appropriate for guinea pigs, which contain vitamin C. One such product is Oxbow, which has 50mg of vitamin C. Oxbow also offers sample packs for vital care, which can be hand fed to your guinea pig. Electrolyte mix is also something you should think about, in case your guinea pig becomes dehydrated. You might imagine that you’re taking fantastic care of your guinea pig, and that such things are not needed in a first aid kit, but you’ll have them, should the need for them ever arise.

A common guinea pig injury occurs when you clip his nails too near to the fast. This will quickly lead to infections, and it needs to be treated right away with an antiseptic. This isn’t straightforward to apply on guinea pigs, but if you employ a Styptic Pencil, you will the trick nicely. You must also have a good supply of sterile gauze pads to cover any wounds. Include Telfa pads as well. Other good selections include iodine pads and sterile wipes.

Because this is a first aid kit for an animal, and not for humans, you need to include vet wrap in your first aid kit. This is glorious for protecting wounds on animals. If you aren’t sure where to find vet wraps, look at your local pet store, or ask your veterinarian to order some for you.

Go to your local pharmacy, and purchase many syringes of different sizes. These make administering oral medications easier, in most situations, and can even be used to get water into your guinea pig if he starts to become too unwell to drink on his own.

Other items that you must include in your first aid kit include rubber gloves ( not latex ), cotton swabs, and contact information for your vet. Your veterinarian may even be able to supply you some basic first aid instructions that you can keep in your kit. As you use items in your first aid kit, make sure that you replace them as quickly as possible.

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Tagged with: First Aid • Guinea Pig • Kit • petcare • Pets