Household supplies for Emergencies and First Aid Kit

Ridgetop

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Here are some of the hints that came out:
The mastitis tube trick for treating puncture wounds is one I got from Erick Conard who uses it in his Anatolians when they have a serious disagreement. Here is another one from my old vet, RIP. About 5 years ago my 30 year old mare fell down a gully while trying to reach green grass on the other side of a fence. She got up and walked up the road home, but had a deep puncture in her armpit. We thought we had found all her cuts and doctored them with iodine. Three days later she had a bad infection an we trailered her to the vet. She was in horse hospital for several days then they sent her home with instructions to hose off the area several times a day. I had a new vet come to the house to check her since it did not clear up, kept draining. He was an old guy, used to be a farrier, and taught me some good tricks which I have added to my list of emergency and cheap doctoring med kit.

He used an old Water Pic (yes, the dental thing) and had me fill it with diluted iodine wash then stick the nozzle in the hole which was 3-4 inches deep, and wash out the pus that kept forming. I had to do this 3 or 4 times a day. The first day we used a twitch but after a couple days she stood quiet while I crawled under her belly to work on her. A lot more work went into it but she healed up just fine. He also used an old coffee grinder to grind the antibiotics and Bute so I could drench her since she wouldn't take the whole dose in a mash.

Later another acquaintance told me that she had a horse run in on a stake and get a big puncture in her chest that wouldn't stop bleeding. She washed out the wound with disinfectant and packed the puncture with a tampon smeared with Neosporin till the vet could get out. He didn't want to sew up a puncture, so just put the horse on antibiotics. She kept doing the tampon thing to keep the wound from closing on the top and getting infection underneath till it started healing from the inside out. Horse healed fine.. I keep tampons and kotex pads in my emergency kit now since they work so well as thick absorbent pads for wounds. Also stock the kit with lots of vet wrap that I pick up whenever on sale.

So many household things you can use in an emergency - we also sewed up a ewe's prolapse with my grandmother's old curved carpet needle and dental floss.


From Donna R. Raybon: Hydro therapy is what my vet called it. Used the spray nozzle on the hose and several times a day hosed out the wound until I saw pink flesh. Managed a horse farm for several years and had a world of wounds to doctor mostly due to owner's grandchildren forgetting to shut doors/gates.

Another one was using a baby diaper as a 'wet to dry' bandage. Used the diaper as a pad, then vet wrapped it up. That was not on a puncture, but on large areas where proud flesh was a threat.
Badmitton or tennis racket for bumblebees that nest in hay. I love bees, understand their vital importance to our food supply. However, they are the very devil when defending their nest in hayloft. In early spring, use racket to wack and they never establish a nest. These are not 'wood bees' (which don't threaten to sting you .)

Electric coffee grinder that you can find for a couple dollars at thrift stores. Great for grinding meds, etc...

Electric tea kettle. Hot water at your finger tips as long as your barn has electricity. Again, a few dollars at thrift store.

Gas X tablets for bloat. Look for active ingredient of simithicone. In a pinch liquid fabric softener will work, too.

Stanley lock blade knife for trimming hoofs. You want the 'sheep's foot blade.) Available for about $10 at hardware stores. NEVER use a pocket knife without a locking blade!!! If blade folds up on you (and without a locking blade it will!) you get badly cut.

Baby monitor!! Oh how I loved mine during winter time kidding season!! I could lay in my warm bed and be awake in an instant when I heard that very distinctive 'I am in labor' grunt a doe gives.

Tums to treat/prevent milk fever.

GREAT IDEAS! :weee

I know all you have good stuff to contribute to this and we all can use it. Especially those of us without a good large animal vet who is knowledgeable about small stock. We usually doctor our own animals since who can afford a vet call for everything? Better if you can take care of the small stuff yourself. I try to save my vet $$ for the stuff I can't do.

Let us hear what you keep in your emergency medical kit and how you use it! :caf
 

Ridgetop

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Yay! Hopefully we can benefit from all the great ideas. I have surgical needles and thread in my kit but Super Glue (Thanks Earthmother) is a great idea and quiker. I can sew up cuts, but last time I had to do it my knots started coming apart immediately and my 11 year old son had to reknot them with fishing knots! I haven't had to sew anyone up since - I let DS do it! :clap
 

Latestarter

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There is also a product called liquid skin that you put on with a brush applicator or as a spray. Similar to crazy glue, but probably a bit less messy. If you're going to work with crazy glue, be sure to have some nail polish remover in case you get something stuck/glued somewhere it aint supposed to be stuck/glued o_O. Or pure acetone if you prefer as that's what actually releases the glue bond.
 

mystang89

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I'll be doing more reading and learning on this thread than contributing but I did want to say that if a livestock had an open wound, say from shearing, and you wanted to keep the flies from infesting the open area, petroleum jelly will do the job. I normally spray Blue Kote first and then put a generous helping of petroleum jelly on the wound. It'll last pretty much all day and keeps the pesky insects from bothering them.
 

Alibo

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I add some melted beeswax and garlic powder to the petroleum jelly to keep the flies off an open wound

Also garlic powder and oregano powder dusted onto thrush feet does the trick for us everytime

Raw honey for open wounds in winter will heal them right up and good for pink eye too
 

greybeard

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An interesting home cure for pinkeye.
the old timers told me baking soda and salt rub in there eye the salt will kill the germ and the soda boils it out..
......
I also had an old timer tell me he threw a handful of salt into the eye, never said anything about the soda though. I also had an old timer tell me to put powered clay in the eye.

:eek::(:barnie

The old timers should put it in their own eye first and see how they likes it..........

"A number of other treatments have been recommended for pinkeye treatment. Injection under the layer covering the eyeball has been documented to aid healing but must be done correctly or eye damage can occur. Since this is an extra-label use of an antibiotic it must only be done under the direction of the herd veterinarian.* Injection in or under the eyelid itself would be expected to give NO help in healing. Likewise milk injection has no documented benefit.
*this is no longer an accurate statement..it does sometimes (Draxxin and Nuflor) need to be prescribed, but the herder can administer it themselves..
 
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