Here is a breakdown on the contents of a pig hunters dog first aid kit.


Carry bag, pretty self explanatory.


Scalpel blades or you can use razor blades, handy for trimming bits of tissue hanging by a thread, also good for shaving wound edges prior to closure after wetting hair.


Isotonic saline. The best type of liqiuid for cleaning muddy and dirty wounds, also good for flushing eyes when sterile. This is a flexipac, to use in the field snip a corner off with scissors and tip out.
The odd pig hunter in the tropics knows how to rig these intravenously to treat for heat exhaustion but that takes training and a bit more gear.


Wound dressing, good to apply after cleaning the wound, helps to soak up and "wick away" ooze from an open wound, put over exposed tissue prior to applying a bandage.


Swabs - similar to wound dressings, good to pack in to open wounds to apply pressure before bandaging. Best not to pack in to an opened abdominal cavity if you can help it as they will be hard to find later.


Wound powder. Hated by vets as its messy as all hell but can help to reduce infection in an open wound, puff away! Iodine solution is harder to carry but a very good alternative (diluted 50/50 or even 1/10).


Clamps/haemostats. Clip on to large arteries. Head for the vet.


"Vetrap" or cohesive bandage. Sticks to itself but not to hair, loses stick with blood, very flexible. A great bandage to apply pressure, breathable.


Elastoplast bandage. Sticks to hair, slightly flexible, slightly breathable. A good bandage layer for anchoring a bandage in place and less easy for a dog to get teeth in to. Be careful of getting too tight if leaving on more than a few hours.


Stapler. Pull edges of skin together and staple every 0.5 to 1 cm. Good for closing long rips, if closing over dirty tissue (not recommended)or an open pocket, its advisable to still get it tidied by the vet who can clean it/place drains under anaesthetic. Shaving the hair on wound edges can give a cleaner and quicker healing time - dont leave hair under the skin.



Staple remover. Remove staples 14 days later, "crimp" staples in the middle and they should be removed pain free.


Scissors for trimming bandages, opening fluid bag, if boiled and sterile can be used to trim a wound.

Happy hunting.

I get to cheat and buy it through work (vet). Ive put this kit together so its fairly similar to those on the market though.

Ethos the wound powder - I was forced to use a vet that was not my regular vet last year for a good rip that my dog got. I had puffed it with wound powder. Now admittedly this vet is known locally as a real homo, and his reaction shouldn't have surprised me but it did - basically he claimed the wound powder was crap for 'messing up a nice clean wound' - your thoughts please.

Good link, I will grab one of those kits to add to what I have now.

Cheers

Hi Ethos, one product that i used to use was EMT gel, however no longer available in NZ. Do you know of a similar product? http://emtgel.com/
Cheers Martin

Can you put some photos up stevebro ?

I think the consensus is that makuka honey does have some mild antibacterial properties- I know of several dog and horse owners who use it and swear by it.

An alternative to manuka honey is a good high concentrate tea tree oil, the active properties in the oil are far more concentrated than the honey. However not all manuka honeys or tea tree oil are created equal - some have a higher medicinal rate than others.