First Aid For My Hounds... and anyone else who might be in need!

For those who don't actually know me... I am a devoted mama to two of the sweetest-souled, retired racing Greyhounds named Day and Play; two boys who have completely overtaken my world and overfilled my heart! Yep... I'm the crazy Greyhound mama most people make fun of and the rest are thoroughly annoyed by.

Matchy-matchy... I make no apologies!

For anyone who may not be aware, Greyhounds are as delicate as they are strong. Their incredibly capable bodies containing massive amounts of muscle and strength leading to their unbelievable feats of speed is covered by a tissue-paper delicate layer of skin and fine hair that offers next to no protection against everyday elements that other dogs and their humans may sometimes take for granted. With no fat layer or undercoat to help their bodies keep to a healthy temperature my boys can overheat or overchill in a flash and skin tears are a constant threat even just in regular, innocent pup-playtime... one playful nip can mean stitches or staples and weeks, even months, of healing. It was the beginning of winter when we adopted Day and were devastated when out on a walk he brushed his leg (just barely slightly) against a snowbank, tearing his leg where it had touched the snow between his boot and jacket. He ended up needing surgery leaving him with five visible skin sutures, fifteen dissolving stitches inside his leg and almost a full month of healing because his thin skin had a difficult time knitting properly together. We had to lay low for his healing time but the day we were given the okay to get back to having walks... we were prepared.

Full-body snowsuit over boots and under jacket... no more snow-cut-leg chances for this boy!

Not only did we now have full outerwear protection but I also set to making a small first aid kit to carry with us on walks and car trips thereafter and wanted to share our grab'n'never-go-without supply list as a starting point for others who might be interested in following suit.

Listed below is our sparse but effective first aid kit... small and easy to carry but a HUGE help when necessary. My hope is that it will spark others to walk/travel prepared. Being set with even just the bare basics can make all the difference in an unfortunate situation. This is what works for us but you may find there are other supplies that will suit your own needs better; the possibilities are as endless as they are personal preference! It is ALWAYS a safe idea to talk with your Veterinarian about what you include in your own kit, which is exactly what I have done.

Here is our list:

Cell phone - I only JUST broke down and got one... solely for emergency purposes.

Emergency Contact Information - Vet's Office, Nurses Registry, Pharmacy, next of kin, etc.

Nail kit with Tweezers - My boys both wear summer hiking shoes or winter boots when we walk but tweezers are helpful for removal of foreign objects that might get stuck in paw pads of barepawed-walking pups. We have also had to use the tweezers to remove ticks so thay are always a must in our kit... These items  are always kept in the front pouch of our kit but I forgot to pull them out for their photo opportunity.

*For accidental cuts and scrapes we have with us  and use in the following order:

Peroxide with cotton balls - To gently clean the area... either gently dab with a peroxide soaked cotton ball or, if necessary, pour a little peroxide to flush out any debris and clean. Allow to dry before continuing. 

Vitamin e cream with NON-STICK gauze pads (in varying sizes) - For fresh injuries that require wrapping, I press a generous amount of the vitamin e cream straight onto an appropriately sized guaze pad before placing it over the injured area.

Gauze rolls (stretchy-stick-to-itself type) - Gently holding the pad in place warp loose enough to not cut off circulation but firmly enough to hold the pad in place.

Self-adhering Pet Wrap - Finally, cover all your careful work with an outer protective covering of pet wrap, again as with the gauze rolls... loosely enough to allow proper circulation but firmly enough to hold without slippage. I am one who constantly feels paws time and time again for temperature-change indications; if all paws feel the same temperature, then all is probably well... wrap-wise anyhow.

A pair of socks - Greyhounds have really long and skinny legs so, for us, I always keep a new pair of prewashed knee socks on hand and use the scissors (listed below) to cut them to whatever length is needed when needed. I sometimes will put a sock covering on top of the whole (above described) wrapping just to help keep it drier if we happen to have been walking on a wet day, securing it with a simple round of the pet wrap both top and bottom. More often I just secure a sock over creamed leg scrapes that are almost healed to keep it covered but to let it get air and protect from the natural pup urge to lick at the healing site. Whatever sizes/types of socks you think will work best for your own pup; it's always a good idea to have some at the ready.

Blunt-end first aid scissors - Sometimes, if you've had or chosen to use tape instead of the self-adhering wraps it can be easier to cut through the first layer of wrapping when needing to redress a wound.

Antihistamine - I depend on Benadryl because it is what our Vet prescribed... **be sure and talk with your own Vet about what will work best for your own pup!** It's good to have one on hand in case of sudden allergic reaction to bug bites or anything that can cause a sudden onset of allergic-type symptoms. I have had to use one on a walk but I first called my Vet, using my emergency contact information to explain what was happening with a rapidly swelling bite and the pill worked to quickly counter the bite.

Our travel-sized first aid kit

Healing is always easier with company... brotherly love!

Still cloggin' on...

Think waaayyyyy back. What's the first thing you remember loving? The very first tangible THING, the one that meant the whole, entire world to you; what was it? Do you remember? Do you still have it? Does it still make you feel?

For me, that first thing was a little pair of pink clogs made of thick but malleable plastic and green-apple stamped. Perfection in my eyes then, and even still. Ridiculous? Without doubt! But I love those little clogs like I love my family and I refuse to make any sort of apology for the fact.

There aren't many things I've kept from my childhood. I was always in such a hurry to grow up that I looked forward to every new phase and didn't feel the need to cling to things I now wish I had let myself love just a little longer. The few things I do still hold close are my childhood Holly Hobby quilt, the little record player I spent hours upon hours listening to my beloved Kenny Rogers songs over and over and over again on and then fell asleep to, when my mom would put on to quietly play,  good ol' Charlie Farquharson's Bible Stories For Children Of All Ages... and my clogs, I have my clogs.

I find it almost bizarre, how clearly I remember my life lived in these silly little clogs. I only have the slightest bits of memories from when I was little and even those memories come more in the form of feelings, emotions than in actual clear pictures of my past. But somehow, when I hold that small pair of pink, green-apple stamped clogs, the clarity is there. I feel the excitement of waking up in the morning, of rushing downstairs in my ruffly nightgown to slip my tiny tootsies inside my waiting clogs, of shuffling into the kitchen for breakfast while fighting to keep them on in their too heavy and to yet-too-big fit. I tripped in them, I fell in them, I danced in them, I loved them!

And I remember later on when they actually did fit me... perfectly. I remember that feeling, when they were that indescribeable part-of-my-body feeling, when we were one with each other. I could play on the floor sitting cross-legged and know that when I moved or stood or ran to play outside with my best friend Marky, the shoes would go easily with me. I didn't have to fight to keep them on and I far too easily took for granted that the fit of perfection would undoubtedly remain.

I also remember when denial came. I fought it. As hard as I could, I fought the change that had to come. I was that growing child who refused to admit it to herself. The shoes became painful, in more ways than the blisters and ingrown nails caused from forcing my growing feet into the now too small shoes every day. I was growing, my interests were changing and I had no regrets in leaving behind my dolls and carriages in exchange for Spirographs and Fashion Plates. But my regret of no longer fitting into the shoes I still loved more than anything, filled me with an upset that even now, thirty-six years later, can reduce me to sobbing tears.

I remember the very morning, as I sat on the living room floor to try one last time to force my feet into those worn old clogs I cried and cried and cried. I hated life at that moment. I'm sure, as with any young child, I had experienced diassapointment before that moment. Maybe I hadn't been allowed to stay up past my bedtime, maybe I hadn't been allowed to have choclate before breakfast or maybe I hadn't talked my parents into buying me a toy I had asked for while shopping. But this was different. This was disappointment on a level that changed me and took a little bit of magic away, leaving what seemed an unbearably unfair reality in its wake.

I was suddenly clogless... and cloglessness had just not been part of my plan.....

It was my mom, who over the long years that followed, had saved those little pink, green-apple stamped clogs for me and when she gave them to me, for the second time, I felt that same excitement I had felt the first time I had seen those beautifully ugly clogs. And though I can only hold them in my hands now, when I do, I can still feel every emotion from thrilled with the new, to crushed with the loss along with every feeling that filled the in-between. The one thing I don't feel any longer is regret... because I know now; it's not that they no longer fit, it's just that now they fit differently.

I'm still holdin' on.....

So, what is it? What's your reminder? What's that one thing that can still, after years of growth and change, make you feel?