Essential Travel First Aid Kit For Your Dog

We love taking our dogs with us when we travel. We’ve had several great adventure holidays in our motorhome with our dogs. When it comes to packing for our dogs, I always ensure their holiday bag includes a travel first aid kit for dogs. If you’re a dog owner and hadn’t considered this before, then let me share with you why I think it’s important and what should be in a Travel First Aid Kit For Your Dog.

Do I Need A Dog First Aid Kit?

You wouldn’t think about going on holiday without a basic hooman first aid kit, such as plasters, bandages, headache (or hangover 🙂 ) tablets etc. So it makes sense to have a travel first aid kit for your dog too. You never know what’ll happen when you go exploring with your dog.

Our working cocker spaniels are high energy dogs and when possible we let them off-lead to go explore, sniff and run around. Ultimately, we want them to burn off their energy so that they sleep all evening in the van and not bounce all over us whilst we’re trying to watch Netflix!

If you’re a dog owner then I’m sure you’ve had to deal with minor incidents whilst out on a walk. Thankfully, so far all we’ve had to deal with are spiky or sticky things such as:

spiky branch stuck to the tail – Coco regularly collects trees with her tail 🙂
sticky balls – they get bloody everywhere don’t they?
thorn in the paw – sadly glass is also high risk in towns and cities
bee stings – well they will stick their noses everywhere! I don’t blame the bee really.
ticks – hard to avoid when playing in forests, which we love to do

So, as someone who’s often removing foreign objects from my dogs, it’s handy to have a travel first aid kit for dogs with me. That way I’m able to help with minor issues such as thorns, cuts or sore paws. I tend to delegate tick removal duties to my husband Dave as they creep me out, and he’s a dab hand and using the twister tool now 🙂

Of course, a first aid kit for dogs isn’t just handy on road trips and camping holidays. Having a first aid kit for dogs at home is also a sensible idea. Your dog could easily have a mishap on a local walk in the park or just playing in the garden.

Please Note: I’m not a medical professional / vet, I’m simply a dog owner and dog lover like you. So if your dog has a serious accident then please seek professional vet advice and treatment.

That said, you may find yourself in a situation where you can’t get to a vet, so you may need to provide basic first aid to help your dog until you can get them to a nearby vet practice. That’s why it’s a good idea to have a basic first aid kit for dogs with you on holidays as well as at home ready for any emergency.

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What Should Be In A First Aid Kit For Dogs?

Make Your Own Dog First Aid Kit:

Bandages
Blunt-ended scissors
Tweezers – useful for removing objects from paws such as thorns
Tick twister – we often have to use one of these in summer to remove ticks when travelling as our dogs love to explore in forest
Wound dressing
Self-adhesive tape – dog friendly so as not to stick to fur
Antiseptic wipes
Syringe – this has been a life saver with my dogs when they have had a sickness bug and refuse to eat or drink. Regular water intake is essential until you can take them to the vet.
Saline wound wash
Soft muzzle – your dog may bite during times of stress so protect yourself when trying to help them during an incident
Cotton pads/balls/tips – to clean sensitive areas such as paws, eyes
Antihistamine tablets – for bee and wasp stings and allergic reactions – make sure they’re dog friendly
Paw balm – for sore / cracked paws, handy in both summer and winter harsh conditions
Antiseptic cream – I take a small tub of Sudocrem which can be used in small quantities on dogs in an emergency
Travel sickness tablets – Coco had terrible travel sickness as a pup so we keep these in our first aid kit for our dogs

It’s also worth adding a copy of your dogs vaccination card and any medication they regularly have incase you need to share this with a vet in an emergency.

What about a Ready Made Dog First Aid Kit?

If you’d prefer to buy a ready made first aid kit for dogs then I’d highly recommend:

Ordnance Survey Dog First Aid Kit

This is a great travel first aid kit for dogs, especially big explorers like our dogs. That said, this ready made first aid kit for dogs is also perfect to pop in the cupboard at home.

You Might Also Like:

While you’re checking out the Ordnance Survey dog first aid kit, have a look at the:

Camping First Aid Kit – If you don’t have a ‘hooman’ first aid kit then this bright zip-up bag is full of the essential first aid kit items for you and your family. A great option to leave in your motorhome or camper van for your next adventure.

Where To Find More Information

Travel Tip: Remember to check your dog first aid kit for expiry dates before each road trip or holiday. Always replace anything you use as soon as possible so that your dog’s first aid kit is ready to go in an emergency.

I hope you’ve found this article on essential travel first aid kit for your dog useful.

Happy and safe travelling. xxx