Your four-legged pet is sick or injured, but there is no way to deliver him to a veterinary clinic?
Given the likelihood of such a situation, you need to learn how to provide first aid to your friend. Healing a wound, applying a splint and even administering a medication by injection are necessary measures to save your pet’s life. You should know how to inject a dog intramuscularly.
What is it for?
Of course, you can understand that if in life you did not have to deal with medicine in practice, then at first glance this manipulation will seem complicated. In fact, there is nothing wrong with this, we will tell you everything in detail so that you yourself can make an intramuscular injection to the dog.
This skill will allow you to avoid unnecessary time and money spent on visiting the clinic in order to recover your pet. And gaining experience is an opportunity to earn on providing the same services to other owners of animals.
Fundamental rules
First you need to familiarize yourself with the preparation and conduct of this procedure. One of the first rules is the complete sterility of the needle and hands. Secondly, strict adherence to the prescribed dose of the drug is required. And thirdly, you need to find the right place on the body of the animal. Observing these points, you can correctly inject the dog intramuscularly.
For this procedure, the time after a walk is considered optimal when the animal is relaxed and wants to relax. Also pay attention to the fact that before or after a meal you need to carry out these manipulations (according to the doctor's prescriptions and instructions for the medicine).
Syringe selection
Now we will pay special attention to the choice of syringe for injection. Firstly, it must be sterile and properly selected. The main selection criterion is compliance with the patient's size.
An intramuscular injection in a dog of a small breed (from two to ten kilograms) is recommended to be made with an insulin syringe, but it is only suitable if the volume of the drug does not exceed one milliliter (you can’t get more into it). It is just a needle of suitable diameter and length. Therefore, using it, you do not have to control the depth of introduction into the soft tissue.
Large animals (more than 10 kilograms) will need syringes from two cubes or more, because they have muscle mass, the thickness of the skin and the fat layer will be larger, so the needle can be used, respectively, longer.
Drug preparation
There is also its own order. Therefore, to begin with, you should make sure that the name of the medication is fully consistent with the one prescribed by the veterinarian. Be sure to check the expiration date indicated on the package and read the instructions for use (some drugs must be shaken before use).
Many drugs for injection are stored in the refrigerator, so before injecting the dog intramuscularly, the drug must be heated to 36-38 degrees. Do not store open medicine and certainly do not reuse it! If there is a need for reusable use of a medicine from a vial, then it should be put into syringes of the required dosage and stored in the refrigerator, but not more than three days.
It is also necessary to remember that you can not mix different drugs without the advice of your doctor, this can lead to disastrous consequences. It is not necessary to carry out a disinfection procedure on the dog’s body before an injection, this is explained by the presence of a strong antibacterial layer on the skin of animals.
After familiarizing yourself with the order of the injection, we open the ampoule with the liquid, we type into the syringe. After this, it is necessary to expel the air, and also check the accuracy of the volume collected. Never touch the needle with your hands!
Suitable injection site
Having dealt with the choice of a syringe and the preparation of medications, it is worth talking about how to give the dog an injection intramuscularly. To begin with, it is advisable to understand the meaning of this word. It involves the administration of a drug into the soft tissues. A very good place on the dog’s body is the thigh and shoulder (more often doctors are advised to use the first).
First you need to find the right place so as not to harm the health of the animal. Gently use your fingers to feel the muscles on the hind paw of the dog between the tibia and hip bones, evaluate the proximity of their location and the thickness of the skin.
It is between them that the muscle is located - the most successful place for manipulations. An injection made in this place will bring less pain and discomfort to the patient. At the time of the procedure it is very important that the paws are relaxed, not tense. This will greatly facilitate the injection process. According to the same principle, an injection site is also selected on the front paw. Find a muscle, evaluate a suitable place.
For small dog breeds (not more than 10 kilograms), the needle is inserted into the soft tissues by no more than 0.6-1.5 centimeters, for large ones, from 1.2 to 3.5. Such limits are established for the purpose of safety and to exclude the possibility of a complete puncture of the musculature of the animal.
If the volume of the syringe does not allow you to dial the required amount of the drug, then you can replace it with a larger one, but at the same time leaving a suitable needle. Whatever place you choose on the body of your pet, you need to be very careful to take an injection so as not to hurt the nerve endings.
Step-by-step instruction
So, to make an intramuscular injection to a dog, first you need to wash your hands thoroughly. Prepare a suitable syringe, fill it with medicine, which do not forget to warm up to the desired temperature. Then check the lack of air by lifting the syringe with the needle up and pressing the piston until drops come out of the needle.
Now, in order for the procedure to be painless and more beneficial, your pet needs to relax. Sit next to him, stroke, caress, scratch in your favorite place. The goal of all this is to relax the muscle chosen for injection.
Then it remains in one confident movement to insert the needle and carefully enter, pressing the piston, the drug. In this case, the syringe must immediately be taken correctly, so that it is convenient to make an injection.
Precautionary measures
Dogs, like people, are different, some endure medical manipulations in silence, others express their displeasure. Therefore, it is worthwhile to play it safe and invite someone to help. If the pet is behaving uneasily, runs away and completely refuses to administer the medicine, then it is worthwhile to use a little perseverance and strength, putting the animal on its side and fixing the muzzle and forepaws on the floor. At this time, the second of those present makes an intramuscular injection to the dog.
For pets of large breeds, it is not superfluous to wear a muzzle, because some drugs cause severe pain, and it is not known what the patient's reaction will be. Therefore, it is better to protect yourself and your assistant.
Decision is made
Having familiarized yourself with the information on how to inject a dog intramuscularly, you can decide for yourself whether you spend money and time on daily manipulations or conduct them yourself. The main thing is to remember that you are worried about your pet, you want to help him in a speedy recovery.