Monday, June 13, 2016

Cat & Dog First Aid Online Training Course & Giveaway

WAFFLES:  Hey Boss! Did you see my new lunchbox?



KATIE:  Waffles, this isn't a lunchbox. It's a first aid kit. For us apparently.

WAFFLES:  So does that mean there's no lunch inside? No snacks?



KATIE:  Not unless you enjoy a little Neosporin at lunchtime. 



WAFFLES:  Does that come in chicken flavor?


Cat & Dog First Aid Online Training Course
Recently the people at ProPetHero offered Glogirly an opportunity to take their new Cat and Dog First Aid Online Training Course. It's a comprehensive video-based course focused on what to do in the case of medical emergencies, including how to recognize problems, minimize injury and take action. It's not at all meant to replace emergency veterinary care, but rather helps to provide a roadmap of what to do quickly and immediately in the case of sudden accident, injury or illness before you even arrive at the veterinary clinic or hospital. 

It's often those first few steps that pet guardians take at home that can make a big difference in the outcome at the clinic.


About the Instructor
The course is taught by Dr. Bobbi Connor DVM. She specializes in small animal emergency medicine and is ACVECC board-certified in veterinary emergency and critical care. She loves animals and has a passion for educating others. Currently she practices and teaches at the University of Florida School of Veterinary Medicine.

Who Can Benefit from Taking the Course? 
  • Pet Guardians
  • Cat Sitters
  • Dog Walkers
  • Groomers
  • Pet Trainers
  • Anyone who works with cats or dogs

About the Course 
Dr. Bobbi is the primary developer of the course and has chosen specific first aid topics she's most frequently encountered in her own practice. 
  • Lessons are broken down into short, easy to understand videos. 
  • Each video features up-close demonstrations with real pets. 
  • Total course time includes 1 hour and 39 minutes of video training as well as knowledge reviews, a final test, remedial help and review of downloaded material.
  • Certification of Completion is provided.
  • The cost of the full course is $49.95 per trainee.
Curriculum Details
The course is divided into 7 sections, each containing between 4-12 individual training videos:
  1. Introduction, Preparation & Safety (4 videos)
  2. Knowing Your Pet (6 videos)
  3. Illness (12 videos) 
  4. Cardiovascular Emergencies (2 videos, including Cat & Dog CPR)
  5. Poisons, Envenomation & Allergies (8 videos)
  6. Respiratory Emergencies (4 videos)
  7. CPR (3 videos)

Because Life Matters - Sample Videos
ProPetHero's company motto is "Because Life Matters." They feel that should be a part of everything they do, including making it possible for people to access a skill that they might need without much getting in their way. They've made all of the introductory videos for the above mentioned sections available for free. In addition, if there's a video that someone who doesn't have access to the full course yet wants to view, like 'making a cat or dog vomit,' they can simply enter their email address to unlock any single video of their choice. This can only be done once, but can really help out in a time of need.




Downloads Provided with Course
  • New Kitten Checklist
  • New Puppy Checklist
  • Pet First Aid Student Manual
  • Pet First Aid Kit Checklist
  • Pet Disaster Preparedness Checklist


Glogirly's Experience with the Training:
In Her Own Words
"I wish I had seen these videos years ago. If I knew then what I do now, I would have been SO much more prepared for both minor injuries and illnesses as well as accidents and emergencies. These videos have really driven home the adage, "An ounce of preparedness is worth a pound of cure." 

The videos themselves are very well done. I love how they're broken up into bite size chunks and can be viewed at my own pace. Retaining knowledge is so much easier for me when I learn a little bit at a time. 

Dr. Bobbi is professional, compassionate and explains things in a way that's easy for someone like me, just a cat guardian who loves my furry family, to understand. Not only does she explain the hows and whys, she demonstrates with real pets. It's a much better way to learn than with just words or pictures. 

I haven't even finished all of the videos yet, but already feel so much more prepared in the event of an emergency. The videos have inspired me to put together a feline first aid kit for Katie & Waffles, a human first aid kit for me and Gloman and a disaster preparedness plan and kit for all of us."



It's Easy to Panic. 
We Know. 
We've Been There.
If you're a long time reader of our blog, you may remember that fateful Saturday a couple of years ago. Glogirly was getting ready for a friend's wedding. She was giving herself a last minute pedicure in the bathroom. Sitting on a stool with her foot up on the side of the tub, she was taking off her old polish. She hadn't noticed Waffles slip into the room and had no idea he was sitting right underneath her stool.

Then it happened.

A tiny drop of polish remover fell from her cotton ball and landed in Waffles' eye. He took off like a lightening bolt into the bedroom, rolling on the floor, pawing at his eye and making a scary exhaling/blowing kind of noise with his mouth and nose.

First aid kit? What first aid kit? 

She panicked. Trying to keep her head, she did the only thing she could think of. She grabbed Waffles, and ran down to the kitchen where Gloman was. She wrapped him in a towel, burrito style, and held his head still while Gloman flushed his eye with water from the kitchen faucet. In hindsight they should have used a sterile eye wash, but didn't have anything like that on hand and didn't even think of it either. After a few minutes of irrigating the eye, Glogirly called the vet to let them know she was on her way. 

Fortunately, the water had worked. The doctor said their quick action had saved his eye from any permanent damage. The whole ordeal was incredibly scary for Glogirly and her stress level only exacerbated poor Waffles' fear. 

If she'd been more prepared, she could have remained more calm. Both for Waffles and for her.

And for the record, she only paints her nails now behind a securely closed bathroom door. No cats allowed.


Our Own Feline First Aid Kit
✔︎ Emergency Contact Information
✔︎ Poison Control Hotline
✔︎ Gauze Squares
✔︎ Roll Gauze
✔︎ Cotton Swabs
✔︎ Elastic, Cohesive Wrap ('Vetrap')
✔︎ Bandage Scissors (blunt end)
✔︎ Cat Nail Clippers
✔︎ Styptic Powder
✔︎ Antimicrobial Ointment
✔︎ Sterile Saline Eye Wash
✔︎ Hydrogen Peroxide
✔︎ Isopropyl Alcohol
✔︎ Disposable Gloves
✔︎ Tweezer
✔︎ Towel or Blanket
✔︎ Cat Muzzle
✔︎ Mini Flashlight
✔︎ Reading Glasses


Most of these items can be easily found at your local pharmacy, Target or grocery store. The few pet-specific items like feline nail clippers, styptic powder and the cat muzzle were easiest for us to find online. The spare reading glasses and mini flashlight are something we thought would come in handy in the event you need to see something really close up and magnified.

Our cute little first aid case is just an ordinary first aid bag that we personalized with stick on MEOW letters.


Full Course Training Giveaway!
We're very excited to be able to offer two lucky GLOGIRLY readers a full training 'scholarship.' You'll receive a code to unlock the entire Cat and Dog First Aid Training Course, including all of the curriculum and downloadable materials we mentioned above. This giveaway is open worldwide.

This post is sponsored by ProPetHero and ProTrainings®. We are being compensated for helping create awareness about the new Cat and Dog First Aid Training Course. GLOGIRLY only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. ProPetHero is not responsible for the content of this article.

45 comments:

  1. Now that Basil is a therapy kitty, I'd like to know how to handle an injury or emergency when we're out working!

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  2. I would love to be prepared for an emergency!

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  3. This sounds really awesome, and thanks so much for the first aid kit tips! My human and I really should take one with us when we travel.

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  4. That's pawsome! It's something we all should have some training in.

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  5. Something I keep putting off... Great opportunity!

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  6. This is such a great idea! So many humans don't have the know-how to know what to do in case of an urgent situation.

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  7. I trained in first aid for humans many years ago but I really would like to learn animal first aid.
    As my vet is 20 minutes away by car, this would be invaluable!

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  8. Excellent post! We would like to know what steps can be taken at home until we can get to the vet.

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  9. Your post has really reminded me that I need to prepare for an emergency. The kit looks and video training look perfect.

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  10. what a great idea!! and a reasonable price too....

    we have a first aid kit now that mom has in the foster room. and as to panic, no amount of experience fixes that. a couple of year ago she came home and found a huge open wound on one of the fosters....not bleeding, but still. mom freaks out, calls the vet, and as she is grabbing her bag, she can't find the kitten (he wandered off - apparently not to concerned about his own condition). mom has learned however, when heading to the clinic, grab her bag, a drink and a book. :)

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  11. Awesome idea, I would love to be better prepared in emergency situations. I have to admit, there have been a few and I may have panicked just a bit.

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  12. This is a wonderful idea! Our mommy worries about emergencies so she'd like it for that. It's good to be prepared!

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  13. I would like to know everything I can do prior to making it to the vet. Being prepared is everything.

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    Replies
    1. Their Twitter is #ProPetHero (it is written in the blog post as #PetProHero)

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    2. Thank you so much for the heads up! We fixed the error. : )

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  14. This is such important information. We don't have a pet first aid kit, but this is something Mommy has been thinking a lot about. She's going to get working on putting one together for us.

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  15. That's great information ! As summer vacation is around the corner, Claire thinks of attending the online training. We would prefer that she attends a spelling class first, because she misspelled our email address entering the last item for the giveaway ! Purrs

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  16. I'd just like to be more prepared. You never know what life can bring you.

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  17. These videos sound great. I think the thing I would be most interested in is CPR.

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  18. This would be SO helpful! The mom would want to know how to handle injuries...like the time Wally got his tail smashed in the door or the time Ernie burned his paw pads on the stove.

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  19. Dat's pawsum. We got dat email, but didn't unnerstand it. Oh well, glad you found it helpful.

    Luv ya'

    Dezi

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  20. I have been lucky so far but with 6 in the house something is bound to happen.

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  21. I love that you have reading glasses in your kit. that is freakn awesome

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  22. Mommy is worried about insect bites. We likes to chase bees and wasp. Mommy says catching them might hurt, we don't see how they are so small.

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  23. These look like great things to know. Once you take the course, can you go view the videos again whenever you need to? TW is senile and will forget the next day what was in the video.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, the videos are available when you're logged in afterward.

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  24. Knowing CPR for pets wold be neat.

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  25. Knowing CPR for pets wold be neat.

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  26. Would lkve to know ow to ressuciate my cat!

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  27. Mum probably has all this stuff, not the muzzle! Cuz she is prepared in cases she needs to do first aid on herself!

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  28. This is an excellent idea! Especially now that we're back in NM with scorpions and other venomous inhabitants that occasionally sneak inside.

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  29. I would love to learn what to do if my cat is choking.

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  30. Wow! This would be soo useful for my Mommy! We don't have a car, so doing something right away in case of trouble would be so much safer than waiting for a ride!

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  31. Your reminding us of Waffles brush with drama brought it all back. Heavens he caused such a scare. I would love to learn more. If I don't win I sure as heck will be looking to invest in something if it impressed you.

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  32. This is something all pet parents need.

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  33. I'd like to know how to handle incidents that happen at home. This course sounds fabulous.

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  34. My vet clinic is open until 3:00 pm on Saturday, and until 7:00 pm two nights a week, but they make up for that by being closed on Thursday, and I often worry that Parker will get herself in trouble on a Thursday.

    And from what I know of my father and how he needs glasses, the Reading glasses in the first aid kit is a good idea.

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  35. I'm actually pretty well-versed with what to do with my dogs in the case of an emergency, but not so much with my cats. I basically need to learn most everything for taking care of them in an emergency.

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  36. After our latest episode with the Poison Control Hotline, Rufus, and some chocolate frosting, I think being better prepared is the way to go!
    xxoo
    Maggie

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  37. I have my Cat, Roxie, and 3 other cats that belong to my husband. Even though I am an RN I want to be sure i am doing the right thing for my furbabies!

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  38. Learning what products are safe to use for pet first aid, and what is not.

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  39. Years ago a glass fell of the counter and broke..my big guy Mr Chang was nearby and in turning to run his very long tail caught on a piece of the glass...it started to bleed profusely.. blood was flying everywhere but we managed to catch him..fortunately I did have human first aid training and knew to put pressure on bleeding until it stopped..I would love to know so much more as you never know what pets will get into...

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