So now, I'm going to demonstrate how to apply a basic wrap
or bandage to our animal.
Applying a bandage should always be done with approval
from your veterinarian.
So if you feel that your dog has a wound
or maybe has hurt their leg and needs a bandage applied to it,
then call your veterinarian, discuss the situation
with them, and if they are comfortable with you doing it,
then you can go ahead and apply your own bandage.
Now, I think it's very important to know
how to apply your own bandage, because our animals seem
to always get into weird situations
where they end up hurting themselves.
And so it's just a nice basic wound that's
not very deep, not very big.
Doesn't need stitches.
Can just have a basic bandage applied to it.
So we're going to pretend that my dog has a wound right here.
Even though he does not right now, we're going to pretend.
He just has a nice small wound on this leg,
and I'm going to demonstrate some wrapping procedures.
So first, I want to make sure that I don't
have a ton of hair in the way.
Now, I would normally shave this dog's leg
if the wound was bad enough.
That would also allow me to evaluate how bad the wound is.
So I would just get a nice little pair of clippers
and clip all of that off.
So again, this dog is very comfortable with me
and he is not going to be moving while we're doing this.
So after I have clipped, I want to clean it very well.
So this is the iodine pad that I talked about.
It's just a nice little scrub material.
It doesn't cause any pain to your dog.
You want to make sure to never apply alcohol to a wound
because that stings and your dog will not like it.
You also do not want to apply hydrogen peroxide to a wound,
because as much as we hear that it helps
to clean wounds it also kills all the surrounding cells
with help which prevents the wound from healing properly.
So I scrub up the area really good.
I'll scrub it, scrub it.
I like to scrub for about 30 seconds
to make sure I'm getting it clean.
Maybe flip to the other side, continue scrubbing.
When I feel that I have sufficiently scrubbed,
then I just get some nice clean water
and just wipe some of that iodine off.
It's OK if you leave some of it on, but I just like-- stay.
I just like to wipe the bulk of it off.
Now, once I have completed that, then
I get some of my antibiotic ointment
and apply just a little bit of that right over the wound.
Now you notice that I have everything
prepared before I start.
It's very important to have everything prepared before you
start the procedure, because our animals are probably
going to be moving around.
They're not going to enjoy this procedure,
and so it's important to have everything prepared.
So as you notice, this non-stick pad is kind of large
and I don't have a very big wound area.
So I'm going to cut it down just to the size that I need.
I don't need it any larger than the size that I need.
So I just cut this down a little bit to about that size,
and then I apply it over the wound.
Next, I'm going to apply my bandage material.
I start with my padding.
As I said, this just helps to pad the wound
from any impaction.
So when we're applying something that is rolled on,
I don't want to apply it this way,
because it's difficult to roll to the inside of a dog.
Instead, I want to apply it to the outside, where
it's very easy to roll on.
Some of the most important things
to consider when imply when applying a wrap
is to make sure that we're not putting it too tightly.
If you apply a wrap too tightly, you can cut off circulation
to your dog and you'll notice that you'll
have some swelling in the lower part of the wrap so
in their toes and their foot or above the wrap.
If you've applied a wrap and you notice that,
be sure to take the wrap off and reapply it a little bit more
loosely.
So again, I'm just going to start in a position
and I'm going to roll.
Now, this takes practice making sure
that you're putting it on correctly,
but something that I always like to do
is I just keep firm pressure but I don't pull it tight.
If I'm pulling it super tight with a lot of strength,
then that's going to be too tight on my animal.
Instead, I'm just gently rolling it around,
making sure that I have some taunt pressure in it.
Now, you probably notice that I'm going
above and around the wound.
I feel that that's very important
that we're covering an area all the way around the wound.
It helps to ensure that your bandage is staying on
and that it has some proper area coverage.
It also helps to ensure that you're getting some good grips.
So we want to make sure that we have
some area above and below the bandage
to apply some of this vet wrap to help prevent it
from falling down.
So his elbow's up here, his knee's right here,
or his wrist's right here, and I'm just
going to go right above his wrist and right
below his elbow.
Now, if this were applied to the back leg over here
on the back leg, then I would want always
want to make sure to go above.
This is called there hawk.
This part that bends is called there
hawk, and I would always go above that.
Legs are very high motion area, and so we
want to make sure that we're prepared for that motion
and that our wrap doesn't fall off.
If you put the wrap too loosely, then it is likely to fall off.
So once I feel I have a sufficient amount
of bandage material on there, you
don't need to use the whole roll unless maybe you're
wrapping the entire dog's leg and then I
push it down a little bit.
Next, I'm going to apply my gauze,
and I'm going to apply it in the same manner.
So I want to make sure I'm not rolling to the inside,
instead, I'm rolling to the outside,
and I just apply that over the entire area
that I have put my padding.
And again, I'm pulling it a little bit tight,
but not stretching it as tight as it'll go.
Instead, I'm just gently letting it roll along
as it would like to as I'm going along the dog's leg.
And again, you don't need a ton of this.
You just need enough to do about two layers over your wrap
material.
So next, I'm going to show you how to apply vet wrap.
So vet wrap is very sticky material.
As you can see, it sticks.
It sticks to itself, and because it does that,
it takes a little bit of work to pull it off.
So something I like to do before I apply a bandage is I
like to unroll my vet wrap, because that
helps keep me from accidentally putting the vet rep on
too tightly.
So I'll unroll a section and then just gently
roll it back up so it's not tight anymore
and it's not sticking to itself anymore.
And I'm going to apply the same way that I applied the last two
materials.
So I'm going to wrap to the inside.
I'm going to wrap the whole area.
Now, I'm going to go up above where
I have my padding and my gauze, making sure
that I'm not catching any of the dog's extra hair in the way.
So this dog has a lot of hair, and I
want to make sure not to catch it in his wrap otherwise
it's going to be very uncomfortable for him.
So I'm just applying it.
Take care not to leave little bumps in your bandage material.
As you're doing this, I'm going to go down below,
and because this wasn't a bad wound,
I'm not going to go over my dog's wrist or his elbow,
because I do not want to limit his mobility too much.
If this were a worse wound or perhaps he
was he had injured his leg to where it was just painful,
I would probably try to wrap all the way down as to prevent him
from bending his leg.
But where it's just right up here,
right in between our two joints, then I'm
not very worried about that.
So then I just make sure to squeeze it all on.
This also allows me to feel my wrap.
I like to feel a little bit of give when I squeeze it,
because that means that I didn't apply it too tight.
If I don't feel any give when I squeeze it,
then I definitely applied it to tight and I need to reapply.
So those are the basics on how to apply
a basic bandage to your animal.
Again, this should only be done with your veterinarian's
consent and after you have discussed the issue with them.