The Miami Herald

"Neighbors"
November 11, 2001

Saving Your Best Friend

First aid for pets is an informative way to help your best friend.

From CPR to diet supplanments, this class cover dog and cat needs.
By Annie Vazquez

            Taking a pet first-aid class is the best thing any cat or dog owner can do to make their pets’ lives safer.  It might even help save a pet’s life one day.

            I recently took a course offered by the American Red Cross, and I learned everything-from how to administer CPR to my dog to what are the best times to exercise him.

            Pet First-Aid is a four-hour class held monthly and it costs $30, including a course book.

            Dr. Robert Ferran  teaches the class using life-size cat and dog dummies.

            Ferran has been a veterinarian for 20 years and is also a certified acupuncturist for dogs and cats and an advocate of alternative medicine for animals.

            “I don’t want to sound mystical or anything,” Ferran said, “ but acupuncture has been used for thousands of years and it works.”

            Ferran said he has saved several dogs that were clinically dead by applying acupuncture to points located between the dog’s nose and mouth and on the soles of the hind feet.

            He showed us how to perform acupuncture- a form of acupuncture without using needles- on those points to revive a dog or to treat several dangerous conditions, such as shock, heat, exhaustion, stroke or a seizure.

            We practiced on ourselves and on our pet dummies.

            After learning how to approach and capture a sick animal and the best way to give a pet medicine, Ferran taught us how to administer CPR to an animal.

            “The first thing one has to do if they see their pet collapsed or not breathing, is feel for its pulse,” Ferran said.

            On a dog, the best place to feel for the pulse is the inner thigh.

            If the dog is not breathing, cup your hand, put it over the dog’s nose and breathe into his nose five times.  Then do five chest compressions.

            This process is continued until the dog has a heart beat and pulse.

            It was not complicated as I thought it would be.

            Another topic Ferran discussed was pet owners’ tendencies to leave dogs or cats in parked cars.

            Even is the windows are cracked, a pet can quickly suffer a heat stroke and die. 

            I admit I have done this and find it a very common practice among a lot of pet owners I know.

            I had no idea how life threatening it was.

            I won’t be doing it again.

            Food was another topic that interested the class.

            Ferran told us that broccoli, squash, and carrots are good vegetables to add to a dog’s diet.

            With cats, Ferran says a spoonful of pumpkin is a good addition.  It helps cats digest hairballs, which sometimes can become a serious blockage problem.

            Giving your pet healthy human food is also occasionally OK.

            For example, chicken would be fine to feed a dog- even if it would rather have candy.

            The class covered a variety of topics, from how to make a splint for your pet by using two tongue depressors and bandages to how to know if your pet is dehydrated.

            I learned a great deal in the four hours and I really enjoyed having Dr. Ferran as an instructor.  He is one of the funniest and most  down-to-earth vets I have ever met.

            To enroll in an American Red Cross pet first-aid class, call 305-644-1200.