Burns in dogs and cats: what to do in the first minutes

Not all burns are dealt with the same way. The first thing to understand is what caused them, because the first aid changes. A boiling liquid calls for a different response from a chemical product or an electric shock, and treating a chemical burn as if it were thermal can make it worse.

Faced with a heat burn, the aim of the first minutes is to remove residual heat from the skin and limit the extent of the damage, without adding further trauma. The central action is to cool the area with water, but with measure and care, because an animal left wet for a long time or too cold faces another risk, a drop in body temperature.

1. 1

   Make it safe and remove the source

   Switch off or move away what caused the burn and take the animal to a safe place. Your safety comes first: an injured, frightened animal may bite.

2. 2

   Cool with cool running water

   Run cool, not iced, water over the area for several minutes. You need cool water, not freezing, and you do not apply ice directly to the skin.

3. 3

   Avoid cooling the whole animal too much

   Cool the area, not the whole body. An animal left wet for a long time, especially if small or a puppy, risks hypothermia: dry the rest and keep it warm.

4. 4

   Cover the area without sticking

   Protect the injury with a clean, damp, non stick cloth. Do not apply cotton wool, which leaves residue, nor creams, oils, butter or home remedies.

5. 5

   Contact the vet at once

   Call the clinic describing what happened, the extent and the site. Follow the guidance and arrange safe transport.

Chemical and electrical burns have their own rules that set them apart from heat burns. In the chemical case the damage continues while the substance stays on the skin; in the electrical case the greatest danger is not always the visible injury but the effect on the heart and breathing, and there is a serious risk to the rescuer too.

• Chemical burn: protect your hands, then remove the substance. If it is a powder, brush it off dry before rinsing.
• Chemical burn: rinse at length with plenty of cool running water to wash the product away, avoiding it running onto healthy skin or into the eyes.
• Chemical burn: do not try to neutralise with other products, and take the substance's label with you for the vet.
• Electrical burn: before touching the animal cut the power at the source, otherwise the shock passes to you as well.
• Electrical burn: check breathing and consciousness, look for mouth injuries in puppies that have chewed a cable, and go to the vet at once.
• In all cases stop the animal licking the injured area during transport.

After the first minutes the aim is to get the animal to the vet in the best possible condition and to keep observing it, because some effects appear late. An extensive burn is not only a local skin problem: it can have general repercussions, which is why professional assessment should not be delayed even when the visible injury seems contained.

Prevention closes the loop. A large share of household burns is avoided with simple measures: keeping puppies away from and protecting electrical cables, keeping chemical products closed and out of reach, not leaving pans and boiling liquids at the edge of surfaces, checking the temperature of bath water and protecting the most exposed skin areas from the sun in predisposed animals. Reducing the opportunities is more effective than any first aid.