Moving an injured animal without making it worse

If the accident happened on a road, the first thing to protect is not the animal but the scene: hazard lights on, vehicle clearly visible, people off the carriageway. An injured rescuer doubles the emergency and leaves the animal with nobody. Only then comes personal protection, which with an animal in pain means covered hands and distance from the mouth.

• Wear sturdy gloves, gardening gloves will do: they protect against superficial bites and contact with blood.
• Approach from the side and from below, speaking in a flat continuous voice, without staring into the eyes.
• For a cat, use a large open towel: covering the body lowers stress and lets you lift the animal as one piece.
• If the dog is conscious and breathing normally, consider a soft or improvised muzzle before handling it.
• Keep children, other animals and bystanders away: strangers increase defensive reactivity.

A quick assessment decides two things: whether you can move the animal normally or need a rigid board, and what to tell the clinic on the phone. It is not a diagnosis, it is a list of observations made by looking, without palpating the abdomen and without moving suspect limbs.

The rigid support should be at least as long as the animal from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail. If it falls short, the overhanging part flexes during the lift and cancels out the benefit of the board. At home the objects that work best are the ironing board, a shelf from a flat pack bookcase, a large baking tray, the rigid base of a dismantled carrier and appliance cardboard folded into a double layer.

1. 1

   Phone the clinic before you move

   Give the species, size, what happened, what you saw during the quick assessment and your estimated arrival. Ask whether to come to that site or to an equipped emergency hospital: driving twenty minutes to a closed practice is the most expensive mistake of the day.

2. 2

   Stop the bleeding before any handling

   Press a gauze pad or clean cloth onto the wound with steady pressure for at least three to five minutes, never lifting it to check. If blood soaks through, add more material on top without removing what is underneath.

3. 3

   Cover open wounds and leave them alone

   Exposed bone or a large wound gets covered with clean material and left as it is. Do not wash it, do not use household disinfectants, do not try to put anything back into place. An impaled object is never pulled out: it is stabilised in place and travels with the animal.

4. 4

   Lay the support next to the animal

   Place the blanket or the rigid board parallel to the body, on the side it is easier to slide the animal towards. Preparing the support after lifting the animal means holding it suspended for no reason.

5. 5

   Move it as one piece, with no twisting

   With two people, one controls head and chest, the other pelvis and hind legs. On a count, the animal is slid sideways onto the support with head, spine and pelvis kept on the same axis. Nobody lifts an animal with a suspected spinal injury alone.

6. 6

   Secure without compressing

   Run two or three strips of wide tape, belts or fabric bands over the rigid board at shoulder, pelvis and limb level. They must stop the animal sliding without squeezing the chest: you should be able to pass two fingers under each one.

7. 7

   Keep it warm, but not too warm

   Cover with a light sheet to limit heat loss. Do not use hot water bottles or electric blankets in direct contact: in an animal in shock, the vasodilation caused by direct heat makes circulation worse.

8. 8

   Load into the most stable spot in the car

   The best place is the floor behind the front seat or the boot of an estate car, not the seat itself. A carrier must be wedged so it cannot shift under braking. Nobody holds the animal on their lap in the passenger seat.

9. 9

   Assign an observer for the journey

   Someone other than the driver checks breathing, gum colour and consciousness every two minutes and updates the clinic on any change. Drive smoothly: hard braking and sharp turns shift a badly secured animal.

• Lifting a large dog by scooping under the belly: it compresses potentially injured organs and flexes the spine.
• Giving human painkillers to make the journey easier: they are toxic and they distort the clinical assessment.
• Offering food or water before the consultation: if sedation or surgery is needed, a full stomach becomes a problem.
• Applying a tourniquet without training: it is reserved for people who have been taught, it goes on limbs only, and the exact time of application must be recorded.
• Strapping the chest tightly to keep the animal still: constriction worsens every breathing difficulty.
• Putting a dog that was hit by a car back in its bed because it seems to walk fine: internal bleeding and lung injury can become obvious hours later.

An injured cat hides, defends itself with four paws and a mouth, and reacts to restraint with a rise in oxygen consumption that can be dangerous with chest trauma. The correct strategy is the opposite of the one used with dogs: as little handling as possible, soft containment, a dark space.

1. Lay a large towel open on the ground and slide the cat into the middle without lifting it by the chest.
2. Fold the flaps around the body leaving only the muzzle out, without tightening over the abdomen.
3. Transfer the wrapped cat into a top opening carrier or a rigid cardboard box with air holes.
4. Cover the carrier with a cloth: darkness reduces distress far more than any reassuring words.
5. If you cannot get close because it hisses and attacks, do not insist: call the clinic and ask how to proceed.
6. In the car keep the carrier on the floor behind a seat, where movement is smallest.