Useful Tips: Wound Care - Scissor-Free Bandaging

I don't know about you but I hate the idea of scissors anywhere near my dog's body. Scissor lacerations can land a dog in an emergency room. You never know when your dog might make a sudden move which will turn seemingly harmless tool into a weapon.


When we do have to use scissors around our dogs, we use the round-nose kind which we have in our dog first aid kit.

But I still don't like using even those.

Every time our dog comes bandaged from the vets, the only way to remove it is by cutting it.

Vet wrap is an awesome invention which I love. But once it's been applied for a while, there is usually no way of finding the end and being able to just unravel it.

With last year's Cookie's cut on her paw pad and this year's post-op wound after removal of JD's mast cell tumor, we've done our share of bandaging.

A handyman can come in handy.

Hubby is quite a handyman, always making or building something. Every time he uses tape he makes a little tab on the end so it is easier for him to find and pull off the end when he goes to use the roll the next time.

Instead of adhering the single end, which is impossible to find and lift later,
make a tab as below.
This is much easier done having both hands. But I was folding the bandage with one hand
while filming with the other.
Little tab like this goes a long way making it easy to remove the bandage later.
The video below shows how easy it is.
It was his suggestion to make a tab at the end when applying a bandage as well.

"I guess I have to go fetch some scissors," said the vet when JD came to have his post-op wound checked out when she realized we had bandaged a sock over it.

"Nope, you don't," said hubby and showed her the tab we made which is easy to grab so the bandage can be simply unwrapped.

Unlike on duct tape or electrical tape, the end does not stick out from the roll. The tabbed vet wrap still adheres to the rest as it should but the tab makes it easier to find and pull off.

Not once has JD worked off his bandage because of the tab. Even when he did work off the sock from underneath, the bandage remained in place.



Works like a charm.

And for some reason nobody else seems to have ever thought of that. Not when bandaging a wound, not when putting away a roll of tape. And yet, the vet wrap we use comes with exactly the same tab on a new roll.

Having changed bandages three times a day (yes, I'm very paranoid about infections when bandaging my dogs), this little trick is a life saver.

Don't cut it, tab it.


Related articles:
Useful Tips: Bandaging Your Dog's Foot? 
Useful Tips: Stomach Unhappy from Too Much Acid?

Useful Tip: You Don't Have To Dish Out For An Expensive Dog Dryer
Useful Tips: Winter Dog Safety Tip
Useful Tips: Battling With The Fish Oil Gel Caps?
Useful Tips: Visual Chart
Dog First Aid Kit: What's In Yours? 

Comments