We all want to keep our pets safe and healthy, but what if there is an emergency? Would you know what to do to help save your beloved animal?
Teri Ann Tate, owner of Comfy Pets of AZ in Laveen, is the perfect expert to help. She has years of experience caring for animals through her pet-sitting business and is one of a few Arizonans qualified to teach first aid care for small animals and horses.
Her credentials include being a Pet Tech instructor and teaching Pet CPR and First Aid classes for almost five years, and now this year Equine First Aid. Tate has business locations in Laveen and Fountain Hills but she also travels throughout Arizona, including upcoming classes in Flagstaff.
Tate will be teaching Pet CPR and First Aid on Sunday, Aug. 16th and Advanced Pet First Aid on Sunday, Aug. 30th. Both clinics will be at Summit Fire District Station 31, off Cosnino and Townsend-Winona roads, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Saturday, Aug. 15th, Tate will be offering Equine Basic First Aid and the host barn is off North Datura Road, near Elden Lookout Road. The equine clinic will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. as well.
“Most pet owners don’t think about what to do in an emergency,” said Tate. But there are many first aid steps that they can take to help keep an animal stable until a veterinarian can take over. “”It’s rather like helping a human until the medics arrive,” saysTate, who also is an EMT.
In the Pet CPR & First Aid Clinic, students will learn to perform CPR on a dog or a cat. Students also will learn how to become a detective when dealing with a possible poisoning and learning the 3 C’s when dealing with wound care. Tate gives her student homework so they can practice the wellness and injury assessments they learn in class.
“It’s very important that all my students go home with the confidence of dealing with a pet emergency, it could save their pet’s life.” Tate is offering a special rate of $60 per student and is limiting this clinic to 20 students, which includes a student handbook and a Certificate of Training.
The Advanced Pet First Aid Clinic is only offered in Arizona by Tate. Students will learn how to deal with the following pet emergencies: ear and tail injuries; more in depth training for hypo and hyperthermia; chest injuries; paw injuries and much more. Also included in this class is an “AZ Wildlife & Your K9” instruction that deals with possible encounters while walking or hiking with a dog in Arizona.
Before registering for this clinic, the student must hold a current Certificate of Training in Pet CPR & First Aid. This cost is $50 per student and clinic size also is limited to 20 students. Each student will receive a Certificate of Training and a student handbook written by Tate.
Tate also is excited to be offering The Equine Basic First Aid Clinic in Flagstaff for the first time this year. When learning equine first aid, it’s important that the student learns what to do on a live horse because dealing with an emergency on a 1,000-pound horse is much different than dealing with a cat or dog, Tate says.
Students will learn injury prevention; pain source and identification; saddle fit for spinal health; how to properly take vital signs; how to weigh your horse without a weight tape; what your vet needs to know when you call; different types of wounds and treatments; plus colic; choke; collapse; hoof injuries and so much more. Tate says, “If you own a horse it’s not if – but when — you will face an emergency.”
The Equine Clinic is limited to 15 students at a cost of $149 each and includes a Laser Certificate of Completion and an Equine First Aid Manual. Tate will be offering a new clinic, Equine Wilderness First Aid, in 2016.
********** Flagstaff Class Schedule for August 2015 **********
Equine Basic First Aid
9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 15
At a host barn on North Datura Road
Cost: $149 (Limit: 15 students)
Pet CPR and First Aid
9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 16
Summit District Fire Station No. 31
6425 N Cosnino Rd
Flagstaff, AZ 86004
Cost: $60 (Limit: 20 students)
Advanced Pet First Aid
9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30
Summit District Fire Station No. 31
6425 N Cosnino Rd
Flagstaff, AZ 86004
Cost: $50 (Limit 20 and participants must have completed Pet CPR and First Aid)
COMFY PETS OF AZ
