Who doesn?t like to visit the local discount/Dollar store in search of deals? Many pet care items can be purchased at these stores, some of these items are not obviously for pets. A trip to the Dollar store can be an excellent time to stock up on grooming supplies, as well as an opportunity to build a pet First Aid kit.

Boar Bristle brushes are often available at these stores, in the section for human hair care. These brushes are a necessity for a nice glowing finish. You can find quilted cosmetic pads for ear cleaning, as well as tearless Baby Shampoo to use on your dog?s face. If you want to smooth the nails without the use of a nail grinder (which must be used with care), you can find packages of emery boards to smooth out the rough edges after you clip. Tweezers are a good thing to have, get a pair to put in your Dog?s Fist Aid kit.

You can really clean up in the medicine isles of these stores. It?s a great place for non-buffered, non-coated aspirin( NOT Ibuprofen). Real aspirin is basic in your Dog?s first aid kit. This can be administered to dogs for muscle strains, joint aches, teething pain or any inflammation. Call your vet for dosage. You will need a bottle of liquid bismuth (pink stuff), this helps diarrhea and upset stomach. Again, call your vet for dosage. There will be a variety of non-adhesive bandages here, as well as gauze. Get plenty, they are always good. (Make a stop at your farm store, get some co-flex bandage wrap (sticks only to itself). This will hold your bandage in place, and so worth the $2.00 you will spend on it.) Although you don?t need these things often, when there is an emergency and you need them, it?s really awful not to have them. And having dogs is a lot like having kids, at some point, sometime, something will happen.

Get a pair of blunt nosed gauze scissors if they have them, as well as gauze fasteners (these are just small pieces of metal with teeth at each end).You will need a tube of antibiotic ointment, which they should have. It?s usually called triple antibiotic or Bacetracin or the like. If they carry thermometers, rectal or not, grab one. A dog normally has a body temp. of 101 F, a temp. can tell you much about what?s going on, and if your dog should see a vet. If there is a bottle of buffered saline solution for eyes, this makes a very nice eyewash in a pinch. Occasionally, these stores carry Electrolytic Solution for dehydration (generally in the Baby section), if so get one of these. Ipecac can be a good thing to have on hand also, in case of accidental poisining that calls for you to induce vomiting. In the case of poisoning, call your vet IMMEDIATELY, with some substances YOU DO NOT WANT TO INDUCE VOMITING. I can?t stress enough the importance of having your vet?s number posted and using it in these cases.

Jen Thon lives with her beautiful family in a small town in Michigan. She has been involved with pets for 30 years, as a trainer, the owner of my own grooming shop for ten years, and as a pet lover. Even though she has a BS in Psychology with studies in Animal Behaviorism, still she constantly learns new things from pet lovers she meets online and off. Jen says As a mom, I found it was necessary to work from my home, on my own (or rather the kid’s) schedule. So I, combined my love of animals with my experience of what works and what doesn’t nutritionally, and that was the beginning of Small Town Pets. I’ve always heard you’re supposed to make a living with what you love, that way you love your job! So that’s what I’ve done, with the advent of my online holistic store. Also, as a pet owner for three decades I’ve found many things that work for cleaning, and many that don’t. Cats and dogs (in most cases) are much smaller than humans, therefore they are much more suseptible to the negative effects of chemicals that are in the most common of products. That is why she decided it was so important to try and educate owners on the dangers of feeding chemicals, and using harsh cleaning products.

In her store, at www.smalltownpets.net/TownStore/ you will find an array of natural cleaning products that Jen uses herself, and wholeheartedly recommends. So please, browse the site and store, enter Pet of the Week contest, and leave a comment on the blog or forum!