DOCTOR TO LEAD FIRST-AID CLASS KEYED TO PETS.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

First aid techniques to help pet owners take care of man's best friend, along with other furry, feathered and four-legged creatures, will be the focus of a class sponsored by the American Red Cross.

Santa Clarita veterinarian John Burkhartsmeyer, who will teach the class, said owners who know how to stabilize their pets until they can be seen by a doctor often save the animal's life or prevent the injury or ailment from getting worse.

Knowing pet first aid ``is not so much a substitute for a veterinarian as it is a stopgap measure,'' said Burkhartsmeyer, who has practiced medicine for 22 years, a dozen of them in Santa Clarita.

The class will cover cardiopulmonary resuscitation for dogs and cats, entailing chest compressions and mouth-to-snout, along with first aid treatments like bandaging wounds and restraining injured animals.

``A lot of times, people will find their dog in the bottom of the pool,'' the veterinarian said. ``I can recall a couple of animals that drowned. If people had known what to do, (the pets) might have lived.''

With some quick action and proper technique, owners can get the pets to expel swallowed water and restore breathing. Timely response also is vital to stem bleeding and splint broken limbs, Burkhartsmeyer said.

Owners also will learn how to muzzle injured animals, which tend to snap and bite people - even their owners - who try to render aid.

``We see a lot of people who get injured in the process of trying to take care of their hurt animal,'' Burkhartsmeyer said. Pets can react in a manner out of character. ``I think it's a defensive measure. They kind of forget who is their friend and who is their foe when they're in pain,'' he said.

``They don't have the ability to reason, and they don't always know that what we're trying to do is help them. That's their way of trying to protect themselves.''

Other times, animal owners rush their pets to the veterinarian out of alarm over behavior that, doctors inform them, is perfectly normal. Being able to recognize the difference is something every pet owner should be able to do, Burkhartsmeyer said.

``A lot of times when a cat is trying to spit up a hair ball, it looks like they're on death's door,'' he said. ``When a dog has a little phlegm in its sinus, it does what's called a reverse sneeze. The first time you see that, it looks like they're choking to death,'' the veterinarian said.

``It's not causing the dog any discomfort at all. It's just scaring the owner.''

The Red Cross first aid class was scheduled to coincide with pet appreciation week, and local Red Cross centers have introduced a pet first aid kit that can be strapped to the back of medium- or large-size dogs. The kits include everything necessary to treat an injured dog until it can be taken to a veterinarian, such as gauze pads, bandages and other supplies to tend to wounded animals, according to Red Cross spokesman Rick Radillo.

This is the time of year, Burkhartsmeyer said he sees many cases of dogs and cats who have been bitten by snakes, or whose fur, paws and eyes have been stuck with foxtails, a spiky bur animals pick up running through grass and weeds.

``One of the ones that drives me crazy is people who drive around with their pets loose in the back of a pickup truck,'' Burkhartsmeyer said. ``I can't count the number of pets that I've had to patch up because they've fallen out.''

Often, pet owners still haven't changed their dangerous habits even after the veterinarian has had to mend the injured animal's wounds and broken bones. ``When they come to take them home, they load (the pet) into the back of the pickup,'' Burkhartsmeyer said.

But other times, pet owners have responded perfectly when their animals were hurt. Burkhartsmeyer remembered an incident in which a dog running through the hills was impaled on a dried branch protruding from a tree trunk. The owner cut off the branch and rushed the dog to the hospital, saving its life.

``They brought the dog in with (the branch) sticking out of his chest. (The branch) was about 10 inches long, and only 2 inches was sticking out. The rest was inside his chest,'' the veterinarian said.

``If he had tried to pull that out of there, I think (the dog) would have suffocated. It wouldn't have been able to breathe,'' he said.

Burkhartsmeyer recalled a similar case involving a feline. ``I remember a cat that came in with an arrow through its chest. It didn't hit any major blood vessels - it just went through both lungs,'' he said. ``They did the right thing by not trying to remove the arrow.''

THE FACTS

The course on pet first aid will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Red Cross office, 23152-1/2 Valencia Blvd. The $25 class fee includes a pet first aid handbook, jointly developed by the Red Cross and the Humane Society, for every student. To register for the four-hour class, call [phone] or stop by the Red Cross office.

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PHOTO (Color) Dr. John Burkhartsmeyer will hold a four-hour pet first aid class Tuesday at the Santa Clarita Red Cross office.

Hans Gutknecht/Daily News