Bite Wounds

[ish]

One of my dogs received bite wounds to her mouth and chin on Saturday and saw the vet first thing Monday morning. One of the wounds had begun to absess so she was given a shot of metacam because it was too sore to touch, and I was to clean that out once the metacam took affect. She also had a shot of antibiotics and has tablets she's on now.

The 2 main wounds still seem very swollen and lots of discharge - she wont let me near her without holding her down to wipe some of the goobers away (she's also in season which could mean she's being a bit dramatic). We sat on her yesterday, gave everything a good squeeze and clean out with saline. If she touches her chin on anything, she screams.

The vet said if the swelling hadn't gone down by tomorrow they'd have to put drains in, but I'm not sure what degree of improvement I should be seeing by now.

I have a photo but its got goobers in it and I don't want to gross anyone out

[Daisy]

Hi ISH, did the vet talk to you about cleaning the wound out every day? Some of mine have had puncture wounds nd tears in the past, and my vet has recommended giving them a really good clean out each day with either saline or betadine liquid. That is what I am doing at the moment with one of my greyhounds, he was bitten by another dog and had two nasty puncture wounds on his face, which after a couple of days became an open sore (took him to the vet who explained that the skin between the puncture wounds had died and come away ) He is on antibiotics, and as well as swabbing out the wound with betadine every day I am then smearing it with medihoney. My vet swears by this, says he uses it for horses that have torn pieces out of themselves on fencing. I used it before when my wolfhound Bree was desexed and had her rear dew claws removed, she managed to split open the stitches on both legs, so they had to be redressed and cleaned each day and the medihoney applied. They healed very well and quite quickly.

Hope that helps! I would be taking her back to the vet for a checkup though.

[Poodle wrangler]

Absesses are nasty things. I had what appeared to be a bite mark turn into this after my sister's dog attacked mine:

Vet actually turned this one in to a gaping hole to allow the muck out to drain out. This was with antibiotics started morning after attack. I had the same problem with him being in so much pain it was hard to clean it well (and he's a very tolerant dog).

Before opening it up like that, vet suggested to me to use a warm compress (I used old washers, washed thoroughly and reused on dog), then try to squeeze out as much as possible. Problem I had was bite area started to get dry and heal, but only at surface level. It has to heal from the inside-out, not the other way around . I had to get him in to a headlock and it was quite a struggle despite him being a very tolerant young dog.

Cleanup was done under anaesthetic as he was booked to be desexed that week, anyway- not an option for you.

Perhaps the vet can sedate her to clean her up properly and give you a head start?

No experience with drains on dogs, but in humans they can be problematic- they're a tube and so can block off if the gunk is thick.

Best wishes with your girl

Edited September 26, 2007 by Poodle wrangler

[ish]

On Saturday night

On Monday after seeing the vet, can see the absess starting

This is what it looks like tonight, after being cleaned its still weeping heaps

Theres also another hole on the other side of her face, which only emptied out once I held her face - so I'm worried thats not draining as freely as it needs. I think we'll go back to the vet tomorrow

Daisy, he did say to clean the wounds with salty water which I have been - I can't do it well because she protests so much (and like PW's dog, she's normally really good)

[Daisy]

Yep depending on the dog it can be very hard to do. Luckily my greyhound that has the wound at the moment is the best for things like that, he will not flinch or move a muscle even though it must be painful. Mind you, the last couple of days he has started to try and run away when he sees me get out the bottle of betadine liquid.... but then when I get out some nice roast chicken or ham he comes back

One of my fosters, a large wolfhound/dane type cross had a broken leg, had surgery and had external fixatures. I had to redress and clean that every few days, and he was THE biggest sook! I had to get my teenage son to help hold him dwn and I had to sit on him, while my daughter tried to distract him by feeding liver treats!

Sounds like you are trying to do the best you can, I hope it heals up without too many problems.

[Cavandra]

Hydrogen Peroxide will eat all the gunk up, it will froth & when you wipe it off much of the puss etc will come away, if you then applied Betadine frequently it should help alot......I would clean it like this at least 3 times a day though.....

[Poodle wrangler]

Pus is good- let the pus flow .

If it dries up and can't come out the problem's worse. If a light scab forms, pick it off so wound can drain.

Difficult spot to get to- at least I could have muzzled my dog if needed.

[Bokezu]

My boy had a couple of really bad wounds from another dog, one on his cheek and one on the back of his neck, this was three weeks ago, he had antibiotic injections(2) and a course of antibiotics, he wouldn't let me near them, but I have a bitch here (2 years) who insisted on cleaning his wounds every day and he loved her doing it (she was very thorough, even nussling at them) I let it go not knowing if she was actually helping the wounds or not, but they have healed up beautifully, I was worried about the swelling though, took over a week to go down, but they look great now. Good Luck

[SoL]

Be careful you don't have an anaerobic infection in there - ie one that hates oxygen and can fester quite happily without it. If the vet is talking about drains to get the air in, that could be a possibility, in which case, drains and a special type of antibiotic (if I remember right, they're called negative gravity antibiotics) would be needed.

I'd also recommend Lotagen for topical treatment. It's an antiseptic that stops proud flesh forming, forcing the healing from within first, instead of scabbing over. I'm using that on Brandi and her wounds were very open (say 1cm in width and a couple deep - the muscle was poking through) and they're healing up lovely. The best healing is slow.

All up, I'd see your vet

Good luck with it.

[Flaves]

Poor Chec.

Hope all goes wellat teh vets. Let us know.

[bonny_beagle]

My understanding is that hydrogen peroxide is not recommended for open wounds in either humans or animals, it does remove pus and oxygenates the wound however there is a rare complication the name of which escapes my which can be very serious.

An absess that is draining pus is better than one that is closed, more pus could still be forming so if possible keep it open (as someone else said) and if you can wash it out with saline or dilute betadine. If there is a big enough hole you could you a syringe (without needle) to get good penetration.

Goodluck

eta - emmark there are aerobic and anaerobic bacteria (grow in the presence or absence of oxygen) and bacteria can also classified as gram positive or gram negative depending on how they react to gram stain. Antibiotics have differing spectrums of activity amoung these bacteria.

Edited September 27, 2007 by bonny_beagle

[SoL]

Thanks BB

[poodlefan]

Heat brings pus to the surface.. can you apply a hot compress or do you have a heat lamp?

[Jed]

What Cavandra said. I have found this excellent for bites, and particularly for abcesses - the peroxide permeates into the wound, and cleans it out. Also, you don't have to sit on the dog to get it into the wound. Just pour it on, or syringe it on from a short distance. Betadine is excellent, and I have found Colloidal silver works wonders too, and big wounds will heal without any scarring.

Big closed abcesses on cats have been treated this way, and healed very well.

Edited to add -- interesting bonny beagle, but there can be complications with antibiotics, and other treatments too.

Edited September 27, 2007 by Jed

[bonny_beagle]

Jed - very true ;)

I will try to get more info about the complication with peroxide.

Found the name at least - oxygen embolism. There's not a lot of info around but I know of no current wound care guidelines that involve use of H2O2. Its not my area so I could easily be wrong. I have however been told by a vet not to use it on the dogs. Each to his own I guess.

Edited September 28, 2007 by bonny_beagle

[WreckitWhippet]

I nursed one of our Staffords through some quite nasty punctures that we thought we would have to drain. I bathed him at least twice a day in salty water and gave it a really good scrub, it hurt like hell but he put up with the crap. A couple of time the entry to one of the wounds closed over and I had to get a needle, hold the area and puncture it again.

If you can't hold her down to clean it up properly then sedated at the vets is the only option. Many bites can be dealt with by their owners but are prevented from doing so by the dogs.

[shellbyville]

If you can get a small syringe (not with a needle on it, just the syringe) from your vet or produce store and use liquid betadine. Suck some up into the syringe and squeeze it right into the wound, actually put the head of the syringe into the hole. It will help keep the wound open and actually puts the betadine right into the wound and not just on the outside as wiping it would do.

Someone mentioned lotigen ointment, which will help it heal without proud flesh, which is the wound healing all lumpy. I would do the betadine/syringe thing at least twice a day until the wound doesn't show any pus at all and use the lotigen regularly. I had a dog with very similiar wounds and they healed with no scarring at all.