to stitch or not to stitch?

[Hamish.J.Cronan 13]

Hi,

 

Out with the dog this morning and he got caught on his neck running/playing with another dog, it looks like it's just the skin that's torn - about the size of a ten pence piece. I've cleaned it out and put in some antibiotic ointment and just left it open for the time being.

 

Any further advice would be good please people?

 

Cheers

[bite back 95 4]

if your going to stitch you would of had to of done it while the wound is still fresh for it to knit together again properly, vet might be a good idea if its to bad

[leegreen 2,173]

If it's not bleeding leave it and as said it's a bit late now.

[mintstick999 485]

If it's a clean wound, just a puncher, clean the hair from around the wound, spray some antiseptic on it and super glue together, job done, give antibiotics if you have any. good luck, it works for me and the greedy f*****g vets don't get to charge you for something so easy. jmo

[uk poacher 2]

super glue mate

[Hamish.J.Cronan 13]

thanks guys!

[Hamish.J.Cronan 13]

when supergluing - what's the best way of doing things, does it work better for some injuries better than others?

[skycat 6,173]

I wouldn't attempt to super glue such a small tear. Besides which, any glueing or stitching needs to be done within a few hours of the injury taking place. The edges of the wound will have already sealed themselves and would need freshening up with a scalpel if you wanted the wound to heal by primary intention now. Healing by secondary intention: i.e. as nature intended, is fine in such small wounds. Just keep it clean, clip any surrounding fur if it is dragging in the wound and if the dog can't reach it to lick it clean, wash very gently every day with tepid, previously boiled water and salt. A teaspoon of salt to 300ml water.

Try not to let it scab up until it has shrunk to the size of a 5 pence piece, after which it should be allowed to scab over. Scab will then drop off in about 2-3 weeks time leaving a very small scar which will virtually disappear over time. Just make sure that there is no pus or swelling or angry looking redness around the wound whilst it is healing: if the dog is in good health generally wounds like this heal with no more problem than if you had cut your own hand.