Cleaning Up Dogs Wounds

[bullx100% 681]

That's fecking rank......just finished eating me Sunday tea aswell

[BOLSTER 808]

Was the closest thing to a Dog wound hahah

[Accip74 7,112]

Don't think I've heard of the Hydro Peroxide, anyone have any more info on it or where you can get it?

I just used to get it at the chemist......someone put me on to it 20 years ago, once you start using it & you see it bubble all the shit out, it makes sense....

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Dry cow tubes of metacam for the worst but salt water for the run of the mill .I tend to clean a day later when all dirt comes off with fresh scab unless it warrants immediate attention .Nice to see peoples first reaction is not meds as its easy to rely on them and dogs system gets used to it so when it is needed its not as effective .

[p3d 879]

Shaneg,

 

A lot of research has been done in the US on skin wounds (lesions) of humans with Diabetes.

Google it (Diabetic lesions images) if you have a strong stomach. Some of the wounds are really bad.

They seem to have decided that things like Dettol, Savlon, Peroxide can prevent the skin from healing completely.

Dettol, Savlon Peroxide and other antiseptic and germ killing solutions are too harsh and can slow the new skin cells from developing.

They are also not applying powders or gauze to these wounds as they want the inner part of the lesion to heal outwards.

Scabbing over too soon prevents the wound from growing outwards.

Also they have stopped over using enzymes that kill dead skin, unless that part of the wound has obviously died. (The skin has turned black)

Then they are careful to only allow the enzymes to clean the dead cells. Thy used to use maggots to do this. (remember the scene from Gladiator when he is on the cart)

 

 

This would by my personal choice, but every man to his own poison.

 

1, Salt water to wash out the wound is used and recommended by Vets. it is cheap and available.

2, Super Glue to close small cuts, this is used as a field dressing instead of stitches. A good detailed article in CMW a couple of weeks ago.

3, Vetericyn used near eyes and nose to seal and cover the wound. Use the VF strength, it is a new product developed for skin wounds.

4, An anti-inflammatory (not ibuprofen) if swelling looks like it could cause a decrease in blood flow to the wound area. Swelling to the cheek can close the blood vessels and prevent blood getting to the skin on the chin, especially if both cheeks are swollen.

5, If an antibiotic is needed Cefelexin is best for skin wounds and is available on the internet at a fraction of the cost from a vet.

 

I would be careful using a syringe near any open wound. One air bubble into the wrong place and you could kill the dog.

If you need to spray the salt water over the wound, a standard plastic water bottle can jet a stream from a couple of inches away.

 

Dog needs to be washed or the earth will just spread over the bedding and infect the wound.

Kept warm (heat lamp).

 

The above would be the same things that a vet will do for any simple cut or wound to the skin.

I can treat these simple cuts.

Obviously anything else and a visit to the vet would be my call.

 

As I said every man will have a solution that has worked for years for them.

But it is worth updating any system if new solutions become available. IMO

[young man 225]

Salt. Water ,purple spray,sudocrem. If swelling doesn't go down amoxicillin or beatomox penicillin injection.

[dogger 100]

diluted t tree oil in warm water very natural and mild disinfectant as recommened by a nurse as i work in a hospital

[Bryan 1,362]

I put this on here before but it might be of help to some

 

Where to start? Start at the basics i suppose, prevention is better than cure. You have no control on what’s going on between your terrier and its quarry, but you can control many other things around a dig.
The less pressure you put on the quarry that’s been dug, the less it exerts on the terrier. Keep noise to a minimum, don’t poke into the pocket with a bar to often before opening up. Keep all other dogs well back and when you do break through make you’ve kept the base of the dig neat enough that when you break in you don’t cover the dog in earth etc. Block behind the dog and handle them as quickly as you can, now is not a time to sit back and watch, now is when most terriers take the most damage. Make sure your not going to injure a dog still in holds by just pulling it. A breaking stick or even 2 can help keep the quarry from holding the dog and help to quickly take the dog off the quarry without stressing anyone. Any good terrier will now strain and struggle on his collar making it difficult for them to catch their breath. Pass them up out of the dig, let them stand on their own 4 feet rather than holding them by the scruff, scruffing puts a lot of strain on the dogs breathing. Lead the dog well back form the dig and other dogs, now whatever else you do tie them up well, you don’t need them getting back into the same dig.

Assess the Dog
Now the terriers work is done and yours starts , look at the general condition of the dog, don’t be distracted by cuts etc., your looking at the overall picture of the dog. How do they look? Hot, cold, shook up? How should they look? They should be happily standing or sitting, not lying on their side.They should have pinkish lips, gums or inside eyelids. Always asses their response to you.
On a cold wet or windy day, a wet or cold dog needs it’s core temperature looked after first. A wet dog looses heat 23 times faster than a dry one. So dry them off and get them some shelter, maybe just get them close to the ditch or cover them in your jacket. Look at their condition again you might not have done enough and need to get them straight to a warm car or more. If things look beyond your abilities get help quickly.

Next take a look at any blood flow(although uncommon), not the little bleeding you might see from a small puncture, but actual flow. Apply pressure then it’s patients(give it time) and pressure applied directly to any bleeding till it stops. Keep cool in yourself, although it’s a bit nerve wracking to look at bleeding, it’s fairly easily managed. Direct firm pressure and repeated if needed. Delayed bleeding can be seen where a dog had low blood pressure from being dehydrated etc. when it’s blood pressure returns to normal it can start bleeding again it’s pressure and a bit of time.

Okay so you’ve assessed the terrier and your happy nothing major is going on? Well then you might give him an old pat on the head and smile at a job well done by them.

A routine is always good when looking after your workers. Be sure they can be relax and get comfortable now.
Open their mouth, check for any obstruction, mud and fur can be tightly packed on their teeth, pull it off. Make sure canines haven’t caught on a lip and look for anything that needs more care. Take note of how things look and feel.
Check over outside the mouth, nose back or ears forward, whatever way you like. Then go from the chin right back to their neck. Make a note of every (or any!!!) nicks, cuts or punctures.


Dilution is the solution

Now start washing the dog, the purpose of this is to wash away both visible and microscopic dirt. This reduces the “bacterial load” in the tissue, which helps reduce wound complications later. The most important factor in wound flushing is use of large volumes to wash away dirt and dilute any infection/bacteria.You don’t need to kill all the bacteria or makes things sterile. Strong salt water solutions or antiseptics can damage the skin. Domestos kills all known bacterie but you wouldn’t wash your face in it, no matter how bad your acne!
The ideal wash, would be antiseptic and nontoxic to the healing tissues. Although saline is not antiseptic, it is the least damaging to healing skin, reducing any scarring and healing time. But it’s expensive in large volumes. A lightly salted water, one tablespoon to a litre would be an okay compromise.
Surgical scrub agents are not ideal, because the detergent component is damaging to tissue, but where there is an infection present they can help and are a useful tool .
Dilute antiseptics can be used safely, but at high concentrations they are toxic to healing tissue and can be as damaging to the skin as they are to bacteria. Povidone-iodine 1% is an effective antiseptic, but may be inactivated by pus.
A small piece of sponge is ideal for washing and a large syringe with a blunt needle is best for flushing out punctures. Be gentle this isn’t exactly enjoyable for the terrier.
Last but certainly not least, flush the eyes out, pulling the lower lid well out, flush with plenty of fluid using a syringe without a needle or a small wash bottle. A liitle care now can save them waking up with “gunked up eyes for a few days” Cod liver oil capsules can be used as a sterile lubricant for sore eyes, bite a small hole in one and drip it into the lower lid before putting them down for the night


Wound Closure:
. Wounds may be closed with suture(stiches), staples, or cyanoacrylate. Clean wounds usually heal without complication.
closure may not be appropriate for a grossly contaminated or infected wound. If closure is a suitable goal, it may be delayed until the contamination or infection is controlled. The wound can be managed short-term as an open wound until it appears healthy. At that time, the wound can be safely closed with minimal risk of complications. The time between initial cleaning and final closure vary according to the amout of contamination or infection. Minimally contaminated wounds may be closed after 24-72 hr. Longer periods may be required for heavily infected wounds.
Although primary closure is the simplest method of wound management, it should be used only in ideal situations with very clean injuries to avoid wound complications

If in doubt get advice.

Open Wound Management:
When a wound cannot or should not be closed, open wound management may be appropriate. Such wounds include those in which there has been a loss of skin that makes closure impossible or those that are too grossly infected to close. However, it prolongs time for healing, and may create complications from wound contracture.

Two ideal products to use after initial cleaning are ,Granulex V(from www.alivet.com) or Debrisol(google it, plenty deliver it worldwide)
These both Clear away pus, dead and decaying tissue and promote rapid healing of wounds and abscesses with minimal scarring.

They contain;
the enzyme trypsin , which liquifies and removes nonliving tissue; it does not affect living tissue.It’s present in low amounts in saliva and helps digest rotten meat but has no effect of healthy skin etc.
Balsam peru provides a covering to help prevent recontamination.
Castor oil has a soothing effect and is a solvent and vehicle for the other ingredients.

They promote growth of healthy tissue with minimum scarring in dogs.




Antibiotics
Normally you would expect Antibiotic(AB) therapy should be instituted in all cases of dirty, infected, or puncture wounds. This should be under the direction of a Vet. Delaying antibiotics only gives infection a head start. Normally AB’s are given for 3-5 days. Low doses are to be avoided and any course should be completed.
AB’s don’t kill all bacteria and in a way they favour the bacteria they don’t kill, because they kill any competing bacteria and leave the field clear for “bad” bacteria to cause trouble. This is how MRSA started.
If a dog was to go down in themselves, a week to 10 days after a course of antibiotics, a Secondary infection should be suspected, espically if they have a high temperature. Act quickly, get help and usually a different AB or 2 would be given to kill of this infection. Repeating the antibiotic first given would makes things worse!!! At this time but could be again used in the future.

Pain relief

There is no benefit to the dog from being sore or swelling up.
Pain relief is beneficial is some cases to all working dogs. Paracetemol and Aspirin are 2 commonly know drugs that can help a dog. Aspirin , although it gives good pain relief and help with swelling it can also increase bleeding. Paracetemol gives good pain relief but is not as effective against swelling.Metacam is good or Carprofen, called rimadyl would be the drug of choice but is prescription only.

Give it a rest
Well you should have enough done now, get the dinner on! Plenty of fluids should be available, isotonics fluids like diarolyte or similar help restore fluid balance quickly and should be considered after a hard days work or fluid loss, Watch you dog eating, make sure they can freely, if not check for anything in their mouth or if they are just sore, reconsider the pain relief you’ve given or maybe provide something softer or more appetising.
A quick wash to remove any food sticking to cuts is helpful, and the cod liver oil capsule in the eyes.
Let them lie up somewhere draft free and warm now! And have bit of dinner yourself

[Accip74 7,112]

I put this on here before but it might be of help to some

 

Where to start? Start at the basics i suppose, prevention is better than cure. You have no control on what’s going on between your terrier and its quarry, but you can control many other things around a dig.The less pressure you put on the quarry that’s been dug, the less it exerts on the terrier. Keep noise to a minimum, don’t poke into the pocket with a bar to often before opening up. Keep all other dogs well back and when you do break through make you’ve kept the base of the dig neat enough that when you break in you don’t cover the dog in earth etc. Block behind the dog and handle them as quickly as you can, now is not a time to sit back and watch, now is when most terriers take the most damage. Make sure your not going to injure a dog still in holds by just pulling it. A breaking stick or even 2 can help keep the quarry from holding the dog and help to quickly take the dog off the quarry without stressing anyone. Any good terrier will now strain and struggle on his collar making it difficult for them to catch their breath. Pass them up out of the dig, let them stand on their own 4 feet rather than holding them by the scruff, scruffing puts a lot of strain on the dogs breathing. Lead the dog well back form the dig and other dogs, now whatever else you do tie them up well, you don’t need them getting back into the same dig.Assess the DogNow the terriers work is done and yours starts , look at the general condition of the dog, don’t be distracted by cuts etc., your looking at the overall picture of the dog. How do they look? Hot, cold, shook up? How should they look? They should be happily standing or sitting, not lying on their side.They should have pinkish lips, gums or inside eyelids. Always asses their response to you. On a cold wet or windy day, a wet or cold dog needs it’s core temperature looked after first. A wet dog looses heat 23 times faster than a dry one. So dry them off and get them some shelter, maybe just get them close to the ditch or cover them in your jacket. Look at their condition again you might not have done enough and need to get them straight to a warm car or more. If things look beyond your abilities get help quickly.Next take a look at any blood flow(although uncommon), not the little bleeding you might see from a small puncture, but actual flow. Apply pressure then it’s patients(give it time) and pressure applied directly to any bleeding till it stops. Keep cool in yourself, although it’s a bit nerve wracking to look at bleeding, it’s fairly easily managed. Direct firm pressure and repeated if needed. Delayed bleeding can be seen where a dog had low blood pressure from being dehydrated etc. when it’s blood pressure returns to normal it can start bleeding again it’s pressure and a bit of time.Okay so you’ve assessed the terrier and your happy nothing major is going on? Well then you might give him an old pat on the head and smile at a job well done by them.A routine is always good when looking after your workers. Be sure they can be relax and get comfortable now.Open their mouth, check for any obstruction, mud and fur can be tightly packed on their teeth, pull it off. Make sure canines haven’t caught on a lip and look for anything that needs more care. Take note of how things look and feel.Check over outside the mouth, nose back or ears forward, whatever way you like. Then go from the chin right back to their neck. Make a note of every (or any!!!) nicks, cuts or punctures.Dilution is the solutionNow start washing the dog, the purpose of this is to wash away both visible and microscopic dirt. This reduces the “bacterial load” in the tissue, which helps reduce wound complications later. The most important factor in wound flushing is use of large volumes to wash away dirt and dilute any infection/bacteria.You don’t need to kill all the bacteria or makes things sterile. Strong salt water solutions or antiseptics can damage the skin. Domestos kills all known bacterie but you wouldn’t wash your face in it, no matter how bad your acne! The ideal wash, would be antiseptic and nontoxic to the healing tissues. Although saline is not antiseptic, it is the least damaging to healing skin, reducing any scarring and healing time. But it’s expensive in large volumes. A lightly salted water, one tablespoon to a litre would be an okay compromise.Surgical scrub agents are not ideal, because the detergent component is damaging to tissue, but where there is an infection present they can help and are a useful tool .Dilute antiseptics can be used safely, but at high concentrations they are toxic to healing tissue and can be as damaging to the skin as they are to bacteria. Povidone-iodine 1% is an effective antiseptic, but may be inactivated by pus.A small piece of sponge is ideal for washing and a large syringe with a blunt needle is best for flushing out punctures. Be gentle this isn’t exactly enjoyable for the terrier.Last but certainly not least, flush the eyes out, pulling the lower lid well out, flush with plenty of fluid using a syringe without a needle or a small wash bottle. A liitle care now can save them waking up with “gunked up eyes for a few days” Cod liver oil capsules can be used as a sterile lubricant for sore eyes, bite a small hole in one and drip it into the lower lid before putting them down for the nightWound Closure: . Wounds may be closed with suture(stiches), staples, or cyanoacrylate. Clean wounds usually heal without complication. closure may not be appropriate for a grossly contaminated or infected wound. If closure is a suitable goal, it may be delayed until the contamination or infection is controlled. The wound can be managed short-term as an open wound until it appears healthy. At that time, the wound can be safely closed with minimal risk of complications. The time between initial cleaning and final closure vary according to the amout of contamination or infection. Minimally contaminated wounds may be closed after 24-72 hr. Longer periods may be required for heavily infected wounds. Although primary closure is the simplest method of wound management, it should be used only in ideal situations with very clean injuries to avoid wound complicationsIf in doubt get advice.Open Wound Management: When a wound cannot or should not be closed, open wound management may be appropriate. Such wounds include those in which there has been a loss of skin that makes closure impossible or those that are too grossly infected to close. However, it prolongs time for healing, and may create complications from wound contracture. Two ideal products to use after initial cleaning are ,Granulex V(from www.alivet.com) or Debrisol(google it, plenty deliver it worldwide)These both Clear away pus, dead and decaying tissue and promote rapid healing of wounds and abscesses with minimal scarring.They contain;the enzyme trypsin , which liquifies and removes nonliving tissue; it does not affect living tissue.It’s present in low amounts in saliva and helps digest rotten meat but has no effect of healthy skin etc. Balsam peru provides a covering to help prevent recontamination.Castor oil has a soothing effect and is a solvent and vehicle for the other ingredients.They promote growth of healthy tissue with minimum scarring in dogs.AntibioticsNormally you would expect Antibiotic(AB) therapy should be instituted in all cases of dirty, infected, or puncture wounds. This should be under the direction of a Vet. Delaying antibiotics only gives infection a head start. Normally AB’s are given for 3-5 days. Low doses are to be avoided and any course should be completed.AB’s don’t kill all bacteria and in a way they favour the bacteria they don’t kill, because they kill any competing bacteria and leave the field clear for “bad” bacteria to cause trouble. This is how MRSA started.If a dog was to go down in themselves, a week to 10 days after a course of antibiotics, a Secondary infection should be suspected, espically if they have a high temperature. Act quickly, get help and usually a different AB or 2 would be given to kill of this infection. Repeating the antibiotic first given would makes things worse!!! At this time but could be again used in the future.Pain relief

There is no benefit to the dog from being sore or swelling up.Pain relief is beneficial is some cases to all working dogs. Paracetemol and Aspirin are 2 commonly know drugs that can help a dog. Aspirin , although it gives good pain relief and help with swelling it can also increase bleeding. Paracetemol gives good pain relief but is not as effective against swelling.Metacam is good or Carprofen, called rimadyl would be the drug of choice but is prescription only. Give it a restWell you should have enough done now, get the dinner on! Plenty of fluids should be available, isotonics fluids like diarolyte or similar help restore fluid balance quickly and should be considered after a hard days work or fluid loss, Watch you dog eating, make sure they can freely, if not check for anything in their mouth or if they are just sore, reconsider the pain relief you’ve given or maybe provide something softer or more appetising.A quick wash to remove any food sticking to cuts is helpful, and the cod liver oil capsule in the eyes.Let them lie up somewhere draft free and warm now! And have bit of dinner yourself

Really good post, pity more didn't follow those guidelines around a dig.....

[marshman 7,757]

Top post Bryan ! Maybe a passing mod could pin this thread ?

[jeemes 4,484]

If a wound has fresh blood tcp will work well where other antiseptics dont work where theres blood.

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Out ratting ,we had a dog run into a metal shed leg that was jagged suffice to say it lacerated the dogs chest .One of the lads picked up a handful of chicken shit and packed the wound and applied pressure until it got to the vets .This saved the dogs life ,vet said as it had nicked an artery ,Whilst not advocating shit as a wound pack ,everything has to be done to stop the bleeding as death is not too far away when blood flows freely .

First rate post that Bryan mate .

[russ2012 328]

i use nothing more than a good warm savlon wash and savlon cream after the wash does a great job if its good enough for ourselfs then good enough for the dog and cheap too, alot of stuff way over rated, keeping a wound clean means no infections = no penicillin people think penicillin does wonders for dog wounds when it actually does nothing unless the dog has an infection which the dog wont get if properly cleaned regluarly

[tullyeyed 90]

I have just used hydro peroxide for the first time, really good results, some great advice there lads, good topic

Edited November 4, 2014 by tullyeyed

[Flacko 1,746]

Interesting that Bryan and informative a lot of real good points everyone can learn something of that post well written.