Vets

[Shortstraw 476]

Like a lot of you I enjoy the company of dogs when I’m out with the catapult. Took both of them out to the woods the other evening, was belting it down, but I needed to get them out. I’d only been out ten minutes when my sandy bitch yelped out about twenty yards off to my right in quite a dense bit of woodland, soon as she started to walk towards me I could see the big flap of skin on her thigh hanging down. I carried her back to the car, luckily there was no damage to the flesh.

Given it was after tea the local vets was closed so I had to do 100 mile round trip to the out of hours they’ve recently started using. Picked her up next morning. They had used dissolvable stitches, provided pain relief and antibiotics......£810. Been out of hours I knew it wasn’t going to be cheap, the “ consultation “ alone I was informed will be £165. Luckily I’m insured, but given her age I have to stand £100 excess and 30% of final cost.

That’s the second thigh injury my dogs have had in the last 3 months, the other involved a similar injury, but damage to the thigh muscle, this was dealt in house at the local vets and came to around £350......that I can live with.

Edited August 27, 2020 by Shortstraw

[ianm 2,594]

I think i would have super glued that back together and just kept it clean.

[samuria 331]

looks nasty, how is she now? vets are strange people, a bit off topic. 

when i had my hob vasectomised  2 vets within 1 mile of each other 

one £75.00 the other 130.00 how to they get to the price?

 

[andysparks 108]

Looks nasty, lucky it didn't damage the muscle. I keep whippets and they are prone to that type of damage. The trouble with vets these days seems to be that if you mention you have insurance, the price sky rockets?

[Shortstraw 476]

1 hour ago, ianm said:

I think i would have super glued that back together and just kept it clean.

Ive heard of people using the vet type stapler or super glue, but not ever having done it Im a tad reluctant, but if I knew how I’d definitely consider it. Had a whippet years ago with a chest cut and my mother just got out her thread and needle......dog never flinched and it worked a treat. Not sure if it was just cotton or something else, but she must have taken the stitches out at some point...was many years ago.

[socks 32,253]

That would have cost me 8p in suters .......

[Shortstraw 476]

7 minutes ago, socks said:

That would have cost me 8p in suters .......

Can you elaborate.......I could really do with a bit more knowledge in this area. Accidents tend to happen all within a couple of months or a year apart hence I’ve never gained any skills in this area. Any advice is truly welcome.

[socks 32,253]

I mean that a suture kit (one needle and thread) costs about 8p and I would done the job myself. 

[BEARINATOR 2,867]

Find a friend to show you how to do them properly as will save you in the long run 

[Shortstraw 476]

12 minutes ago, BEARINATOR said:

Find a friend to show you how to do them properly as will save you in the long run 

That’s the problem I just go at it alone and know very few people.

[C.green 3,229]

The vets just like to rinse the insurance sensible vet paid cash that woulda been couple hundred quid to repair probably. Those saying about theyd stitch or staple i dont know why anyone would put that on here. Its like docking puppies we can all do it but your risking an animal ban doing it yourself less hassle in long run to just find a sensible vet that doesnt try to sting you.

[Mr Wilkes 2,980]

You did the right thing mate, if you arnt confident and have little knowledge then you had no other option. Lad I lamped with many moons ago had a bull x that needed stitches pretty regular. Trust me when you’ve done it once you be ok.

[Devon Minnow 152]

My heart goes out to you Shortstraw robbing t.... . Never mention insurance it's a licence to print money and that came from a vet I know when I worked on the farms. I have a small Jack Russell at 16 weeks old he developed a cough, took him to vets and I was told it was a bad heart murmur and would cost hundreds just to see a specialist, I turn round and said it was kennel cough, having had dogs with it before. He said it wasn't even though he had check him over a few weeks early when he had his second vaccination and never mentioned hearth murmur. My response was it would cost  me the price of a shotgun cartridge, his face dropped and the vet gave me a prescription which I had to take to the chemist, with in a month the pup was fine. That vet has never tried to rob me since because he knows I will question his judgment. A friend of mine has just been taken for £2500 for a 1" cut in his lurcher foot, his vet botched the job and he ended up taking it to an other vet to have the leg removed

[Shortstraw 476]

I’ve worked dogs for around 35 years, but always been quite lucky with injuries. Most of the collies and collie lurchers never had anything that needed stitching. My first dog was a whippet, a real tough stocky little fella, he tore his skin once on his chest and that was it, he must have had good skin for a whippet because I did more graft with him than any other dog I’ve owned. My last two lurchers have had I think four skin injuries in the last 8 years. If it happened more regular I would definitely be doing it myself after having someone show me the ropes, but given the they don’t too happen too often I’m quite happy for the vets to crack on with it, however as they get older they do like to sting you with the insurance charges.

I had one lurcher a beardie/border x greyhound who used to scare me to death the speed he’d follow a rabbit into a hedge, used to cover my eyes, yet he was the least injury prone lurcher I’ve owned. I had to help him off a fence which he’d got snagged on the barbed wire...came off with no marks so to speak and another time he got tangled in a roll of loose barbed wire, again came out of it relatively mark free.

Just wondering how you fellas go on with antibiotics/ pain relief and where you source them. 

[Neal 1,857]

3 hours ago, Shortstraw said:

I had one lurcher a beardie/border x greyhound who used to scare me to death the speed he’d follow a rabbit into a hedge, used to cover my eyes, yet he was the least injury prone lurcher I’ve owned. I had to help him off a fence which he’d got snagged on the barbed wire...came off with no marks so to speak and another time he got tangled in a roll of loose barbed wire, again came out of it relatively mark free.

I know exactly what you mean. I had a 3/4 beardie/border 1/4 greyhound with a hide like a rhino. He once got snagged on a trailing piece of barbed wire, gave a grunt and pulled himself free. All that what left was a tuft of blue merle fur on the tines and not a mark on him...having said that, it could just as easily have been down to the thickness of the hair as the skin itself. The only injury he ever had was when he jumped a fence into the horse field (without me knowing) and there was a single strand of wire about a yard inside. His front feet landed on the ground but his back ones didn't make it and his dangly bits were the bits than landed on the wire. Ouch!

I'd have probably done the same as you i.e. forked out the money. I wish I had the confidence to DIY but I'd be too worried about making it worse.