Urgent Advice Required Injury

[eve]

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The wound is looking moist this evening. Toddy is not the bravest whippet in the world and objects strongly to bathing with salt water and the honey (TOUGH!)

I do have reservations about cutting away the dead tissue so that they can stitch the fresh edges together. The wound is also on an area that he can scratch and stitches irritate as they start to tighten so more reservations. The feedback from everyone has been great. Quite a lot of differing opinions but a definate agreement that the wound should be left alone and not stitched. Toddy had an antibiotic injection today and I will speak to the vet to see if a course of tablets is also advised.

Having had my last whippet dog die after an anesthetic, I feel very strongly about Toddy being given one for something quite minor.

Thanks to all for the excellent advice :thumbsup:

 

[liza]

If it was one of my dogs,i'd bathe it a couple of times a day with a salt solution& then put neat lavender oil into the wound.It will heal very quickly if you do this,honest!!!Personally i wouldn't give antibiotics as the lavender is anti bacterial.

Wondered when youd mention Lavender Debs :thumbsup: ,

Best thing keep it clean with salt water and if you can get Intrasite gel , apply twice a day , but make sure you wash clean before reapplying

heres a hole Buffee managed to do to herself , heaven knows how, no stitches , just antibiotics , hibiscrb and intrasite gel , left no scar at all

when my bill was bitten my vet gave me antibiotics and told me to bathe it two to three times a day with salt water in about 5 days it started to heel

 

[Esty]

My Roscoe had a very similar injury caused by a dog bite a couple of weeks ago, about an inch long and through the layers of skin but not muscle. It was on his thigh, so does get a lot of movement. The vet clipped the fur, cleaned it up, popped a couple of staples in, he had anti bios for a few days and it healed up really nicely. No problem with the staples even though he was playing with two other dogs in the house. He had them taken out last week, the fur is already growing back and it's a nice flat scar.

 

[laurab]

Your poor dog. What is it with whippets that cause other dogs to take a dislike to them? My poor boy and girl are the meekest dogs on the planet and they keep getting set upon by others so they are getting really nervous about meeting other dogs now- the boy especially.

With regards to the wound- i don't know the best plan of action, but I do know that i often disagree with vets! so follow your instincts. As a by the way, with the horses we often use an antibiotic spray for wounds that we don't stitch so that might be an idea?

Good luck

Laura x

 

[jakers]

My Advice for what it's worth, our Mr Zig who thinks he's harder than he really is decided to have a punch up with our gsd!, it was an equal match of course, mr zig ended up with a deeper but similar wound to toddy and my gsd received a rarther large tear to his balls which couldn't be touched/sticthed or anything.

The ball tear, treated with only saline solution (provided by my vet) and preventative 3 days of antibs has taken about 8 weeks to heal and now has no fur on, luckily he is hairy enough not to need any!.

Mr Zig on the other hand has his wound stapled against the vets advice she wanted to put him under shave off his fur and stitch him - being a dog that is shown I was very against such an idea aside all the risks of anaesthetic (sp?). I have a good relationship with my vet but she does hate me as I never want mine put 'under' or overloaded with chemicals. She reluctantly stapled the wound without taking off any fur (on my suggestion) he had 7 staples in total. The wound was VERY fresh, about 40mins since. We were sent home with packs of saline and a 3 day course of antib's ( because of it's size and location on the shoulder my vet wouldn't do an antib injection) and some pain killers for 'as and if he needed', I stretch the antibs over more days so a weaken dose but over a longer time. I washed the wound for the first two days from the 'inside out' kinda between the staples, then after twice a day from the outside only in a large area surounding the wound and fur. I managed to rig up a system for over night for him to have a melomine pad on the wound for the first 5 nights to prevent any scratching and causing further damage. By day 6 the wound had closed completely, he showed his socks off at a champ show completely unaffected by the damage!, I then administered arnica ( important not to with an open wound as it thins the blood so I believe). By day 10, the staples were removed by the vet who commented " you never take my advice, always insist on what you want done and are always get successful results!" Mr Zig had healed, yes he had scared a little which has now disappeared completely - the fur also didn't die away and he has remained with his beautiful shiny coat.

This is the second time this has happened to us with the whippet both times the same methods have been used to a successful outcome.

I also know of the local kennel owner who used the honey to heal a huge wound to a labbys throat, successful results were apparent after about 8 weeks, it totally healed after about 4 months and again the fur grew back - it was a huge wound mind.

:luck: Liz

 

[TillynPip]

Sorry to hear that Toddy's been attacked. Can't offer any advice but whatever route you take, I hope he heals quickly.

 

[eve]

I decided to follow my gut instinct avoiding GA and stitches and really appreciate everyone's support and advice. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

I am leaving the wound open, bathing with saline solition and now have some Intrasite and strong antibiotics from the vets.

I will wash out the wound with saline solution, dry, then apply the Intrasite gel twice daily.

The Todster does not apprecaite all this messing about with HIS person. :teehee:

Thanks again

 

[Happy Humber]

It will not take 6 weeks to heal it will be much improved after a couple of weeks :thumbsup:

 

[whippy kisses]

- Great pictures - helps us to form a better opinion.

After having 2 large wounds on our whippies stitched - i know that they do not heal well and leave nasty scars.

The last two wounds we have had have been smaller( around your size) . We followed the wise words of Fallenangel( wendy) and her sidekick Doobrifirkin(tony) and dressed the wound with 'wound powder'. Yes it took longer to heal but the result was much better.

Its awful though when its your dog- al logic and reason go out of the window. :wub:

 

[eve]

- Great pictures - helps us to form a better opinion. After having 2 large wounds on our whippies stitched - i know that they do not heal well and leave nasty scars.

Its awful though when its your dog- al logic and reason go out of the window. :wub:

The wound is looking bettter already, dry and clean. I am not worried if Toddy ends up with a scar or if it takes a bit longer to heal.

Try explaining that to a vet (w00t) She insisted that stitches would mean no scar.

I wanted what was best for Todster with regards to recovery ( the freedom to still be active while on the mend) and minimising the risk of drug treatment. After loosing a relatively young dog to the after affects of General Anesthetic, it seemed mad to put Toddy at the same risk for what is just a flesh wound. He was playing with Bella and the frisbee earlier like he had not a care in the world. I am happy that I made the right decision. It was the support and advice of fellow k9'ers that convinced me I was doing the right thing. I do love K9

 

[TillynPip]

Well done you and Toddy. Wishing him a speedy recovery. :thumbsup:

 

[~Annie~]

Really pleased to read that Toddy is healing up nicely Eve

- Great pictures - helps us to form a better opinion. After having 2 large wounds on our whippies stitched - i know that they do not heal well and leave nasty scars.

The last two wounds we have had have been smaller( around your size) . We followed the wise words of Fallenangel( wendy) and her sidekick Doobrifirkin(tony) and dressed the wound with 'wound powder'. Yes it took longer to heal but the result was much better.

Its awful though when its your dog- al logic and reason go out of the window. :wub:

I wonder whether the freshness of the wound and the experience of the vet are factors here. The bite Finn sustained as a youngster was large enough to warrant stitching but healed really well and hardly left a scar at all. The worst of it is hidden by his leg here but just to give you an idea of the size of the wound. Where your experience re. stitches was bad mine was great.

 

[jinnyfizz]

Nice to see that Toddy is healing up well, Eve

My beautiful black Jinny had a bite on top of her shoulder area which I left unstitched due to her having an allergic reaction to metal (injections are a nightmare for her). She hasn't scarred at all and, being black, it would show if she had!

I doubt that the Todster will scar as he has the added advantage of being a tad on the brindle side :thumbsup:

Have a nice weekend

 

[eve]

Toddy is doing OK but I am not entirely happy with the wound.

The wound is a bit crusty and has a slightly raised flap of skin (not dead skin though). It has started weeping a bit. He has several days antibiotics left though. I have stopped using the Intrasite as it seems to really drive him mad and he scratches the wound (howling in agony at the same time). Just bathing with saline and using the honey. It will just take time. :luck: :unsure: