Deep wound not healing

[jmvallee]

3 weeks ago, I came home after running errands and found that 2 of my foster dogs had attacked my JR, Max. He had multiple deep bite wounds to his neck, legs, shoulders and hips.
He spent 4 days in the hospital and had daily bandage changes for 2 more weeks and 3 courses of antibiotics. Thankfully most of his wounds are healing albeit slowly.
I am most concerned about a deep puncture wound in his right front leg. It manifested about 10 days after the attack and the vet characterized it as a crush injury. It's about the size of a pencil and 1/2" deep. It's in the middle of the forearm.
When it first appeared, it was of course infected, and spewed all kinds of yuck. After a few days, it was a clean hole. But now it has started draining again, clotting up, then festering to drain some more. If this happened to me, I think my doctor would pack it to allow it to heal from the inside out.

Does anyone know if this is a protocol they use on dogs? I am deeply concerned as he will not put any weight on it unless he absolutely has to.

Any info will be greatly appreciated.

[jesse girl]

Re: Deep wound not healing

my jesse had an anal sak procedure the first vet opened it up gave some kind of cream to put on it and said let it drain $400.00 it oozed for about a month .

went to another vet he gassed he and put her under scraped the sak of bacteria and infection packed it with antibiotics and stitched her up . she was healed up in a couple weeks . i asked the vet to remove the sak because i didnt want to see this as a problem in the future he said things should be good . $440.00 . that was almost 4 years ago .

i think your vet is going in the wright direction. puncture holes by dogs can easily lead to infection and diabetic dogs can be more susceptible. and slower to heal depending on blood sugar .

i know we had a little dog who got torn up by some german shepards and took a long time to heal

[jmvallee]

Re: Deep wound not healing

I have been looking into packing it with sugar. Anyone ever do this?

my jesse had an anal sak procedure the first vet opened it up gave some kind of cream to put on it and said let it drain $400.00 it oozed for about a month .

went to another vet he gassed he and put her under scraped the sak of bacteria and infection packed it with antibiotics and stitched her up . she was healed up in a couple weeks . i asked the vet to remove the sak because i didnt want to see this as a problem in the future he said things should be good . $440.00 . that was almost 4 years ago .

i think your vet is going in the wright direction. puncture holes by dogs can easily lead to infection and diabetic dogs can be more susceptible. and slower to heal depending on blood sugar .

i know we had a little dog who got torn up by some german shepards and took a long time to heal

[ceruleanblue]

Re: Deep wound not healing

Sugar packing can work. I've seen that recommended for bad abscesses on the rat forum I'm a member of, but I've never done it myself. I would also keep it open to let it heal from the inside out. You can flush it at least twice a day with some saline. When Piper had sores on her leg, my vet recommended a chlorhexidine wash, followed by saline flush. If it's still draining anything colored, you may need another course of antibiotics to go along with the flushes.

[jmvallee]

Re: Deep wound not healing

All is well now. When I took the bandage off, it was not festering anymore.
It has begun to close from the bottom up and he's starting to put weight on it.
Now if I can keep him from overdoing it (like jumping off the couch even though I have steps). He gets tuckered out quick so that's in his favor.
His housemate, Grace (a boston terrier) sure will be glad when he can chase her again. She doesn't understand why he won't.

Sugar packing can work. I've seen that recommended for bad abscesses on the rat forum I'm a member of, but I've never done it myself. I would also keep it open to let it heal from the inside out. You can flush it at least twice a day with some saline. When Piper had sores on her leg, my vet recommended a chlorhexidine wash, followed by saline flush. If it's still draining anything colored, you may need another course of antibiotics to go along with the flushes.

[ceruleanblue]

Re: Deep wound not healing

Glad he's doing better! I hope it heals up quickly now!

[Denise]

Re: Deep wound not healing

Vetricin is a great product to keep around for all animal and people. Clear, non staining and doesn't sting. Can be used around eyes, in ears ....as for sugar, there is a product called Wound Honey.