Clean wounds on a dog???

[mudskippers]

Hello everyone...

Occasionally we leave our two dogs, Cal-E and Rex outside when we leave the house, and so thats exactly what we did today... Just when we arrived to do a bit of grocery shopping, the rain started pouring... us immediately thinking, "poor dogs".....
When we get home I grab a towel as I am expecting to wipe a bunch of mud of the dogs, when I notice that Rex had bloody paw prints. :( My heart sinks as I am trying to calm him and see exactly what the damage is... Meanwhile Cal-E and my 2year old son are trying to touch the blood on the floor.... oh jeeze...

After we finally cleaned him off, the damage isn't as bad as the blood all over the floor made it seem like, but I still was wondering if there is anything that I can do to help his wounds heal... ?

On the bottom of his left paw he is missing a small sliver,
On one of his legs its bruised and has a small gash,
and then there are a little scrapes on his other legs...

Looking at the damage isn't easy because I over love my dog.. lol... but all in all, realistically, I think he will be just fine, But Im just wondering if anyone knows some type of anti bacterial something that I could put on the wounds..? Or just leave him be?....

[lazyNode]

Not sure if its available in USA, but diluted tea tree oil can help.

I believe Melafix uses a very similar oil. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melaleuca)

[Radar]

We have always used Neosporin.But I always kinda try to keep a close eye on them when we do use it that they don't lick it off.The vet told us to pick some up and use it when we had our first dog spayed.

[catfish69hunter]

neosporian... i think thats how its spelled. there is also the cow udder salve. either one should help protect from infection. but if the one is on the bottom of the paw there is not much you can do without a bandage for the wound

[Emily921]

I agree with the Neosporian. When I worked at the vets office, that is what they wanted us to use. You can buy Pet Wrap and it will keep them from licking it off.

[judgemax]

Well, honestly, he will keep the wounds clean himself. The best advice I can offer, is to make sure, after going outside, you wipe it off, and make sure nothing is is it.

Do you know what caused it?.

Dog wounds tend to heal fairly well on their own. The foot is a pretty easy area for them to maintain on their own as well. I would suggest keeping an eye on it, to make sure its not getting infected, ie: puss, swelling, diarrhea ( yes its a symptom) and let nature take its course, unless its a cut that really needs something, i try not to use anything on my dogs.

In todays market you never really know what is added to a product, and that thought scares me more than anything.

[Sploke]

If its having trouble staying closed and scabbing over, neosporin and vet-wrap is probably all thats necessary. But like JM said, as long as you keep it pretty clean, it will probably take care of itself. My dog had a 2" laceration on its side this past spring, we shaved the area and put neosporin and wrapped him up in vet wrap until we could get him to the vet, ended up needing a dozen or so staples. If they're just smaller scrapes etc, they should heal up pretty quickly.

[excuzzzeme]

I am concerned over how this might have happened. If there is a chance that it is a wild animal I suggest calling the vet.

[equus_peduus]

I wouldn't recommend tea tree oil - if not diluted enough, it can and will cause liver failure in many animals. And I've never heard of it being used as a topical for wound management, but then again, I don't keep up on alternative therapies much right now.

A dog licking its wounds occasionally is one thing, but if it's licking constantly, get an e-collar. Yeah, they say that dogs have antibacterial stuff in their saliva... but they also have nastiness in there. There's a reason dog bites get infected.

Cow udder salve is designed to moisturize, not clean.

Careful with vet-wrap, it tightens over time, causing cut off circulation. If you use it (which I don't think there's any reason to), lay it on, don't tighten as it's applied.

I wouldn't put anything on it. Keep the wounds clean and dry. Look at them once or twice a day, and make sure that they look pink and healthy - no redness, bleeding, foul odor, bleeding, etc... you probably know what scabs should look like. If he gets them dirty, wash gently with warm water, and dry off. Big wounds would benefit from stitches, but smaller lacerations and scrapes are probably fine on their own. E-collar if excess licking.

[mudskippers]

Thanks everyone for all your responses... greatly appreciated

I think I might try a little neosporine and just keep an eye on him... His wounds are sad, but luckily enough, I dont think any of them require stitches...
I just dont want to waste money going to the vet if this is something that we can care for him on our own... The vet wants $50 bucks just to even look at him!
Ill keep a close eye on how everything heals, and hopefully for the most part, nature will take its course and make it all right again...

As for how it happened, I have no clue...
When we came home, it was still pouring rain, so the rain pretty much washed away any evidence as to where he originally got cut up... It also could have been my other dog Cal-E.... They both get along with each other great, but it could have been one of those times when Cal-E (2+years old, very easy going) gets annoyed of his puppy energy......... I dont really know...
When my bf and I were laying next to Rex Caring for him, Cal-E knew that he was hurt and she seemed very caring for him licking his face and acting very concerned, so I know that even if she did it, she's sorry...

But I really cant make any since of how this happened because of how all the scrapes are either on his paws or on the lower portion of his legs with no indication of bite marks or anything...

Thanks again everyone for your responses...

[judgemax]

seems to me , that maybe he was digging for something?.

[mudskippers]

nope, no holes... or should I say... no new ones.. lol

Just now I was opening the windows and along the outside of the window seal is a bunch of blood, so maybe he was trying to break through the window to get out of the rain.... but I dont really know because the screen isn't scratched up or anything, just blood.... makes me sad, epically because I dont know what he got hurt from to prevent it...

Its still too hard to do any investigating because it is still raining out side... which is weird because we live in AZ.... just the other day it was 108 lol....


His opean cuts on his paws keep opening back up and letting a little drip out,... hard to tell a dog he needs to stay off his feet... lol... Just sucks more that our backyard is a big mud pile right now, so its difficult keeping him clean....

all in all, im babying him to the extreme, lol...
im sure he will be just fine....

Thanks again everyone...

[cap1384]

its common for inside dogs to loose parts of the pads on their paws use wound cote blue one the open wound you can get it at most feed supply stores it will cover and treat the wound it will help i have used it on myself

[mudskippers]

well, a little late, (internet connection trouble) but apparently our landlord had came into our backyard that night and left a huge window in our backyard that he wanted to save.....who knows why... and so obvisiosly it got broke and thats how Rex got all cut up.... :(


His cuts are all healing really well, seems to be on the right track.... But the only thing is is that he is really depressed. Never wants to play, dosn't bark at the doorbell anymore, nothing....
Im hoping that he will soon be "Rex" again once he is fully better....

[cap1384]

give him time his feet hurt i would be depressed to i would kill the landlord