I got a dog that the hole won't heal up, its from a deep trauma (run over in the mid section by atv, just in front of the back legs behind the ribcage) that killed a lot of tissue deep in. That dead tissue has worked its way to the surface, I had a vet open a large pocket under the hide and install a drain tube, that worked well but then a week later it was time to take the tube out. The wound healed but then later filled back up with fluid and more dead tissue, the bottom where the drain tube was reopend so I left it to weep out. Its been healing up, refilling, then reopening for quite a few cycles now

the injury as best I can figure happened in june 2010, I didn't see any pockets until 0ct, vet opened the wound I think late november and its been draining since. I worked a little more dead tissue out and some fluid just today. not sure what to do about this.



The other side recently had a pocket swell up as well, the fur fell off, probaly a silver dollar size lump maybe a bit bigger, and it was purple looking.
I nicked that one with a knife, it drained a good amount of old blood and some dead tissue. Its healing up nice now. Wish the other side would heal as well. I want to train and work her some, but its winter too

this is a britt I'm trying to make a decent pointer for grouse, some rabbit too.

Dirtydude,
That is a common issue with deep wounds. It could be a couple of things. The first is that the wound is healing from the outside in. This causes a pocket which is perfect for microorganisms to breed and infection to set in..or their may be a little bit of debris still inside that is foreign material and the wound may heal around it but the body knows it doesn't belong so the dog's immune system kicks in in an attempt to remove the foreign debris...either way...the wound needs to be reopened and the dead tissue needs to be removed. If it is really deep a wet to dry dressing needs to be applied...basically a ball of gauze drenched in normal saline and the outer gauze being dry. With this, the saline will keep the inner part of the wound moist so the gauze doesn't stick (if it did and you removed it, it would rip the new tissue away that is starting to grow). With the gauze coming into contact with the tissue...it will stimulate tissue growth from the inside out which is what you want...and a pocket wont form...that and some antibiotics and the pooch will be good as new. I never had to do this with a dog...but I do it with people and it does the trick...if you do this...make sure you keep the gauze covered so the dog can't pull at it...maybe an ace bandage over...and if you can...get one of the cone collars that go on animals to keep them from biting themselves. Good luck

Buy a sterile staple gun and remover from KV Vet Supply. You can also get an antibiotic for fish tanks (I'd recommend cephalexin) to prevent infection. Clean it real good before you staple it. Leave a small opening for drainage. You can use a mixture of Betadine and peroxide on it daily. You can even flush the wound through the opening you left if it starts to get infected using a syringe with some of your Betadine/peroxide mixture.

The key is the antibiotics and keeping it clean. I'm no vet, but I know a regimen like this will get them on the mend in a week or so depending on the severity of the wound.

If you treat the dog daily with the antibiotics for a week or so and the Betadine, you shouldn't have any problems.

Jason , Duane and the Doc have it sorted for you in their advice here.

If you hunt stuff that cause open and deep flesh injuries to dogs try keep penicyllin ( I use Peni LA )with you while hunting. I think bears and cats are about the same when it comes to infection which is often far more dangerous than how bad the wound looks. As soon as you can after a contact inspect all your dogs carefully even for what might look like minute nicks in the skin and bite wounds and if these are evident inject your dogs as soon as you can. Then you can clean out the wounds as previously explained here.The cosmetic part of the treatment I regard as the last priority.

Please check and re-check rough coated dogs as bites and bad sratches are easily hidden by the dense coat and you will not necessarily see a trace of blood as a sign on the surface of the coat. A dog that appears unijured at the time might be returned to the kennel and die overnight from bad infection - its happened to me !!

Often ugly looking wounds where skin has parted will heal remarkably well without sutures and especially so if the dog can reach the effected area with its mouth. If this is possible most dogs will pull the stitches out with their teeth as the wound starts itching with the healing process just aggravating the situation.

I hope this serves to help out.

Roy.

Veterycin and then super glue...I have seen it work wonders on horses and cattle, I would imagine the same for dogs

You can get it at the vets, also Orschelns and other farm supply stores have started to carry it. It is worth it!

hey do you all worry about it if they just rip the hide?

My dog got a stick in between her legs and ripped the hide in a < shape about 1.5 inches by 1.5 inches

I rinsed all the dirt out but didn't have a staple gun or needle handy to hold the loose flap of skin back where it should be.

Didn't rip the muscle, just tore the skin. This on her inner thigh

washed with betadine (she didn't like that) and squirted vetricyn on it after.

Roy Sparks Hounds spent R114,000 in a single season, thats $14,000 USD on vet bills. I think that would cure me of hounds.

My first post here guys. I raise and hunt blueticks and have for years. All this sounds pretty standard to me. It's good advice.

One thing that hasn't been touched on is having a "country" veterinarian that you do business with. I've found that there are basically two types of veterinarians in the world, "country vets", and "poodle doctors".

When I lived and hunted in the Ozarks I had a country vet that I used all the time. I'd sometimes have to wait while he filed the teeth on a mule or something, but he would sew up a damaged hound for $25 and send you home with a bottle of penicillin for another $5. The veterinarian in town, the poodle doctor, would want to charge $200 for sewing up the dog and then keep it for 2 days observation, do some blood work, and take x-rays for another $800.

Wherever I set up housekeeping, one of the first orders of business is finding a country veterinarian for my dogs. The guy I'm using now also does large animals and owns his own ranch. A typical emergency visit is maybe $150, versus $300 to $500 most other places. The country vet doesn't mind you doing your own vaccinations and things, whereas the poodle doctor won't sell you the shots or equipment and insists on doing it himself. I also raise sheep, so I'm pretty good at vaccinations and I already have the equipment. I just buy the medicine from the vet or the feed store.

Anyway, just my $.02 on the topic. In other words, don't wait until you have an emergency before you pick out a vet. It can make a huge difference in the cost of care.

I've had to use a staple gun a couple of times. They don't sew cuts up as well as stitches, but they are stronger and easier to do yourself. You can find them all over online.

Iraq and Afghanistan we used the small 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch saftey pins.....not in dogs though....but they should work!

We kept hundreds of em and a bottle of alcohol.....super fast stitch kit!

i get all my supiles either online or at ifa

Hog hunters around here staple them up. One of the local vets sells them a tranquilizer that they use a couple of drops of to calm them dowm. Valley vet supply is where I order my horse meds. Much cheaper than local.

Old cowboy trick:

Carry a small hooked carpet needle in your hat if you can't get one from medical supply, with some strands of horse hair around your cap. When we were lion hunting, often a cat would take a swipe at a dog, a mule would stomp a dog, or dogs just get to fighting when the cat was bayed. Sewed up dog got a mule ride back to the truck, plenty of meds back at the ranch.

Once we "treed" two cats on top of a large rock, one big tom jumped off in the middle of 6 dogs, dogs ended up a mess with one dead and another ruined. Two of the mules were trying to get into the fight also, boxing with their front feet like you could never imagine. I had a little mare pack mule that was only 14 hands tall and she was bound and determined to kill that cat, all dogs, and anything else that got in her way. You just never know what is going to happen in a situation like this.

If you love your dogs, have a med kit to take care of them, good vets are great in helping with this. Prevention is cheap, infection is very, very expensive and time consuming. You also should be prepared to doctor each other, especially when you are a long ways in the middle of no where.

Life happens, take care of your dogs and each other!

Sam's Club is cheaper than a lot of vet supply companies depending on what you are ordering.