dog with a little cut

jimini0

hi everyone my dog got a cut on his side when i spotted it first it just looked like he had rubbed against something and peeld back a small bit of skin like a graze humans get. but this morning when i got up he seems to have licked it all night and made it deeper looking. now he wont stop licking it. its not bleeding so i dont think he needs the vet????. is there anything i can put on it to help. any advice you give me would be greatly appreciated thanks

tk123

TBH I'd take him to the vets to be safe - it's an open wound and he could get infected. You could try getting a cone from the pet shop to stop him licking at it and making it worse but I wouldn't take a chance.

scudzilla

Our dog Brodi (Boxer) has had a few little cuts and such.
We just clean it up with some warm water and fertile then put some germaline on it.
All have healed up just fine .

If it was a large gaping wound we'd take her to the vets

jimini0

its not a gaping wound more of a graze i have cleaned it with warm water whats the best thing to sterilize it??? i was goin to use detol but thought i better ask first

scudzilla

jimini0 wrote: »

its not a gaping wound more of a graze i have cleaned it with warm water whats the best thing to sterilize it??? i was goin to use detol but thought i better ask first

Like I said in my post, clean it wit warm water and fertile then put some anti-sceptic cream like germaline on it. That'll do fine

jimini0

thanks very much scudzilla

anniehoo

Dont use Dettol, it stings too much. As Scudzilla said germolene will do the trick or get some Betadine in the chemist.

TooManyDogs

You can clean a wound with salty water too. Pour salt into a glass of boiling water and leave to cool.

+1 on a cone for him though, that will stop him constantly licking it

Susannahmia

Does it look like this?

Our dog has one like this at the minute and it started off like how you described it. Its called a hot spot. The vet says it can start from a little bite or anything and then is made worse and worse by the dog compulsively licking it. Without treatment eventually the bacteria from the mouth makes it infected and it can become bigger or even an ulcer.

Our dogs was pretty bad, she is on her second round of steroids and antibiotics now as the first time we stopped using the e collar too quickly. The e collar really was essential to stop the licking and let it heal. (I recommend this one) The vet also told us to bathe it 3 times a day with salt water only.

I wouldn't use cream or anything that will make it more moist, it needs to dry out, thats the mistake we were making before we went to the vet as we thought it might have been caused by dry skin, the antiseptic cream made it twice as bad.

scudzilla

anniehoo wrote: »

Dont use Dettol, it stings too much. As Scudzilla said germolene will do the trick or get some Betadine in the chemist.

That's why i said use it with warm water

tk123

Oops I should have said earlier but I was half asleep :pac: - if you're going to the pet shop for a cone see if they have the inflatable ones instead - they don't stress the dog out as much as cones. When our guy had his dressing and stitches removed I used the inflatable collar on him for a few days - he LOVED it and was acting like it was a comfy neck pillow and settled as soon as we put it on him !! BTW he wasn't sad in the pic - he was falling asleep when I took it!

Susannahmia

tk123 wrote: »

Oops I should have said earlier but I was half asleep :pac: - if you're going to the pet shop for a cone see if they have the inflatable ones instead - they don't stress the dog out as much as cones. When our guy had his dressing and stitches removed I used the inflatable collar on him for a few days - he LOVED it and was acting like it was a comfy neck pillow and settled as soon as we put it on him !! BTW he wasn't sad in the pic - he was falling asleep when I took it!

Lol same here with ours, she was terrified of the cone but didn't mind the inflatable one.

The Sweeper

Never use dettol or other similar disinfectants on a dog or cat. They're too strong and can burn the skin. Warm salted water is a better idea on minor cuts, and you can also look at 2% or 3% hydrogen peroxide for cuts and grazes, but again never clean a deep wound or puncture with anything except warm saline (and then you should only be doing that if you can't get the dog to a vet).

jimini0

susannahmia it does not look like that. i have used the germolene but i asked a family friend who has lots of dogs and he told me to use salt water its the best for that and if it starts looking worse after 2 days bring him to the vet so fingers crossed it gets better cos my fella hates the vet. thanks everyone for your answers and suggestions

jimini0

just thought i would update ye on my dogs cut.
i had to bring him to the vet yesterday morning. he is now on anti biotics, pain killers and a cream for the cut.
vet said the constant licking at night time when we were not around has made it infected. i think he also started biting it cos it got deeper and open on monday morning. well he is on the mend now so hopefully a couple of days we will see an improvement.

thanks again everyone for your advice i just wish i had taken your advice and brought him to the vet from the start but it was only a graze in the begining.
anyways thanks again

beanie.

Tea tree oil is a handy thing to keep in or as a doggy first aid box.
It's a natural antiseptic, doesn't sting too much, and the smell and taste will usually prevent the dog from licking a wound. Very handy for out of hours (minor) incidents.