Helpful nursing advice with injured dog

monkeysnapper

My westie was attacked yesterday by 2 large dogs and have done quite a lot of damage .

My vet says she was lucky because they attacked her at each end and not her body part , she has a good bit of light stitching as he says he wants her to weep if she needs to.

She looks a real mess and she is god bless her , she was drinking water and seems alert , she can't walk because of her back leg is badly hurt. I'm just looking for advice from people on how I can help her over next few days .

Giving her pills when not eating
.
Should I bath her stitches.

And anything els I need to do to make her comfortable
Thank you in advance

kathleen37

Oh wow - what a terrible, terrible thing to happen - that must have been terrifying. I'm so glad your girl made it.

Leaving aside the disgust at such an awful thing happening - your girl should be ok now that the vet has seen her. If you have any queries, or concerns about her - then phone your vet straight away.

I think the main thing is to keep her quiet if you can so she can rest. Personally - I would leave her stitches as it will be sore for her. You also have to be confident around her, as I'm sure she was terribly frightened, and the fact she's still sore now - you will have to give her confidence that she's ok.

If she's not walking, you'll need to make sure you take her outside regularly so she can pee and poo. Hopefully your vet will have shown you how to lift her to avoid too much movement in her bad leg. Usually, you can pick you with your hands between her front legs, and between her back legs, so you're supporting her completely from underneath. without too much interference of her legs.

I'm sure the other guys will be along with lots of good advice. Take it easy and be kind to both of you's!

Sorry - I missed about the pills. Do you mean she's not allowed to eat, or that she isn't eating anything? I think you need to speak to the vet about that if she's not touching anything at all.

tk123

Your poor dog!

Any time I've had stitches to take care of I was told to keep them clean and dry.

Will she take any treats at all that you could hide the pills in? I use Lidl's sausage dog treats for my boy's medicine every day. I've hidden them in blueberries too lol.

TopTec

Oh how awful for him and you. Hoping she recovers completely.

One of my girls, (Shih Tzu), has just recovered from cancer surgery and had some major stitching done to her belly. Twice a day I gently bathed her wounds in a warm solution of sea salt and warm water, gently removing any weepage or debris. She was still on painkillers so it didn't bother her too much. Wounds closed up beautifully.

You can get sea salt in those little spice jars in Lidl's.

She is very fussy over taking pills and I tried the pill in a treat trick to no effect as her appetite went completely, so I had to do the 'push the pill to the back of her mouth and hold her muzzle closed' technique and soon got the hang of it.

TT

aonb

Your poor dog.
Poor you experiencing that

I would phone vet the and ask if you need to bathe the wounds

Lifting her in/out to pee & poo every few hours would be important

Once the shock and effects of the surgery wear off she will hopefully be
eating again. Find something that she LOVES to hide the pills in - with my lot it was a piece of cheese or a spoon of peanut butter, or a spoon of pate - something that will 'stick' to the tablet.

Her bowel could be affected by the anaesthetic/shock, so gentle things for her tummy and that wont cause issues when she poo's - eg boiled chicken for a few days

Keep her warm, and stay around her so she isnt trying to get up to be with you

Hope she recovers quickly now

monkeysnapper

Thank you all so much for advice.

I had to push pills into her mouth the way topdec said.

She actually got out of bed today hobbled to drink water then went to window , I've never been happier , she did her business out side, she seems a bit happier today .

I'm going to chance blankets soon, and check her underside . I like idea of sea salt .

tk123

When is she due back at the vets to be checked? Mine would have us back every 3 days to check on the wound/stitches and clean them up if needed. I wouldn't mess with them myself for fear of opening up the wound and causing scaring so I'd double check with the vet first. My girl cut her paw badly last year and some of the stitches started to cut into her so the vet took them out - if I had of been bathing and cleaning them myself I wouldn't have realised there was a problem with those ones.

monkeysnapper

I'm taking her back this evening to have a check up , I haven't done anything to her really other than change blankets , carry her out side for pee, the one good thing is her body (belly ) is good for carrying . she eat a small bit today which I'm happy with .

My other westie who wasn't hurt tried to take some of her chicken this morning and he got a very rude reply which shows she's still boss .

Its just a time thing I feel . she can hobble away but chooses not to , I'm glad about that . she's getting rest and spoilt by children .

andreac

Awh your poor doggy, what an awful thing to happen. Im sure she will improve day by day, but main thing is to keep her comfy ad just let her do things at her own pace.
Hopefully she feels better soon.

monkeysnapper

My poor girl lost her battle this morning . she was such a brave girl and was making progress although she was so badly injured .

She had to stay over night in vets as she got an infection which vet said was kind of expected as injury's were so bad and put her on drip .vet said a problem acured with artery and she bleed to death .

So hard telling kids , that has to be one of the toughest days I've ever had .

Thank you all for your advice

TopTec

Oh no. I felt like she was going to pull through. I feel your pain Monkey Snapper. Awful for you.

TT

Bells21

monkeysnapper wrote:

My poor girl lost her battle this morning . she was such a brave girl and was making progress although she was so badly injured .

I'm so sorry to hear that she's passed. What an awful time for you and your family. She was very clearly loved. Rip

Raminahobbin

Oh god, I didn't expect that

I'm so very, very sorry for your loss- how horrific for you all

Stheno

Oh that's awful news, poor you, and your family, I'm so very sorry.

DBB

Oh no
That is heartbreaking op, I'm so sorry. She deserved to pull through after such an ordeal.

maggiepip

Ah no. I'm so so sorry.

andreac

Oh no. That's so sad. So sorry for your loss. Run free sweet girl xx

tk123

This is terrible Poor dog and poor you OP.

Ms Doubtfire1

Oh so so sorry to read that. your poor doggie. I do hope you have reported this to the gardai, owners of dogs like that need a serious slap on the wrist.. May your girl rest in peace...:(

muddypaws

I'm so sorry to read this. Take care of yourself.

Shint0

So very sad for you, OP, and your poor little mite. I had seen this thread last week. Then I saw your post in another forum just now that she had passed away and I remembered it was you who had posted here. Sometimes there is no justice in the world. Hope you and your family are doing ok.