Guest Grapehound Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 So Raisin had dinner and was playing very exuberantly with a new stuffie when I noticed blood on the carpet. It took a bit to get her to calm down enough for an exam, but she seems to have scraped the back of her front foot. She has a scrape in the pink part right behind her paw and a deeper (but still pretty superficial) scratch a little above it. It had mostly stopped bleeding when I caught her and I just held pressure with a paper towel until it totally stopped, then I cleaned it with peroxide and she seems no worse for the wear. She's sleeping on the couch now. While I'll be down on the carpet working on the bloodstains! My question is, any warning signs that it's not healing I should look for? I do have some neosporin, should I put that on, or only if it starts to look red or swollen? Also, should I be worried about what she cut herself on? I can't imagine what in the house caused it, unless she ran into herself with her back toenails. Just want to be cautious since this is the first injury we've had! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sorenkkg Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 (edited) I remember our first injury-- it was nothing much, but we thought OMG it's raw and open and EEK and went to the emerg vet at 11pm... and they basically laughed at us Greys have VERY thin skin... so what you want to do is up to you-- IMO I'd now see if its something she's licking a lot-- if so, some neosporin and a gauze pad and some vet wrap (though I also keep the human equivalent onhand, since it's not too expensive and works pretty well), and then put a sock over it and use bandage tape to keep the sock in place. Check it daily, and when it's starting to heal, you can take it all off. If she's not licking it, then leave it be-- even if she licks it a bit, as long as it doesn't get worse, nature will take it's course. I mostly only worry now about stuff on the pads of the feet-- greys in the fall and spring just seem injury prone so evaluate everything, and get a vet's opinion if you're not sure... welcome to grey-mommy-hood! p.s. sorry, maybe I didn't answer the original question-- it's not healing if the wound stays open and raw or gets worse, if it bleeds more and more instead of less and less... basically like a humans... if it gets infected you'll know-- hot, puss-ie, etc. Edited September 11, 2007 by sorenkkg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest meakah Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 (edited) I would just clean it up some (as you did)...I am a Betadine fan.....and dab some neosporin on it and leave it be. If it is oozing then you may want to put some non-stick pads/gauze and vetwrap on it to soak it up but from your description it doesn't sound like it is. If it is just a scrape it should be healing well within a couple of days. If there is a great deal of redness that appears after a day or two then there may be a bit of an infection starting. Out of all the oozing bad wounds Koda has gotten....including ones exposing muscle and bone.....she has never gotten an infection. Keeping it clean is key. If it is just a scrape on the skin it should heal up in no time with little to no care. And it does sound like she may have gotten it from her back claws....common injury. Those greys and their paper thin skin..... Edited September 11, 2007 by meakah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SoulsMom Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 Soul cut his foot running in the snow last winter. Then he proceeded to lick and lick it and it became swollen and infected. It seemed like it took forever to heal, but it finally did. My advice is keep it clean and don't let her lick it! We finally had to keep his foot wrapped during the day and unwrapped at night to get it to heal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ellieb Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 Stock up on toddler socks! They are the best cover up to prevent licking. I usually layer: 1) Polysporin 2) gauze pad 3) non-stick gauze wrap 4) toddler sock. You can always use some adhesive tape over the sock. Indigo is constantly scraping herself up. We have a concrete patio and set of 3 steps that come into the back door. She makes me crazy. I wish I could pad the concrete! Max is more durable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeofNE Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 (edited) My George had his first boo boo recently, and the very smart Meredith recommended EMT Gel or spray. Sort of skin glue! I suggested they hand out a tube with every new adoption!!! I ordered it on line. George's cut was like a slit, and it was moving around and gross, but not really bloody. Having had animals my whole life, I tried very hard not to over react and race him off to the doctor! It's fine now-- I did the Betadine wash, then I used some Bacitracin, and a big band aide. It turns out the band aide ended up making a sore where it was sticking to his "thigh," but it did hold the skin together somewhat. Welcome to Greyhound parenthood to BOTH of us! Edited September 11, 2007 by JumpingGeorge Quote Susan, Hamish, Mister Bigglesworth and Nikita Stanislav. Missing Ming, George, and Buck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest spider9174 Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 similar story here! my pup cut one of his pads. we did what we could to clean up and get it as stopped as we could. it was more superficial, but was oosing a little. so...off to petco. the wound wasn't deep enough to take him to the vet so i'm at petco with my dh about 10 minutes before they closed. i have two doggie vet books open on how to clean him up and bandage him. we buy one of the books, vet wrap, pad wax, topical ointment stuff, betadine, etc. you name it we picked it up if we think it would help the coming bandaging. $70 later...we are at home and i have dh holding gable. i am reading the vet book as i clean his wound, put some stuff on it, gauze and bandage him up. poor pup was walking around for a couple of days with vetwrap on his paw. it was all a little comical...gable walks off like he has a huge weight on his paw and we take huge sighs like we'd just done major surgery. the big problem with greys...it doesn't take much to make them bleed a lot and any time you have a paw injury, you have to make sure it is kept clean and bandaged until it stops oozing. and well...a paw injury means you probably have a blood trail everywhere. i suggest picking up one of the emergency first aid vet books at border's or pet co and preparing a first aide kit for your pup. that way you won't end up like me...at the store picking up everything you can without actually thinking whether i will need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sorenkkg Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 Oh-- another thing to have around in addition to socks you don't care about is some doggie shoes-- we have mutt-luks (unlined-- yellow rain boots essentially). He hates them and won't wear all 4 and not for their intended purpose of protection from the winter BUT they work awesome when/if he's got a sock on his foot for a paw injury-- slip the bootie on for walks, and they've got velcro so they stay on. Take it off after the walk though b/c they don't breathe, and make sure to change the dressing 1x a day at least... But ya-- paw pads, in between the toes, and general cuts and scrapes-- you get used to them eventually Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Grapehound Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 Raisin was a good girl last night and didn't lick her wound at all. She licked all three other feet, go figure. Today it looks a lot better, just kind of scabby, not red or swollen at all. I definitely need to put together a first-aid kit for her; I've been meaning to, but you know how that goes. Besides wound stuff, any medications to keep on hand besides baby aspirin? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest meakah Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 (edited) Raisin was a good girl last night and didn't lick her wound at all. She licked all three other feet, go figure. Today it looks a lot better, just kind of scabby, not red or swollen at all. I definitely need to put together a first-aid kit for her; I've been meaning to, but you know how that goes. Besides wound stuff, any medications to keep on hand besides baby aspirin? Hydrogen Peroxide (when you need to induce vomitting) Benadryl ETA: Glad to hear it is healing up well! Edited September 12, 2007 by meakah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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