Skin Tear Near Eye

[lovinggreysslp]

Yesterday, two of the hounds had a quick spat over a piece of dog treat on the floor. My fault for walking away without seeing the darn crumb on the floor. Holmes ended up with a 1/2 inch gash near his eye. We were off due to snow storm causing dangerous road conditions. Our regular vet is 25 minutes away on a good day so we had to go to a local vet. Good news was that the eye was not injured. Vet did not recommend stitching because the stitch might cause more itching and rubbing. So, we came home with cephalaxin and instructions to clean wound with hydrogren peroxide 2 times per day. When I leave, I muzzle all hounds but any ideas on what to do with Holmes. The muzzle would hit the wound. Thanks in advance for ideas.

[Guest TheDoggfather]

If there's a bit of a gouge under the eye, I'd be a little reticent to use the peroxide as it could sting... instead, and just as good, flush the area with water and apply a glob of Bag Balm to the wound. We use BB for just about everything.

 

As far as helping with the muzzle... got any moleskin?

Edited January 8, 2010 by TheDoggfather

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

I take it you dont have a crate handy? If you do, just crate him. Do you muzzle all the dogs so that there are no fights when you are gone, or does someone get into trouble when you are gone? If you dont trust him unmuzzled around the other hounds, what about gating him in another portion of the house?

[Guest Vers]

Could you get an Australian nylon muzzle? They are very, very light, and the nose bridge is much lower than the standard kennel muzzle and should be well away from his eye. I think there's a member here who has started selling them -- anyone know?

[lovinggreysslp]

Thanks for the suggestions. I do have all muzzles padded with soft weatherstripping. I do have a crate but he is extremely skiddish about being in a crate and will try everything to get out so that would not be good for his skin tear. He has seperation issues so keeping him away from the other hounds also would not work well. I will look into the nylon muzzle. I do have bag balm. The local vet said to not put neosporin on the wound because that would actually slow down the healing process. I had never heard that before.

[Guest Vers]

Here's a link to the Austalian muzzles; they're at the bottom of that page. Hope your pup heals quickly1

[Guest greytbookert]

Thanks for the suggestions. I do have all muzzles padded with soft weatherstripping. I do have a crate but he is extremely skiddish about being in a crate and will try everything to get out so that would not be good for his skin tear. He has seperation issues so keeping him away from the other hounds also would not work well. I will look into the nylon muzzle. I do have bag balm. The local vet said to not put neosporin on the wound because that would actually slow down the healing process. I had never heard that before.

IIRC - Hydrogen peroxide is caustic and would slow the healing more than Neosporin would, no?

[lovinggreysslp]

That was my thought too about the hydrogen peroxide. Holmes is going in for his dental next Thursday so I will get our regular vet's scoop on what helps promote healing. We have had skin tears before but in places that could be covered like legs. Thanks for the link to the muzzle.

[Guest Vers]

I don't have much experience with it though I keep it in the dogs' first aid kit, but would EMT gel help heal the gash? Perhaps someone here more knowledgeable or your vet could weigh in whether that could help?

[ahicks51]

If your home is large enough, can you physically separate the dogs, obviating the need for muzzles? In other words, move the cushions, put down an extra water bowl, put up a baby gate, and make sure everyone is well-fed (and sleepy!) when you leave. Heck, add a Benadryl if it'll help.