Guest limbrooke83 Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Hey everyone - I was gone for awhile today, and when I got home noticed a patch of red, raw skin on DeeDee's right hind leg. It must have been there earlier, since she is muzzled while I'm gone due to some lingering SA effects and the desire to chew electrical cords when alone. She does have dry skin issues (has had for several weeks now), probably due to it being winter and thus pretty dry everywhere. We have her on fish oil, but just started it about a week and a half ago (maybe two), so it hasn't reached its full potential yet. We do sometimes catch her licking/biting at her legs and stop her if it seems excessive, so I'm thinking maybe she did this to herself during the night last night. It also looks like it might be a little bruised around the wound, so maybe she hit it on something while I was gone... it just looks a little odd for that type of injury. I'm not sure what to do to keep her wound clean and make sure she doesn't lick it. I tried disinfecting it and wrapping to make sure she didn't lick it, but of course the wrap wouldn't stay on despite my best efforts. Should I just disinfect it a few times a day and keep an eye on her licking habits? It looks like she may have broken skin, but I'm honestly not sure. Here are a couple of pics: Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mcsheltie Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 If she has just recently started chewing on her legs, and hasn't in the past, she may be having a reaction to something. You started the fish oil a week and a half ago. Did the leg chewing start shortly after? Any food changes or laundry detergent changes since she started the licking? I would keep her from licking it. Use whatever means you need to. If she has to wear a muzzle or pants or both, so be it. But you need to find out if it will heal on it's own. If it doesn't it may be caused by a staph infection or some type of skin problem that you need to see a vet for. If it heals and you take off the muzzle and she starts licking again you need to figure out what she is reacting to. You might need help from your vet to do that. Genesis spray and Temaril P can help relieve the itchiness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Energy11 Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Looks kind of "nasty." I'd get the vet to take a look, just to be safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest limbrooke83 Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Thanks for all the advice. She hasn't started any new foods other than the fish oil, and we haven't changed laundry detergents or anything like that. She was actually doing a lot more licking/etc prior to starting the fish oil, and was shedding more, too. The fish oil has certainly helped, so we're waiting it out until it fully builds up in her system. Her red area looks a tiny bit better I think today, and certainly not worse, so I'm planning to wait a couple more days to see what changes occur before considering the vet. As I thought back over yesterday again, I remember she did hit her thigh/leg on a table a little while before I left, and I remember having a small dog once whose tummy suddenly looked just like DeeDee's leg, but when we took her to the vet they said she had probably fallen off something and it was really just a bad bruise. DeeDee hasn't been obsessively licking at that spot. She does try to groom it (and other areas) like greyhounds do, but when she grooms that spot I tell her to stop and she does. I think if it were really bugging her she would keep trying to go back to licking it... right? Also, she's not limping or acting like she's in pain, so that's a good thing. So... I'll keep a close eye on it over the next few days. If there's no change (or if it gets worse) we'll get her to the vet. I'll post back as things progress... Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbhounds Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Honestly--it looks like a bruise to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest limbrooke83 Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 Honestly--it looks like a bruise to me Yep - after seeing it again today I'll have to agree. It freaked me out at first because this is only the second time I'd seen this on a dog, and the first was years ago when I was a kid. I also knew DeeDee had been doing more than the usual amount of licking with her dry skin and all, so my first thought was she'd overdone it. Her leg looks much, much better today. I can still see where the bruise was, but it's not nearly as red as before (the pics didn't really do it justice before, but they were the best I could get). So it's a happy, easy ending for my girl with this particular injury. Yay! Thanks again for the input, everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Energy11 Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 Glad to hear Miss Dee Dee is doing better. Good news is always wonderful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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