Skinned His Foot And Heel Good

[Guest driser]

Came on looking for advice about skinned body parts. Read good advice at:

http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/276598-skin-tear/page__hl__%2Bskinned+%2Bknee

 

Our guy bit it tonight on the driveway. Skinned himself pretty good on back foot above top pad and heel. He got up as if nothing happened and is not limping, but the fur skid-mark was an indicator that he had done something to his backside. Cleaned him up with a clean hot washcloth and sprayed antiseptic spray with an stop-lick ingredient. He's sleeping in his crate now which means he's not licking! I'm letting him be so his boo boos can air dry and stop bleeding so I can put some antibiotic ointment on them.

 

My question is about his back leg thigh muscle. I can see where he landed on it (it's red) and imagine it's going to leave a bruise and possibly be sore tomorrow. Tips for soreness? I don't imagine there's anything I can give him orally. What about warm compress? or just extra love and biscuits?

[PrairieProf]

Well if were mine and she were sore I'd give her some Deramaxx [dog NSAID] which I always keep on hand (just like I'd take ibuprofen myself). Hopefully others will advise you what you can give without going to the vet.

[Guest sireltonsmom]

Traumeel comes in pill and cream form. It's available at natural food places like Richard's Whole Foods. It's a pain reliever. Sir Elton is on the pill form. One twice a day. My friend uses the cream on herself also for bruises and sore places. Kiss his hurt. Hope it heals well

 

By the way, for his hock, you could check to see if soaking his foot for 10 min in Epsom salts in very warm water is ok. That helped Sir Doggie too.

[chelseasmom]

Ditto the Traumeel.

[silverfish]

I imagine he's just bruised his thigh muscle. Not a lot you can do, really, apart from pain relief if he's really, really sore. It'll heal by itself.

 

If the skinned bit doesn't heal quickly, try a manuka honey dressing. It's what I always use now for those broad, open wounds. You need at least 10UMF and you just spread it on a gauze dressing (or a non-stick dressing) and tape it in place with Micropore or something. Leave it on until you see that fluids are leaking, then change it. Fluids are supposed to leak with honey dressings, it's one of the ways they work to keep infection out and swelling down. You can use them for slow-healing wounds of any kind, but if it's post surgical or very large or stitched, you really do need to get the medical grade honey.

 

Jeffie did almost the same thing recently, and skinned the back of one hind leg below the hock really nastily. Two or three days of honey dressings and it's dry and healing beautifully.

[Guest Liz]

I imagine he's just bruised his thigh muscle. Not a lot you can do, really, apart from pain relief if he's really, really sore. It'll heal by itself.

 

If the skinned bit doesn't heal quickly, try a manuka honey dressing. It's what I always use now for those broad, open wounds. You need at least 10UMF and you just spread it on a gauze dressing (or a non-stick dressing) and tape it in place with Micropore or something. Leave it on until you see that fluids are leaking, then change it. Fluids are supposed to leak with honey dressings, it's one of the ways they work to keep infection out and swelling down. You can use them for slow-healing wounds of any kind, but if it's post surgical or very large or stitched, you really do need to get the medical grade honey.

 

Jeffie did almost the same thing recently, and skinned the back of one hind leg below the hock really nastily. Two or three days of honey dressings and it's dry and healing beautifully.

What is 10UMF? and where can I get this manuka dressing? Our Darby skinned his leg pretty bad and I have had to keep it wrapped because he wants to lick at it. I didn't take him to the vets because there is nothing they can stitch but I did clean it out well and I have him on antibiotics but I need something to help heal and dry out the wound.

[silverfish]

Manuka honey is graded according to effectiveness, and they use a scale called 'UMF', which means 'Unique Manuka Factor' because they don't actually yet know what it is in the honey that does the job! It is not simply the peroxide effect that is found in pretty much all honey, it's something unique to honey collected from the manuka flowers. It is antibacterial, anti-viral and as good for you inside the body as outside it. It's even been found to be effective against MRSA.

 

All you do is go into a supermarket (at least in England) or pharmacy or health food store and pick up a jar of Manuka honey. You'll find the grading on the label. The lowest is UMF5, but that's pretty useless for wounds. Get UMF10 or above, as high as you can afford. The better the quality, the more expensive it is, and this honey gets VERY expensive at higher grades (although still cheaper than the vets bill). You can also buy a tube of pure Manuka honey gel from the New Zealand honey shops online, made specially for wound use - although if you buy a jar, you can eat it on toast too, and it's really strong-tasting and nice. Just be sure not to contaminate the jar if you're going to use it for both minor wounds and eating. You could divide it up and put some aside in a clean jar for eating.

 

Then having bought your honey, just spread it onto a piece of gauze or a non-stick dressing apply it to the cleaned wound, and tape it in place. You can buy specialist honey gel dressings but they cost an arm and a leg and are not really necessary, except for surgical wounds, extra deep wounds or burns.

[racindog]

Ditto the Traumeel.

 

Third the Traumeel. It is WONDERFUL. Very effective. I have used it on myself and there is even a study on human dental patients that shows its effectiveness. Arnica (which Traumeel) contains is good if you don't have Traumeel. I also use the creme on my greys that have back issues along with the drops-very easy to administer- and both work greyt.

For actual wounds I also agree with the real Manuka honey. It would be hard to beat for effectiveness.

Edited November 9, 2012 by racindog

[Guest FinnsMom]

We had a similar accident with Finn. After trying a few things that didn't work, we finally bought and sprayed the wound with colloidal silver and then put a wool sock over it to keep it covered so he wouldn't lick it, and so that it would still get the air it needed to heel.