Why wont my dogs wound heal?
Asked by
naivete (
2463
)
February 2nd, 2010
My dog recently suffered an injury (a cut) that is located at the base of his tail. We are unsure as to if he was bitten by an animal or not. We took him to the vet where they stitched him up and sent us home. We’ve been noticing that he attempts to keep licking the wound (even when he has a cone that prevents him from doing so). We took him back to the vet 2 days ago who assured us that his wound was fine. HOWEVER, as we look at his wound right now it seems to be getting worse. Pus (his wound looks wet) seems to be coming out of the cut. We’re wondering what this is and if it’s normal. He has been taking antibiotics called Novolexin.
Please help!
He is a Male Labrador Retriever who is 2 years old.
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4 Answers
It’s natural for dogs to lick their open wound. A wet wound is a bad idea for your dog since it could cause bacterial organism to interfere its wound development. Put some honey on its wound. It won’t only kills the bacterial organism but will help to cure its wound and provide tasty safe-licking-snack for your dog as he licks on it.
@Doctor_D why would you put honey on a wound, if you don’t want your dog to lick it? Maybe, I’m missing something here.
If the wound has changed for the worse since the vet saw it two days ago, you need to get the vet to take another look at it. It may have become infected since then, even if the dog is on antibiotics. Some antibiotics are quite specific as to which organisms they kill so others can sneak into a wound in spite of the medication.
Honey does indeed have some antimicrobial characteristics. According to this site these can be summed up as:
1) Honey is a saturated or supersaturated solution of sugars that has strong interaction with water molecules. The lack of ‘free’ water inhibits the growth of microorganisms.
2) When honey is diluted by wound exudates, hydrogen peroxide is produced via a glucose oxidase enzyme reaction. This is released slowly to provide antibacterial activity but does not damage tissue.
3) Some honeys still have antimicrobial activity even when hydrogen peroxide activity has been removed. The honey from Manuka trees (Leptospermum scoparium) has been found to have high levels of this antibacterial phytochemical.
What @Doctor_D is saying is that it won’t hurt the dog to lick the honey off the wound, and the honey will help control the bacteria.
Are you making sure the wound is cleaned every day? Dogs lay everywhere and its possible its just getting dirty. When my dog got an infection, I made sure to clean it 3 times a day with witch hazel and put anti baterial ointment on it afterwards and cover it up with guaze. The witch hazel works like peroxide and will help bring down any swelling. I would put it on a cotton ball and hold it on the infection for at least 5 minutes before putting on the cream. But if he has had it for some time he may need a stronger dose of antibiotics. Good luck.
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