How to cure a wound to a dog

Dogs can get injured both during the walk and playing with other dogs, such as at home. That is why it is advisable to know how to treat them in case they are harmed, as well as to know if the veterinarian is necessary depending on the severity of the wound. Thus, there are situations in which we can act ourselves with a simple kit, although later we take our hairy to a veterinary review, and there are times when it is vital that it is directly the specialist who acts.

Next, in this article, we explain in a simple way and with expert advice how to heal a wound to a dog, depending on the part of the injury or its severity.

How to heal a wound on a dog in the leg

The legs are one of the parts in which dogs often get injured, especially when playing or when they walk in the field. To heal a wound to a dog it is necessary to follow a series of basic steps, whatever the type of injury, but in these steps we will use for example a wound in the leg and later we will continue with other types.

Place a muzzle to the dog: since due to the pain that can feel can mark or bite us when touching the injury.
Assess the severity of the injury: see if the wound is very serious or not. If it is superficial and recent you can cure it yourself, but if it is deep or it is not recent and it seems to be infected or ulcerated it is necessary that you take it as soon as possible to the veterinarian.
Gather the necessary material: to cure a wound to a dog you need oxygenated water, betadine-type iodine, alcohol, saline, gauze, sterilized scissors, latex gloves, et cetera.
Make sure that it is still: as far as possible we must ensure that the dog is still, so it is better if someone helps us to hold it and calm it at the same time.
Cut the hair: if the area of the lesion has a lot of hair you have to cut a little around to avoid getting infected. Use disinfected scissors for this.
Clean the wound: take the injured leg carefully and place a gauze just below the lesion and put saline or pharmacy alcohol to remove the dirt, clean and see better.
Disinfect the lesion: using another gauze, use oxygenated water. You can give soft touches with the gauze, especially if the lesion was quite dirty, until you check that blood no longer comes out. Apply a little iodine and let it air.
Cover the wound: once it has been sufficiently ventilated and the iodine is dry, cover the wound with a dressing or gauze. Depending on the area and the hair that the dog has, it will be easier to use a dressing or tape or use gauze or bandages to tie them. In addition, you can place a cone or Elizabethan collar to your furry.
Check several times a day: you will have to open the bandage, clean well, reapply iodine, let it dry and re-cover at least two or three times a day, depending on the injury and its progress, until it is completely cured.

In the case of wanting to treat bite wounds to a dog it is vital that not only disinfect, but we take the animal to the veterinarian to check their health in general, because through bites diseases can be transmitted.

If you have to cure an infected wound to a dog, apart from following the steps mentioned you will also need antibiotic treatment, which should be prescribed by the specialist. Similarly, if our furry has an ulcer on the skin it is vital that it is the specialist who says what is the best treatment, but to heal wounds in dogs that do not heal, that is, ulcers, there are natural treatments that can help, such as honey and sugar On the one hand, sugar absorbs moisture from the wound, dehydrating the area and the microorganisms that infect the lesion and accelerates healing. On the other hand, honey also accelerates healing while disinfecting, since it produces hydrogen peroxide or hydrogen peroxide.

In this other article we explain how to heal wounds of dogs with sugar.

How to heal a wound on a dog in the ear

The ears are a very delicate area in dogs. If your hairy has an injury on the outer part of the ear, that is, from behind, you can follow the same steps as before. On the other hand, if the wound on the ear of the dog is on the inside, in the auricle, you have to be a little more careful or take it directly to the vet.

Follow the same steps from 1 to 5 of the previous section.
In this case, to clean the wound, it is not advisable to pour oxygenated water, alcohol or iodine directly, since the ear is very delicate and liquid can not accumulate in it because otitis can occur and damage the eardrum. What you have to do is wrap your finger with a pair of sterile gauze and then discard the disinfectant that you are going to use to remove all the dirt and disinfect it.
Once you finish cleaning, leave the wound in the air to dry well on its own. It is not necessary to cover it with anything, just in case it is on the outside, back or if it is a serious injury.

In case there is blood or bleeding, it is best to apply several gauzes in the ear first and once you have removed as much blood as possible, apply a little bit of hydrogen peroxide carefully, massage the ear a bit, as when applying drops for otitis, and then let it shake a little to eliminate fluids. Keep doing it until there is no bleeding. In any case of injury to the ear or ear, but especially if there is hemorrhage, it is vital that a veterinarian see the can either to heal you directly for a review after curing you.

How to cure a wound to a dog in the mouth

Some dogs play with hard objects, such as sticks and stones, or eat hard food, such as some balls of feed and bones, and these objects can cause injuries in the dogs mouth . It is also possible that they are playing with other dogs.

Curing an injury in a dog's mouth is easier in principle. First recognize if the injury is not very serious and you can keep your hairy or if necessary the veterinarian, for example if there is a lot of blood, if a tooth has been broken or if the wound is deep or has a nailed object. If you can do it yourself, you will have to follow these steps:

Wash the mouth of the can with water or abundant physiological saline, give him to drink water, whichever he wants, and / or use a syringe to directly pour the water or serum stream and clean the area.
If there is enough blood, put on latex gloves and wrap your finger with gauze soaked in peroxide, but not soaked, and apply it to the lesion with gentle touches.
After making sure that it is not serious and that it no longer bleeds, apply a little chlorhexidine spray or gel . This is a disinfectant product for the mouth, which we also use a lot of people, and which should be kept at home to clean our furry mouth.

How to heal a wound on a dog in the snout

The wounds on a dog's muzzle, normally, are easy to heal and can be done by playing, running, sniffing or by someone else's bite right in this part. For example, wounds on the nose or truffle are very common in bloodhound type sniffer dogs. To cure this type of injuries you have to:

Follow steps 1 to 5 of the first section. In this case, it may not be right to put a muzzle because the wound is right in the nose, but they can help you immobilize your mouth with a soft bandage that leaves the lesion free or with your hands and the hair cut do it alone if it is really necessary.
Clean and disinfect the lesion as explained in the first section.
Let the lesion be aerated and only cover it if necessary, that is, if it is something serious, since in this area it can be cured much faster if it is left uncovered and it is watched that the dog does not smell too much or dirty areas.
Cleans and disinfects the lesion a couple or three times a day.

How to heal a wound on a dog on the back

Wounds on the back of a dog can be caused by a fight with another dog or other animals, because of a lot of scratching or accidents or abuses. In the case of a bite the spine injury will have teeth marks, such as holes of different sizes, or tears, scratching will be a scratch injury and probably lack of hair and in case of accident or run over there may be a laceration or a burn, apart from internal injuries, bone injuries, etc. In these cases it is best to go directly to the veterinarian, since if it is a bite you have to disinfect very well but also assess the general health because diseases can be transmitted, if it is a burn or a laceration specialized attention is also needed because it will require a Healing very meticulous and in the case of a laceration points may be needed.

Finally, just in case the wound on the spine is scratching you can attend to it, but it is also appropriate that a veterinarian later see it and tell you the cause, as they can be parasites, allergies, dermatitis, etc. To heal a wound in the back you can follow all the steps mentioned in the first section about the wound in the leg, only applying it to the area of the affected back.

How to cure a wound to a dog with worms or myiasis

Finally, there is a type of injuries very common in dogs that live in the countryside or that, although they are in the city, are in bad conditions and in a dirty environment. These are the wounds with worms, which are the larvae of insects, like some species of flies, which take advantage of wounds to lay their eggs and these hatch and grow in these injured tissues. This infection is known as myiasis .

They are dangerous wounds because they do not heal while they are parasitized and secondary infections can occur with bacteria and fungi. The worms can be seen with the naked eye or not, you can only see a small hole in the skin.

To cure a wound with worms to a dog first you have to put a muzzle to the dog and wear gloves, sterile tweezers and a disinfectant, alcohol type or hydrogen peroxide. Remove all the worms with the help of the tweezers, pressing the wound with one hand and with the other using the tweezer and pulling slowly. Once it is clean of larvae, you have to disinfect the wounds normally. Of course, it is preferable that this task is carried out by the veterinarian .

For more information to perform well this type of cures, we recommend this other article about How to heal wounds with worms in dogs.