Need help now!!!

[WindyIndy]

Padme and Amee both got bit by my dog middle of last week. Padme in the ear, Amee on the nose. Now both have a very bad infection. Puss all over! I can't get a hold of my vet and am getting very worried. They both are eating. But I know I need to get them cleaned asap. Padme is wildish and I had a hard time trying to clean her. I think my vet will need to sedate her or something. She wont be open until Tuesday though.

Any thoughts on what I can do? I'm starting to panic here. I feel like a terrible mother. PLEASE HELP!!!

 

[purplequeenvt]

Clean the wounds with hydrogen peroxide, but only once or twice, too often and the peroxide can injury the healthy tissue. Spray with iodine (or an iodine salve if you've got it) and give antibiotics (6-7 ml pen-g daily) for a week or so. Hot compresses will help too. Expect there to be pus, dog bites are notorious for causing infection.

 

[WindyIndy]

Thank you so much! I can't get antibiotics until Tuesday. If you squeeze the wound you can get more and more. Should I keep squeezing? It starts bleeding and she keep moving so it's very hard. What about the nose bit? That will be heard to get down into....

 

[WindyIndy]

Do you think I'll lose them?

 

[purplequeenvt]

If you really can't get antibiotics until Tuesday, then your best option is to do hot compresses at least 2x a day and keep the pus draining.

 

[Latestarter]

Pictures would be a HUGE help to us trying to help you.

If you can squeeze the pus out, do so! It's a noxious mix of infection & bad stuff you do NOT want to leave in the wound to fester. When you start seeing blood, you should be good, you've now eliminated the bad stuff and have healthy blood to the wound to help in healing. This is when you should do the hydrogen peroxide thing, you need a clean wound first. Like Purple said, only a couple of times as it will kill new growth tissue along with the infection. You can mix it 50/50 with water to "weaken" it a bit after the first couple of applications. It's gonna sting, so be prepared when you apply it.

You don't need the vet to get antibiotics... If there's a Tractor Supply or farm store nearby, almost all of them have a refrigerated drug case for vaccines and such. They are also open on Sundays. If you can keep the wounds clean, they should be fine until Tuesday if you still want to go to the vet. If you go get some antibiotics and get them started, you might see improvement by Tuesday and decide to let the wounds heal on their own.
Goats are crazy in that they can get the sniffles and die overnight, or sustain huge damage and heal up remarkably well

The bigger issue is what are your plans for the dog? Once they've bitten, it's no small leap for them to do so again, and do even more damage the next time around. Hope your goats come through just fine. Let us know, will you?

 

[WindyIndy]

Thank you both. These are sheep just for an fyi I just found a old bottle of pen-g but don't have any syringes!! ugh!! I'm going to try and clean them now. Can I use epson salt? I can try and get pics....

She's my guardian dog. Not sure what to do. Maybe she was i heat? sigh..

 

[Latestarter]

oops... sorry... sheep... Can't help with the guardian dog issue... what breed? how old? how long with the sheep? Maybe you could post about this in the LGD threads and ask for help on that issue...

 

[ragdollcatlady]

If you are able to cover the wounds with bandages, raw honey acts with a peroxide like activity when in contact with raw tissue. It has antibacterial properties and is incredible for assisting healing.

I would be sure you can totally cover the wounds and use nonstick pads held in place with vetwrap and then duct tape over the top/edges to keep things in place. Changed daily you will be able to keep tabs on the healing.

Only use raw honey though, not the honey flavored syrup from the grocery store.

I would definitely get some injectable antibiotics on board too ASAP, at whatever dose a sheep needs. (Sorry I am a goaty)

 

[Latestarter]

I wouldn't use epsom salt on an infected wound... But have no idea about its use...