# Gash on face! Advice needed!



## adrino (Mar 31, 2012)

We don't have enough to worry about Elza managed to get into a fight and received a gash to her face! It happened at my dogwalker's place so he quickly cleaned it with salty water and called me. It's not bleeding but its kinda deep... I called the vet and they said the stitching can wait till Monday but I could pick up some antibiotics to make sure it doesn't get infected... Which I chose not to do. If the stitching can wait till Monday then I'm not sure she needs the antibiotics. I asked my dogwalker to clean it every few hours to avoid getting it infected from dirt. He said she's behaving perfectly normally and doesn't seem to be bothered by it. 

I know many of your hunting trips has ended up with similar gashes on your dogs skin so what I'm asking is wether it's ok to leave it as it is or I need to take her to the emergency vets. Will it be enough to keep it clean with salty water? Should we do anything else?

Picture attached


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## stryker (Dec 9, 2012)

Bacitracin use it all the time my Lance for lack of a betterword is a maniac who is always getting bites nicks scratches. Anyway it works great no side affects and if the stitch can wait till Monday you don't need stitches


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

Adrino,
The problem with medical advice is that it could be wrong. 

I will tell you that Bailey and Chloe have had *many* scrapes and cuts over the years in the fields. Mostly barbed wire. Chloe hit a strand of barbed wire at full speed and opened up a nice gash next to her left eye. We were two hours into the walk. I cleaned it with my water and we started heading back to the Jeep. Within 3 minutes Chloe was running again as if nothing had happened. I hadn't made a big deal of it. It healed by itself just fine. Bailey's back has had some good gashes. Cleaned it out in the field and used an antiseptic cream made for animals.

I guess growing up ( and I guess that hasn't changed) I cut and banged myself up so many times I kind of treat my dogs the same way. Only went to the doctor a couple times.

I pay over $600 a year for pet medical insurance on the two dogs. The insurance company is getting a great deal with me. But I have that peace of mind for when we do NEED it.

A good strong healthy dog should heal on it's own 99% of the time. But it's that darn 1%. No advice on what you should do.

Good luck.

RBD


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## SkyyMax (Apr 5, 2012)

Adrino,

Max once "opened" his shoulder on a barbed wire, I cleaned (rinsed) his wound 3-4 times a day with a saline solution. Make sure to watch for any signs of infection, fever, redness, discharge, in that case you need to take Elza to the vet.

Here is the recipe:
1 tsp of salt (I used non-iodized) per 4 cups of water. Boil the water for 10 minutes and add salt.
Cool the solution down.

Max and Skyy get 1 tbsp of yogurt every day (it's suppose to boost overall immunity, don't know if it's true, but they like yogurt treats).


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

Poor girl!!! When miles got bit in the face as a pup our vet had us monitor for signs of infection and take temperature over the weekend. We ended up not giving antibiotics as he did not demonstrate any need for them. I hope she feels better soon!


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

clean it - neosporin - liquid stitches - then the vet - that is if your in the field - always have a pup first aide kit close


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## adrino (Mar 31, 2012)

Thank you all for replies. I still didn't see it in person but In the picture it sure looks terrible. :-[

Stryker I'll look into that cream. We do have a first aid kit for her but it contains just a few simple things. 

RBD thanks for replying, I knew you would give me some useful information since you're a hunter and these things happen regularly. We do have insurance for her, I need that for piece of mind too! 

Skyymax I'll be preparing the solution in a minute. Is that a tea or table spoon you meant? I'm never sure how strong I should make it... :-\ 

Thanks MilesMom, I hope she's fine my dogwalker just texted that its a bit swollen but I expected that.


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## adrino (Mar 31, 2012)

She's back home, my poor girl. She managed to scratch it in the car and make it bleed. 😢
I'm trying to be strong but I don't do very well with injuries... 😳

She looks so miserable in the second pic.


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## hobbsy1010 (Jun 4, 2011)

Hey Adrino, 

She looks a bit sorry for herself at the mo but they are tough little 'Buggers'.....

Our Brook had a really bad snout injury when he was younger, like yourself I was really gutted at the time worrying about scars and the like.

It all heeled fine and its hard to see any marks now, so chin up and I'm sure it will all be fine.

Hobbsy


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## SkyyMax (Apr 5, 2012)

Adrino - it's 1 tea spoon per 4 cups of water.
Hope Elza will feel better - poor baby...

You can also use the saline solution for contact lenses to rinse the wound.


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## adrino (Mar 31, 2012)

After almost fainting the first time I saw it... an hour later managed to clean it with the solution I made. Well clean it, what do we really mean on cleaning? I took some soft paper towel and soaked it in the salty water and just sort of pressed it over the gash. I was trying not to pull it to open it out more... Am I actually meant to really wash it out each time? Then I would wash away what has started to heal... 
It's so confusing! And I'm terrible with things like that... :-\


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## hobbsy1010 (Jun 4, 2011)

Ad,

Look hold it together.....

Have you got anything like make-up remover pads? Quite soft cotton sort of material? Use these if u have.

Don't stretch the wound, just gently stroke it with the wash you have chosen to use and leave to dry naturally.

I realise that everybody is different and may find this difficult, but be quite firm with her and hold her by the mussel if she resist the treatment.

A couple of days of this should see her ok until u can get your vet to check her over properly.

Just. Side note, if she knocks it or scratches it and it starts to bleed again, you can wipe it then add a small amount of Vaseline over it to stem the flow of blood and to keep it clean.
This is something we have used on our two when injured.

Hobbsy


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## SkyyMax (Apr 5, 2012)

Oh, Adrino - I am sorry for not clarifying how to clean the wound.

You can use an rubber bulb syringe (baby nose cleaner), eye dropper or even a small tea pot - just pour the solution over the wound, flushing out any dirt. 

You can clean the wound 3-4 times daily, or if it gets dirty. Keeping it clean is the best way to avoid infection.

Once it's clean, you can apply an antibacterial ointment. If you are planning to use a humane grade antibacterial cream, check with your vet first.

Please try not to worry, Elza will be fine!


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## adrino (Mar 31, 2012)

Hobbsy and Skyymax thank you so much for all your help. My other half comes home in an hour and he will have a look too. It's hard to decide what to do... 
She ate her food after I cleaned it then came to sleep next to me on the sofa. She's quite careful with it, it must bother her since she doesn't want to put her head down on it. Couple of times had to stop her cleaning it. She tries to do the catlike cleaning with her paw, swipe it then clean the paw then again... 
My other concern is how she will sleep tonight... She doesn't sleep in our bedroom and we don't have a cone for her. She was about to get spayed on Tuesday so this is just makes things even more complicated. 

Big sigh


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## hobbsy1010 (Jun 4, 2011)

I think she may deserve a night in Mum & Dads room tonite :-\

Even if it is on the bedroom floor  

Keep us up to date on her progress, please.

Hobbsy


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

Keep it clean,and keep her clean. Bacitracin, Neosporin, etc are all good. basically anything good for an infant, or toddler is probably safe for her. We always have Vetricyn on hand because of the horses. I'd be leery of any saline based product that close to her eye. It won't hurt her eye, but it will irritate the eye and cause her to rub at it with her paw. 
Don't worry about cleaning it and causing it too open, she'll be doing that soon enough with her own paws.
If the Vet were to stitch it she would be in an Elizabethan collar to prevent her from reopening the stitches.
It looks like kind of nasty, but I don't know what it looks like cleaned up. It will heal on it's own, so be assured there, but she may have a scar.


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## adrino (Mar 31, 2012)

So here we go this morning. I cleaned her wound 3-4 times last night and she slept through the night on her own and left it alone. It looks better and more closed but still quite swollen. I only cleaned it once today since I didn't want it to reopen again after it closed so well. There's no sign of infection, it doesn't have any discharge in the surrounding areas. 
She ate her breakfast well and drinking a lot and her nose is cold and wet. 
I put all her toys away which she's quite unhappy about so she chose to drag her bed around! 😱 She likes to shake and kill her toys which I think could reopen her wound... Poor thing 😳
Two days before spaying and we can't even take her out for a good run for now. It's not worth risking it to reopen.


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

AD the RED BADGE of COURAGE - if you work a V like they were bred 4 - they all get some scars !!!!!!


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## Angie NG (Jun 6, 2012)

Oh poor Elza, i hope she's ok and you are to adrino


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## adrino (Mar 31, 2012)

It all looked so good until...

Tonight just a couple of hours ago Elza was sleeping next to me and her head resting on my leg. All of a sudden she lifted her head up and started to lick the place where her head was before. Turned out it started to discharge. First it was sort of whitish then blooded. The wound stayed closed though but the discharge is right at the bottom of it. 

That's us going to the vet this morning. I'm worried they won't spay her now with a possible infection. Of course I don't want any complication! 

I'm worried sick anyway because of this wound and the spaying too. 😢


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## Hbomb (Jan 24, 2012)

good luck to you and Elza at the vets today!

Don't panic, just because it weeps a little doesn't mean it is definitely infected. May have just opened up with her moving. 

May be worth getting one of those cone things to stop her scratching at it if it is uncomfortable for her.

Don't worry too much if they put off her spaying. H's neutering was set back a couple of weeks as he had a nasty infected rash on his belly, everything was fine in the end. if the wound on her face is clean, I am not sure if they would put it off-- but then it's a much bigger op for girls than boys and i'm no expert so not sure. 

Slobbery kisses from Hercules + Bruno wishing Elza to get well soon :'( xx


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## Rudy (Oct 12, 2012)

That wound looks great

and will heal fine unless its scratched

let it heal

then add Aloe Vera and Vit E

zero marks will be left

once its crust you could use light tree tea oils 2 days max lightly


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## adrino (Mar 31, 2012)

Thanks Rudy!

We took her to the vet due to the fact that she couldn't be spayed if she has an infection. She's got an antibiotic injection and the vet checked her face for any sign of infection but he said it looks ok. The surgeon will look at it more during her spaying just in case. So yes she can be spayed. 

The swelling has gone down a lot but it carries on discharging. But apparently it's ok. 

Thanks for all the advice and well wishes 

Tomorrow is the big day! :-[


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