My dog has a bite wound with pus on its neck. Is rabies a concern?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I would recommend having this treated sooner rather than later and get in as soon as you can to have this taken care of. This appears to be an abscess and has ruptured. This needs to be drained and flushed out with an antiseptic solution as well as having him placed on oral antibiotics. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please take the time to mark this question as helpful or not as it helps us to improve on the quality of our answers to other pet owners. Thank you kindly!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! If Austin has had his rabies vaccine you should be fine. But you should contact your local health department and talk to a human physician. If Austin has Rabies in the transmissible form (in the salivary glands) then he will show neurologic signs for rabies with in 10 days. Keep him quarantined for 10 days. If he dies from any cause he should be tested for Rabies if it is before the 10 days quarantine. Always keep your pets up to date on rabies and prevent them interacting with wild life and unvaccinated pets. I wish you the best!

Hi there! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear this. Dog attacks can be quite stressful. The main problem with bite wounds is that you have to let the wounds declare themselves before knowing exactly what is going to happen at the end. It sounds like Zara's wound got infected and has now formed an abscess. She can develop a fever from this and this can make her feel quite sick. Also, it would be ideal to know the true extent of her injuries. For this reason, I recommend that you have her evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Your veterinarian would be able to prescribe medications for pain control and also antibiotics to treat her infection which is the only way it can resolve. Good luck! Keeping my fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.

I am sorry to hear about your concern for your puppy. The answer to this question will depend on the circumstances. If this is a puppy you do not know/a stray/from an uknown home then I would recommend contacting your human physician. If this is your puppy who has been in your care with no exposure to wildlife and who is acting normally/healthy then the concern for rabies is very low but it does look like there is a puncture in your skin so I would recommend consulting your human doctor as we can develop bacterial infections due to dog bites and your doctor can advise you if treatment is necessary.

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. You should take Murphy to your local vets for an appointment as this wound should be clipped, cleaned, flushed and potentially stitched up under sedation. It would take a very long time to heal if the wound was treated with antibiotics only. The symptoms of infection usually develops in the first 24hrs and include fever, discharge, swelling and pain around the wound.

Hi there and thank you for using Pet coach to address your concern. Based on your description I would suspect this is due to pain and that the pain is not being controlled well with the medications you are giving. The UK is a Rabies free country so this is less likely to be Rabies, however, not completely out of the realm of possibilities. If she is afraid of water especially ans becoming aggressive these would be red flags and I would have her examined immediately. If she is attacking anyone, I would call the police to come and get her so thst you are not injured as rabies can transmit to humans and be fatal. For now, I would recommend contacting your veterinarian to discuss more options for controlling the pain better. For now, I would keep the dogs isolated from one another and monitor for now. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

If you got bit by your neighbor's dog, I would recommend going to your doctor to have the wound evaluated. They are the only ones that can tell you if you need antibiotics. I would make sure your dog is on a leash at all times so you can help your dog avoid this type of situation. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.