My dog's head wound won't heal and has pus. Does he need a vet?

Poor pup! If the wound isn't healing, it's likely that it is infected and will need prescription antibiotics to treat it effective. Because of this, I would recommend taking your dog to the vet tomorrow morning for an exam - he/she can take a look at the wound and determine what is needed to treat it. In the meantime, if you're able to gently clip the hair and matted discharge from over the wound, this should be fine to do. You can also gently clean the area with some warm water and antibacterial soap. I would not recommend using peroxide, as this may sting and often causes additional tissue damage and irritation which can make healing more difficult.

Tasha needs to visit her veterinarian in order to treat this properly. She has an abscess or deep pocket of infection that needs to be properly flushed out and then she will require a prescription antibiotic that she will take for 1-2 weeks to treat the infection. It is also important that the veterinarian examine her teeth as this is a common site for an abscessed tooth to be the underlying cause of the abscess. It is possible that she may need a tooth extraction or other dental work. Treating this with peroxide alone is not going to clear up the infection. Please see your regular veterinarian ASAP. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

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!

I don’t appreciate any parasites from these photos but the only thing I could think of that would be in a wound like that would be maggots and typically they’re crawling on top and inside the tissue. This looks like a pretty extensive wound with a deep infection and I really think she should be on oral antibiotics as well as something a little bit stronger to use topically on the wound. Hydrogen peroxide is not indicated for this. Hydrogen peroxide will destroy not only the bad tissue but also the good tissue that’s trying to come in so, in essence it delays healing. so, whatever you do stop using hydrogen peroxide. I can understand trying to want to deal with this at home but I think she really needs to see your veterinarian at this point.

I would not recommend hydrogen peroxide, you can use an antibiotic ointment and you will need an e-collar as well. bear in mind there might be a foreign body (usually a grass seed) buried in there which will need to be removed under sedation by your vet.

Try cleaning the wound with an antiseptic solution or with clean water, just to see how bad it is, then you can put some antiseptic/antibiotic cream over it 2-3 times a day. If the wounds looks very infected, large or severe, take Ninja to the vet as he will need it to be cleaned and he will be prescribed a course of antibiotics.

I would not recommend putting peroxide on Lulu's cut. It actually damages the tissue and can prevent wound healing. Just cleaning it once with warm water and antiseptic soap is fine, repeated cleaning will lead interrupting of the healing process. I would leave it be, and monitor it for signs of infection, which include redness, swelling, warmth to the touch, and pus Should you see any of this signs, I would take Lulu into the vet, as she will need antibiotics to treat the infection.