My stray dog has raw, peeling skin with pus. How can I help him?

Poor little Marlow! This wound could have been caused by another animal or an injury, and it does appear there is a fair amount of pus from your picture. He has to see a vet for it, as he will need antibiotics to treat the infection. You can clean it tonight with warm water and antiseptic soap, but he has to see a vet in the morning for it. If you cannot afford a vet for Marlow, then I recommend giving him to the SPCA in the morning. They can get him the veterinary treatment he needs, as well as his shots, flea medications, deworming treatments, heartworm treatment, and neutered. After that, they can find him a home. Good luck, I hope this helps!

This presentation could be due to a trauma or localized spot of skin infection (likely to be caused by bacteria). A check up, appropriate disinfection and possibly antibiotics (oral, topical or in a shampoo formulation) are needed to solve the problem. Disinfection may be started at home with very diluted hibiscrub or betadine or salted water baths (twice or three times daily). Always handle this type of wound with gloves when you touch it and wash carefully your hands. Buster collar may be useful as well to avoid any licking. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. Please find the time to give us a feedback about the consultation as that will be used to improve our service.

Thank you for showing concern and compassion for this little guy. The wound appears to be most likely caused by chronic fleas, bacterial infection (hot spot), or mite infestation. It could have also been caused by an injury or burn - a little difficult to tell with just a photo. Your vet should be able to help you figure it out. In the meantime, try to keep him from scratching the area and keep it as clean as possible.

Oh poor guy. It's very difficult to guess what could be wrong from a picture alone. He'd need a skin scrap to look for bacteria, yeast, and parasites to know if any of those are present. I would be concerned about fleas and a flea allergy, and if you could apply a flea treatment to him that could certainly help. I'm not sure what's available where you are, but Revolution and Frontline Plus are two popular options in the US (along with many oral medications which are better but prescription only such as nexgrad and bravecto). Beyond that, I'm not sure what you can do without some testing.

It looks like he has a bacterial skin infection so he should be examined by your vet for treatment. Your vet can prescribe an antibiotic, anti-histamine, and/or a corticosteroid to help treat the condition. He could have allergies so he may need to stay on an anti-histamine long term. You could also bathe him with a medicated dog shampoo, like Epi-Soothe, and see if that helps. You could also add Free Form Snip Tips to his diet to help keep his skin and coat healthy.

This looks very nasty. This likely is a bacterial dermatitis which needs to be seen urgently by a veterinarian. Unfortunately these tend to spread like wildfire, Maybe you could ask your vet to see you inbetween clients. If that is not possible, I suggest clipping as much hair off the wound and around it until you see healthy skin, You will be surprised that the sore is much bigger than it appears, Once you have done that, wash it with some chlorhexidine or wound wash available in your pharmacy or drugstore, Pat dry, and put some Neosporine ointment on the area, Unfortunately there are no OTC pain killers available for this kind of wound. Your dog will need to have another wound treatment at your vet and will need oral prescription antibiotics and possibly will be given an ointment. Do not put any ointment on the lesion tomorrow before you go to the vet so he can examine the skin properly. Do not let your puppy lick this wound. 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!

Oh my. Poor guy. This infection is severe. I would have cultures taken of this skin immediately if the broad spectrum antibiotics that your vet gave aren't working. I would also consider getting biopsies of this thing. The area may need surgical debridement as well, because there is some diseased and necrotic (dead) tissue there that will prevent this from healing well if it isn't removed. I am so sorry your pet has such an aggressive skin condition. This certainly will need further medical management from your vet for sure. With the suggestions above, you should be able to get a better handle on this thing. Best of luck and take care!