My dog's swollen wound looks infected. How to treat without a vet?

I'm sorry this happened but you must understand this is a very serious wound and should be treated by your local veterinarian. She should be on oral antibiotics. No matter is what is applied to this topically, it will not heal if she continues to chew at it. You will need to either keep it bandaged (provided she does not chew the bandage off) or get her a cone collar like this one until it is healed. Be sure to get the appropriate size. The collar must go past the end of the nose or she will still be able to chew at the wound. ( https://www.amazon.in/Generic-Elizabethan-Healing-Medical-Protective/dp/B01LZHVWWF/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1524316661&sr=8-3&keywords=elizabethan+collar+for+dogs ) You can try this wound spray. I still suggest you have a veterinarian look at this wound to prescribe some more effective treatment than what you can provide at home. ( https://www.amazon.in/Himalaya-Scavon-Spray-100-ml/dp/B01NGYKEPQ/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1524316862&sr=1-2-fkmr0&keywords=oxytetracycline+spray+dog ) Try your best to keep flies and other insects away from the wound or she may get maggots. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

I am surprised by the amount of medications you are giving. This is way too much and cannot think of a reason to give all of those at once. The cause of the wound would need to be known for me to know how to fix it, but I will give you some advice that should be helpful for any wound. The most important thing is to keep the wound clean. Start by shaving away all the hair around the wound. Wash the wound with just cool water. This is very important. Do not use any soap or gentian violet. These can actually cause more damage than good. Wash the wound with cool clean water 3 times a day. Do not scrub the wound - only gently wipe away crusts or dirt. I recommend only giving the oxytetracycline and cefalexin if prescribed by a veterinarian. If a vet did not advise, then you should stop these medications until given a dose by a vet. Stop the mefenamic acid. This is not a dog medication and can be deadly. If you can bandage the wound or keep covered, this will help it to heal quicker. It is best to keep the wound moist and not let if dry. I know this seems odd that all I am recommending is cool water and bandage, but I promise you, this is the best way to manage a wound. Giving too much medication can be worse for the wound than having no medication. See this video if you are not sure about what I am recommending: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjG3WUinDGc I do think that a veterinarian should see the wound in order to identify the cause. If you want, you can do a consult with me to ask more questions and show photos.

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.

It’s difficult to assess wounds from a photograph. Make sure that Izzy is eating, drinking and urinating and defecating normally. Make sure she is acting normally and nonpainful. Keep the wounds clean and dry. You can wash the wounds with warm water with a small amount of dilute betadine solution- about the color of weak tea. Prevent her for licking or chewing the wounds- if necessary she may need an e-collar. If there is a foul odor, excessive discharge, heat, pain or other signs of illness then Izzy really need to see a veterinarian. I hope she heals quickly. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to see that Savie is having a problem. This looks like a pustule or pus filled pimple. It could also be a cyst or other swelling. This could certainly be from an insect sting, spider bite, puncture wound, skin infection, etc. I would advise warm compressing the area 2-3 times daily with a warm cloth to see if you can get the area to come to a head and drain. You could also try placing some warm water and Epsom Salts in a basin and make her stand in the water for 5-10 minutes a few times daily. You may need to get her an E collar to prevent her from licking it and prevent the healing. If this lesion gets worse, spreads, or other signs develop, please have your vet take a look at her. They can get a detailed history and perform a physical exam. Diagnostics probably won't be needed unless the situation changes. Your vet can advise you on a sound treatment approach if needed. Good luck with Savie and I hope this resolves without complication

I did receive the photos you sent in this morning that were forwarded to me via our website moderator. The abrasions themselves can likely be managed at home with a sterile cleaning using Betadine diluted 50:50 with warm water and then flushing the area daily thereafter with sterile saline from your local pharmacy. However, if you are also seeing swelling, this could pose a problem. Swelling underneath the skin following trauma is typically either of 2 things: an Abscess (infection underneath the skin) or a Seroma (blood filled sac) . An abscess will need to be treated by your vet, by having the area drained and then he will need to be placed on a short course of antibiotics. If this is a Seroma however, it will likely heal on its own as the body slowly reabsorbs the blood. As long as the Seroma does not get any bigger, which would indicate that there is continued bleeding underneath the skin that needs to be ligated via surgery. There really isn't a good way of knowing if this is Seroma or abscess by looking on the outside; however, with abscesses they are typically painful and will eventually lead to fever and illness (lack of appetite, vomiting) in most cases. Seroma's can be mildly painful, but won't cause a fever. So since you are limited on funds you can roll the dice and see if this thing causes systemic illness or not, or you can try to apply for financial assistance to get Wilber looked at immediately to make sure there isn't an abscess present. Here are some links for financial assistance. I https://carecredit.com/vetmed Here a couple of still up and running grant options: carecredit.com redrover.org/relief/urgent-care-grants/ (typical grant amount is $200) all-creatures.org/gcm/help-cf.html - $50 maximum aid WHEN they have funds. a couple of 'special situation' ones: fveap.org - Vaccine Associated Sarcoma only thepetfund.com/ - Non-basic, non-urgent care (cancer treatment, heart disease, etc.) ONLY. ! hope that this was helpful and hope that your pet Wilber is able to make a full and speedy recovery from his traumatic injury. Take care!

I am sorry to hear about Coco. Unfortunately this area does look infected and she needs antibiotics to treat the infection. She also may need her rabies vaccine boostered if she hasn't had one recently. In some areas there are humane society/ animal protective league/ aspca locations that offer veterinary care at reduced prices, so you can look to see if anything like that is available in your area. If they are not, you can call different vet clinics to see if any allow payment plans or you can apply for Care Credit which is a credit card for medical bills. You can read about more ideas for this problem at: http://m.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/trouble_affording_veterinary_care.html I would apply a warm compress for 10 minutes to encourage drainage of the wound, clean the area with a mild soap, and apply an antibiotic ointment such as neosporin until she can be seen, but she does need to be seen to get systemic antibiotics.