My puppy's leg is swollen and painful. What can I do before the vet?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I would still keep the appointment you have with the veterinarian. In the meantime, you could start a pain medication to help her out. I would recommend Well & Good Buffered Aspirin. You can find this product at PetCo and it is specifically for dogs. Follow the dosing on the bottle as directed. The veterinarian will likely give you a different medication that is safer to use long term. I hope this helps! I would definitely get x-rays of the leg tomorrow to look into this further and rule out any bone fractures.

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. When dogs are 'non-ambulatory'- not walking on a leg, this is usually a sign of significant pain. Also, swelling is concerning for either a significant injury (fracture/dislocation), an infection or abscess (pocket of pus), or in older animals we worry about cancers. I would recommend having Swayde seen by a vet to see if anything serious is going on, and would recommend x-rays. Best of luck with Swayde.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. In the meantime you can go to Petco and use the Well and Good Buffered Aspirin to provide some pain relief. I do not recommend using this product long term but for short term use over the weekend, this should be absolutely fine. This could also be an injury further down the leg such as the stifle joint (ACL injury). Your vet will know what to do based on the physical examination. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

The damage done to her leg could be soft tissue or as extensive as a fracture. Until being able to get her to a vet the best you can do it’s try icing her leg and restricting her activity. If you have a crate for her it would be recommended to keep her in that most of the time so that she does not cause any more trauma to the leg just by trying to walk or run around When she needs to go to the bathroom take her for a short slow walk. Getting her to a vet sooner vs later is highly recommended as they will be able to determine the full extent of the injury and prescribe her some pain medications to ease the pain.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I would have this looked at by a veterinarian so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I would recommend having x-rays taken of the toe to make sure the toe is not broken. If there is no broken bones, then I worry about a bacterial infection and he may need to be placed on oral antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory. 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.

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Bite wounds are very dangerous, particularly, when a large dog with powerful jaws bites smaller dog. The main damage is under the skin, the extend of trauma cannot be appropriated by only looking at the punctures. What's is more bite wounds are painful and almost always get infected. Please, take Buddy to your local vets as soon as possible as he may be in serious trouble.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Chico! If the broken part of the nail is still present then the nail needs to be cut back. If the tow is swollen there may be an infection. I recommend an appointment with your Vet to have the nail cut back if needed, an anti-inflammatory and antibiotics. Sometimes we bandage the foot or use and Elizabethan collar (cone) to prevent licking. I hope this helps and I wish Chico a speedy recovery!