My dog has worsening lesions. When should I take him to the ER vet?

It really depends how bad his condition is, if he is very lethargic, barely walking and vomiting very often then you should take him to the emergencies right away, if he is not too lethargic and not vomiting non stop then you can wait until the morning. do not feed him anymore, just leave water available but no food until you manage to get him to the vet.

From the pictures, the skin appears red and inflamed. It does look like it is infected. While this may not be a true emergency, I would recommend getting in to see your veterinarian very soon. Pookie will need the area shaved and cleaned up. Your vet may prescribe an antibiotic for this as well depending. Until you can get to your vet, you can keep the area clean and dry and use a mild soap and water to clean the wound. If Pookie is licking it, you can put on ECollar on her to prevent licking.

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Lockjaw. I'm wondering if that area is an abscess that has now ruptured. It doesn't look great, but if he is eating and drinking, he does not have a fever, and the area isn't hot, you can wait until tomorrow morning to have him seen by his vet. If the area becomes hot, he gets a fever, or he stops eating or drinking, have him seen by an ER vet right away. I hope this helps!

The symptoms do not sound life threatening. If the wounds are not full thickness and do not appear to be bleeding, you clean the area with peroxide and wait until Monday. If you notice bleeding, swelling or discharge, I would advise you to take him to an emergency veterinary hospital.

There is no need to go to the emergency room with this skin lesion. You may, however want to make an appointment with your regular veterinarian to examine this skin lesion. This may be a fungal infection or another skin condition that causes an itch or thickening of the skin. Your vet will also check your whole dog and may find more lesions like that or determine that it is just a localised lesion. Treatment depends on the cause of the lesion, and can be a medicated shampoo or an ointment.

Thank you for sending the pictures! From what I can see, it looks like this lesion is only affecting the outermost skin layers, with the underlying tissue layers remaining intact. It's certainly possible that this lesion is from a traumatic injury, like the rubber bullet you'd mentioned, but it's equally possible that this is an infectious condition, like mange or ringworm. Since there is a good bit of skin damage that's bloody, it stands to reason that this type of lesion could become infected rather quickly, particularly if Crimson is licking at it at all. Even though we're now several days past the initial injury, I still recommend taking Crimson to her vet for an in person exam to thoroughly assess this lesion. Your vet may need to do some diagnostic testing to rule out infectious issues. Depending on their exam findings, your vet may need to prescribe oral antibiotics and/or anti-inflammatory medications to aid in the healing process. Until your vet visit, be sure to prevent Crimson from licking at this lesion at all by putting an e-collar (cone) on her. I hope that she's on the mend soon!

I think this is not an emergency and can wait to be seen tomorrow. The only thing that may happen is that this abscess bursts until then. If that happens, gently wipe off the pus, do not flush or put ointment on the wound, leave it as it is. It is likely painful at the moment, but once the abscess bursts the pain will be over. Your vet will lance and flush the abscess and prescribe an antibiotic if needed.