How to treat a street dog's severe leg injury or open wound?

This presentation could be due to a trauma or localized spot of skin infection (likely to be caused by bacteria). Ideally a check up, appropriate disinfection and possibly antibiotics (oral, topical or in a shampoo formulation) are needed to solve the problem. The area must be clipped more and disinfection may be started at home with very diluted hibiscrub or betadine or salted water baths (twice daily). Buster collar may be useful as well to avoid any licking (if any). 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. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

First, consider seeking veterinary care since wounds can often be deeper than they appear and can get easily infected. 1. Clip the hair away from the wound using buzzing-type clippers, not scissors or a razor. This is so you can monitor the wound and keep the hair out of the way to help with healing and keeping it clean. 2. Disinfect the wound once with peroxide or a first aid chlorhexidine wound soap. Do not continue to use peroxide, or alcohol, as this will delay healing. 3. Apply an antibacterial ointment, such as Neosporin, twice daily. If needed to clean the wound, use a warm wet wash cloth to gently wipe away and dried fluid. 4. Prevent all licking or scratching of the wound by using an e-collar. Licking will delay healing and spread bacteria into the wound 5. See a vet if Leo experiences prolonged lethargy, decreased appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, or a rectal temperature over 102.5, or if there is creamy discharge or discharge with a foul odor, or there is swelling around the wound.

Hi and thanks for posting! You can try washing the area with soap and water a couple times a day and keeping it as clean and dry as possible. It looks like Bear has been licking the area frequently which may be a reason why it is not healing as easily, so I would try and keep an E-Collar on her to prevent her from licking and bothering the lesion. Certainly, if despite your best efforts it is not healing properly or is worsening, Bear should see his veterinarian to have the lesion evaluated. The lesion may be infected and may require the use of systemic antibiotics to help treat. I hope this helps and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Unfortunately, the pictures are blurry and I can't get a good view. It looks like there may be some crusty discharge in the area which could signify a bacterial or fungal cause but I am not certain. That's going to be tough to heal if he will not let you touch the area to clean it. There are a couple things you can do at home and they can help but they may not address the underlying cause. If he will let you handle it, then home care will be easier. Do be careful not to be bitten. You can try adding in an omega 3 fatty acid supplement for dogs, this can help improve the skin health. You may also try changing his diet to something like Royal Canin or Nutro as they are aimed at skin health. You can wash the lesion once a day (not his whole body, just the lesion). You can use a topical hot spot spray or something similar for pets as well. OR you can also apply a tiny dab of organic coconut oil and rub it in well. The MOST important thing is to protect the area from trauma by having your pup wear an elizabethan collar at all times. If the lesion does not start improving within a week or if it is getting worse, call your veterinarian to find out if you have any options. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

I am so sorry to hear that Felicia had this wound on her leg. I am sure it is very unsettling for you both. From the pictures you have provided it looks as though the wound may be deeper than appears, and thus may require a trip to the veterinarian. The wound appears to have been caused by a puncture, such as a bite, or perhaps if Felicia got caught In a Fence. These types of puncture wounds are often deeper and have caused more tissue damage then can be visualised from the surface. I bet would start by examining Felicia, and the wound itself. The wound would be cleaned and disenfected, the vet may need to sedate Felicia to debris even the wound, if necrotic or unhealthy tissue is present. The vet may chose to surgically close the wound with sutures or leave it open to drain and heal wiith scar tissue. The vet may also prescribe pain relief, anti-inflammatory medictaions and antibiotics to treat a possible infection, or prevent one. I would advise the seeing the vet within the next 24 hours. In the meantime you can continue keep Felicia as calm and rested as possible, and do not use any over the counter medications without the direct advice from your vet. I hope that this answer was helpful, and more importantly that Felicia feels better soon. Warmest regards to you both.

I am so very soory your pet has such a severe injury and no available vet anywhere for the moment. There isn't a whole lot you can do to help with the pain besides soaking this area in a Betadine diluted 50:50 with warm water bath to help relieve some of the inflammation and also cut down on any bacteria that may develop at the site of the injury. You should also clean this daily with sterile saline. Applying a cold compress (for 5 mins max twice daily) on the area first can also help with pain anf inflammation. We can't recommend any over the counter pain medicine b/c they can be quite toxic in pets and therefore we can't risk it. I would try to do this and wrap the leg as best you can with materials (Tefla pad, continuous gauze, cast padding) from your local pharmacy. You can certainly also look up "how to bandage your pets leg" on youtube to learn how to do this safely and without cutting off any circulation in the process. Then work diligently to try and find any vet in the area that can help your poor puppy moving forward, because it sounds like he will certainly need medical attention moving forward if we are going to help him save this leg. I hope that your puppy is going to be ok moving forward. Poor guy. Take care.

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!