advice needed; injury to leg.

as i posted in another thread, while my dog was at another house she got a huge piece of broken off door frame stuck in her front leg, above her elbow. I dont know or understand the details, i was just happy to get her back. They said it was very stuck and didnt bleed. You can see a hole in her skin where it was. Took her to the vet later that day, she was given antibiotics, and had it irrigated. It does not seem to cause her any pain, but then again she wouldnt show it. . . . It is now seeming swollen. Should i take her back? Should i wait and see? How should i clean it? Thanx

I use chlorehexidine for wound care in my animals. Call the vet and ask if they like it, but I have had good results with it :)

Use in animals
For use in animals, it is used as a topical disinfectant of wounds. It is more effective in killing bacteria (bactericidal) than both povidone-iodine and saline, and has residual effects up to 6 hours. Some common brand names are ChlorhexiDerm, ResiChlor, Germi-STAT Antimicrobial Skin Cleanser, Nolvasan Skin and Wound Cleaner, and Nolvasan Ointment. It is also more beneficial to wound healing than using saline solutions alone.[12]


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3232321

A certain amount of swelling might be expected, but being that it was a puncture type injury you'll have to watch it closely to make sure that the surface doesn't close over and create an abscess underneath. Daily cleaning will help to keep it open on top and let it heal from the inside out. A cloth soaked in warm or hot water (the hotter you can stand to put your hand in the better if you need to draw out infection) and pressed up against the wound will help to soften and open it on the surface. I've even used the soft scrub brushes that have an iodine-soaked sponge attached to the back that come from the vets. I think they call them E-Z Scrub brushes.

thanks gail!! I got some iodine scrubbies!! working great! keeping it open, and putting on polysporin, and wow has that swelling gone! I showered it with warm water and put a hot cloth on it, and white chunkies came out, looked like tiny white thread.. so that must be a good thing! it is looking great now!! poor doggy!! it could have hurt her but she is the kind of dog that will take any abuse or pain without batting an eye, I am trying to be gentle.. she likes to lick it and when i try to cover it after it has iodine on it she tries to take it off.. she may be sporting a new ecollar soon!

. she may be sporting a new ecollar soon!

noooooo not the dreaded cone :yell:

:laughing:

sometimes you just don't have a choice :shrug: I'm glad her booboo it doing better :thumbs up

Glad to hear she's doing better. I'm sure that with you keeping it clean and preventing infection she'll be better in no time. Those brushes are gentle so they're tolerated pretty well. I've used them on the dogs and horses. Horses have a nasty habit of growing proud flesh on some wounds if you don't open them up daily, actually to the point of bleeding. That helps it heal up smoothly and the hair grows back, rather than having a big lump of granulated tissue with no hair. I was actually kind of shocked the first time I was shown what to do by the vet.