Open wounds in the dog can range from minor cuts on a broken glass to bite injuries to deep, life-threatening flesh wounds such as after a traffic accident. Even with smaller, harmless-looking cuts and bite injuries, it is always advisable to see a veterinarian. Even if the wound externally appears small and bleeds only slightly, the tissue may be injured in deeper skin layers, in severe cases may even be injured internal organs.

Treating a dog with an open wound
In addition, care of the wound is useful to avoid infection by bacteria or other harmful microorganisms. Nevertheless, it is helpful to be able to provide open wounds in the dog first, until the animal can be treated by the veterinarian.

Initial care of minor cuts and bites
If the open wound in the dog is still bleeding, the bleeding must first be stopped by pressure. To do this, the dog should be stored quietly and sterile gauze or a clean cloth pressed on the wound until the bleeding is satisfied. Only then can the cleaning of the wound be started. For this purpose, the wound should be covered and the coat should be carefully cut in the area of the injury with a rounded pair of scissors.

Subsequently, the dog owner should free the wound from any foreign bodies such as shards or thorns. It is advisable to examine the wound with the help of a flashlight and carefully remove the foreign bodies with tweezers. Large foreign bodies, which must be removed surgically by a veterinarian and under no circumstances be pulled out by the pet owner.

Afterwards, the holder should dab the wound with sterile gauze and a diluted mild wound disinfectant solution to clean it of saliva, soil or other contaminants. For disinfection, the wound is then blotted dry with wound gauze or a clean handkerchief. To protect the wound from dirt and friction, the holder should then create a bandage. For this, the open wound in the dog is first covered with wound gauze, padded with dressing cotton and then connected with a gauze bandage. The dressing should be non-slip but should never be wrapped too tightly to prevent the blood supply.

If there is an open, heavily bleeding, wound in the dog, a veterinarian must be contacted immediately and then a pressure bandage be created.

Initial care paw injury
Through a piece of broken glass, a splinter or snagging it can come on the paw or claw quickly open wounds in the dog . Since paw and claws are well supplied with blood, injuries here can bleed heavily. If there is no bleeding, perhaps because the animal has entered something, the injury becomes noticeable through lameness and a restraint. Then the dog should no longer occur and be kept still, in order to prevent an aggravation of the injury.

For cleaning, the holder should rinse the paw with cold, clear water or a mild diluted disinfectant solution to remove any contaminants. Then, foreign objects that may still be in the wound should be carefully removed with tweezers. Thereafter, the wound is cleaned with a mild disinfectant solution or disinfectant spray for wounds of germs and the wound surface with a sterile Covered wound dressing.

It is important to cushion the toes individually before applying the bandage so that they are not compressed by the bandage. To do this, put cotton wool or wound gauze in the toe spaces and also pad the wolf’s claw – but the cotton wool must not touch the open wound. Then cushion the leg from the bottom up with cotton wool and wrap it with a gauze bandage or elastic bandage .

Bite injury: Even with trivial appearing bite injuries always a veterinarian should be consulted, since the infiltrated by the teeth and saliva germs can cause infection and often the tissue is injured under the skin surface. Vet Aid’s Animal Wound Care Spray can assist wound healing. Your veterinarian will be happy to advise you.