First aid for skin wounds
Large skin wounds can be par for the course for working dogs - fences, sticks and cow-induced injuries are common . First aid out in the field greatly increases the chances of the wound healing well.
Once a flap of skin is hanging loose, both the flap and the area it came from are prone to contamination and drying out.
First aid: gently wash the wound with water if there is obvious dirt there. Jumping in a dirty trough is not a good idea.
Cover the wound with a clean shirt or anything you have to hand. Don't let them run home - contamination with seed heads and dirt means the wound will take longer to clean - which means longer anaesthetic time, and higher risk of infection.
The fresher a wound is when it is sutured, the more likely it will heal well, so give us a ring as soon as you can so we can organise a time for you to come to the small animal clinic in Feilding.
Wounds in the groin often take the longest to heal - the area is under tension every time the leg moves, and the flap of skin can act like a bellows, sucking air in through the wound.
If a wound is already grossly contaminated then often we won't stitch it straight away - severely bruised or damaged tissue can die back and will slough off. These wounds need to be flushed and bandaged until all the tissue is looking healthy enough to surgically close.
Totally Vets friendly staff at Feilding or Palmerston North can help you put together a canine first aid kit suitable for those inevitable accidents.
