Lurcher with a tear on hind leg.

[mavisgreen]

Hi, I was out earlier and another dog bit my lurcher on the hind knee.

It wasn't an aggressive bite, they were playing and chasing and this other dog (a lab) caught my dog as she ran past. She gave a yelp at the time but carried on playing so I didn't think anything of it but after coming home one of the children noticed it. It's a long tear, about 2 inches long and you can see the bone and muscle and tendon inside. I think she may have torn it more jumping up on the sofa as now she's can't put that paw down. She's a whippet/ staffy mix but the vet reckons she's about 7/8's whippet so has skin like silk!

I'm just wondering if anyone knows what's the best thing I can do for her right now. Tomorrow is a bank holiday here but I'm sure I'll be able to find an out of hours vet to see her. I have some anti-inflammatories that I was given for my other dog, I googled the name and apparently they can also be given for post operative pain.

Would they be okay to give her?

I probably wouldn't give tablets as I presume the dosage is weight dependent?

For the time being I would make sure the wound is clean - rinse it out with cooled boiled salt water, I usually use a calpol syringe to squirt it in if it needs irrigating, otherwise dab on to clean with a cotton wool pad.

Oh, that's a good idea with the calpol syringe. I'll give that a go. Thanks for your help.

That needs suturing. Sorry not what you want to hear, but I would always suture a wound like that.

That needs the oncall vet . It needs closing to prevent infection as soon as possible . One of the vets in the area will have an emergency on call .

I would say a trip to the vets too! My Mum's greyhound put his leg down a drain and cut his leg open. He was kept in, sedated and stitched!

A long tear that you can see bone through? That needed a vet last night, not today.

I bet you would have taken yourself off to A&E straight off if it had been you?
Speechless.

Plus, if she can't put the paw down now there's a real chance she could have gone into the joint capsule, which is a medical emergency.

I really can't understand some people's thought processes.

Thanks for all the replies. I'm trying to get hold of an on call vet now.

WellErr, I actually wouldn't have taken myself off to A&E, if it had been me. It wasn't noticed until quite late and wasn't bothering her ( or as bad) until she damaged it further jumping up on the sofa. My husband works nights and I had four children asleep in bed. I don't have anyone I could call to come and stay with the children so I asked for advice and followed what advice I got. If someone and said last night that it urgently needed stitches I could have tried to get hold of an emergency vet and piled everyone into the car at midnight but as it was I did what I thought was best.

For future info, with injuries like that there is a 4-6 hour window in which to get it stitched to ensure the best healing outcome.

I hope you manage to get your dog seen by the vet and stitched this morning, make sure she is fasted ready for a general anaesthetic. Let us know how she is.

My vet is away but I got on to another one and they got someone to see her. They're keeping her in overnight for iv antibiotics as it was a bite and try suturing the wound. As its on the joint, they're not sure if stitches will hold it but didn't say what can be done if the stitches won't hold.

Thanks for all the advice.