Dog got bitten by rat *may be a bit graphic*

[mylobster]

FFS! Just got woken up by all 3 dogs going absolutely mental so jumped out of bed expecting a burglar

I live on a farm so there are some rats around but they tend to stay in the barn , we have a 2 year old terrier who usually dispatches them very well as well as a mongrel who weve had from the age of 6 weeks when he got dumped on the farm and a collie who is amazing but useless at catching things apart from sheep so that's fine 😂

Well The 11 year old mongrel who hasn't run in years sprinted into the garden and next thing I know he's haring after a rat in the garden, he caught it and tried to bring it in .

I dissuaded him of that interest! He's in bed now but I've noticed he's got a cut on his nose really quite deep. Obviously I'll take him to the vet in the morning if it's still bleeding but will he need any injections or anything? I can't guarantee he didn't run into anything but I do know rats bite.

How the fuck did he even catch it? That's my second worry, it can't have tried to run away because he's arthritic, if it had really run he'd have had no chance so could it have been poisoned? He definitely didn't eat it as I had to put it in the bin (boak) but I'm worried he obviously had it in his mouth.

What did the terrier do? She sat and watched then got her ball to squeak and played with that whilst I'm running round in my dressing gown like a fanny! The collie rounded them both up and now all the dogs are asleep by the aga now and I'm going to go and bleach my hands but will he be ok?

Gosh, that's quite impressive for an old fella! I'd see how he is in the morning and give the vet a call for advice. I'd say he's fine and I bet that's not the first rat he's caught in his time. He didn't eat it, so that's the main thing. Give the wound a good clean tonight, if he'll let you.

It reminds me of our old springer, the gentlest dog ever. Unless you were a rat, that is. I once saw her stalk and catch a rat, then do the terrier shake of death on it. It was quite horrifying and yet impressive at the same time. I wouldn't have thought she had it in her, she was such a sweet natured thing.

Another time I found our very elderly cat sitting beside a catch, a very large and very dead rat, looking super pleased with himself.

@DramaAlpaca I know! I was so surprised I thought the terrier maybe but not him. Takes us 2 hours to walk about 1.5 miles now. So he doesn't walk much just potters around the farm all day which he's happy to do! He's got a fab life but Christ never seen him move so fast!

My golden could catch them but dropped them when they squeaked - the terrier would then grab it and kill it. Great team work. Terriers eyes not so good these days though - I watched one walk right by him and he didn't react.

As it was a rat I would check the wound with the vet - nasty germy things. 🤞

What a hero! Defo vet though. My sister's terrier had to have some heavy duty vet attention after a rat injury. She was on it, attempted the shake but she's short and it was huge. So she couldn't finish it off and it did nasty damage. My sister had to intervene with a spade.

I'd check the wound in the daylight and see - I suspect it's more likely to be a scratch or graze than a bite.

Vet said as long as its stopped bleeding it should be ok, it's definitely a bite on the septum of his nose, got a nice flap going on 🤦‍♀️ it bled a bit when he had a drink earlier but I think that's to be expected. Silly dog!

I would want a vet check and maybe even antibiotics from a rat bite. Is his lepto vaccine up to date?

But I guess if you spoke to the vet they know better I am no medic

His lepto is up to date. I managed to get an appointment for 5pm just to put my mind at rest