Advice please - I've been bitten and just want to check what you would do - for yourself, not the dog! Feeling a bit foolish...

[loveyouradvice]

Okay, I have been bitten by our small dog - Im feeling deeply foolish as he was over excited and longing to leap into the garden after an intruder when I opened the patio doors and put my foot across it to slow him down as I've often done before.

So ... a deep puncture wound and a second smaller puncture on my foot. A bit painful, blood flowed freely, but nowt more.

This is what I've done:

• squeezed blood out to help squeeze out any infection
• washed well with tepid soapy water
• counted up my tetanus jabs - yes definitely over 5, probably 6
• taken some paracetemol

Would you do anything else? Do I need to consider antibiotics?

As far as the dog is concerned, I've learnt my lesson and won't do anything so foolish again. He is 9 so I don't think there's anything I can do on the training front that would be worthwhile, though I may look into that. I think it is far to treat it as a one off.

Have you any antibiotic cream? Can you cover the wound?

I would probably call 111 tomorrow as it’s broken the skin, you may need anti b.

re the dog. No idea, your call, your dog.

Ouch!
I would probably consider a trip to a minor injuries unit. Dog bites can become infected quite quickly and they may want you to to have some antibiotics

I'd put iodine on it.

Has he bitten before?
Was it an actual intruder (semi understandable) or was he just excited to go out as normal which is more worrying.

I'd have flushed it out with some antiseptic spray as well.
See how it is in the morning, if it is hot, red or swollen you could call NHS 111 dor advice.

My dog accidentally bit through my finger a couple of months ago , he’s old and got me confused with a piece of chicken , I just washed it and put germolene on it and I’m still alive .

I got caught between my two dogs having a scuffle and my finger was punctured in places.

Ended up having to go to A&E where they ran a quick test to check my tetanus was up to date, did and xray and also gave me antibiotics.

I wouldn't risk it to be honest. Hope you aren't too uncomfortable

It's the deep wound i'd be concerned about x

You need antibiotics. Friend is a personal injury lawyer and says the most common injury she deals with are dog bites because they can so easily get infected.

squeezed blood out to help squeeze out any infection

It doesn't work like that.

Animal bites can be very dangerous, and you can go from being perfectly fine to being extremely unwell very quickly. Please get medical attention.

No squeezing… American tv snakebites have a lot to answer for. That will just aggravate the tissues.
Wash wish warm soapy water.
Pop on some Bernadine if you have it, or chlorhexidine. Some kind of liquid wound antiseptic.
Cover with appropriately-sized bandage. Apply pressure with another rolled up bandage if it is still bleeding heavily.
Seek medical help if you suspect the wound is deep enough that it needs stitches.

You need antibiotics.
My dog bit me a couple of years ago (she was choking and I ended up getting my finger bitten). It seemed fine until it suddenly became very swollen a couple of days later and when I went to the doctor she told me animal bites always needed antibiotics and I should not have left it and might now need hospital treatment. Really gave me a telling off over it! Thankfully a very strong course of antibiotics sorted it out.
If you have a minor injuries unit or similar nearby then go to there as soon as you can.

You need to get it seen. My friend got bitten by her cat on her hand, one canine punctured her skin. Did like you did but the redness stayed. She reluctantly went to get it looked at and to her shock was admitted to hospital. They were very concerned about sepsis and had to do an operation to clean it out.

Yet her bite looked like nothing.
Get your bite seen to as soon as you can. Cats & dogs carry a lot of bacteria in their mouth. Better safe than sepsis!

Clean the wound with soap

I'm sorry that this happened to you OP. I am a dog walker and my own experience of this, and what I've heard of from the community or walkers / trainers / behaviouralists that I am part of, is that you should seek medical advice and that a clinician will want to assess the bite and offer advice and most likely antibiotics.

So, contact GP, or if out of hours call 111.

Animals carry bacteria in their mouth, saliva and teeth. Puncture wounds are particularly susceptible to causing infection.

On a separate note, WRT your dog biting you: from your account it sounds like s/he was reacting very strongly to the person outside, and was already over threshold when you placed your foot in the way. I absolutely understand why you blocked with your foot, but I don't think it's altogether surprising that your dog bit you in that situation. Even the most reliably safe dogs still pose a risk when over threshold. If you are concerned then consulting a behaviouralist is the best thing to do, but personally this would not worry me.

Official advice is that dog bites that break the skin need medical attention (and probably antibiotics).

I've personally never bothered and have always been fine, but a deep puncture wound like you describe is extra dangerous and I think you should probably go and get it looked at. That's quite a nasty sounding bite.

I would. I did what you did with a cat bite and ended up in hospital on IV antibiotics.

Every hour counts- I was sent from OOH to A&E because it was too late for oral ABs.

Better to get antibiotics started asap. When I was bitten I left it possibly 12 hours, and ended up on a drip for 5 days. I was fine, but it was a huge nuisance (particularly has it was a week I’d booked as annual leave and had lots of plans!).

When I got bitten by a dog (small puncture) it got infected and the first round of antibiotics didn't work (my arm swelled up and was full of pus).

I ended up on a drip in hospital. Only time I've stayed overnight in hospital except childbirth.

I would start antibiotics sooner rather than later if it was me.

It really made me realise how lucky we are to live in modern times. If I'd not had access to antibiotics, the best case scenario would have been my infected arm amputated to save my life, but more likely it would have killed me.

Sobering stuff.

If the give you antibiotics also ask for an anti emetic. The antibiotics can make you throw up

You need a review with a nurse in GP or minor injuries.

I'm a HCP who deals with this btw

@honeyandbutterontoast this happened to my mum a few months ago. Her old dog was choking and she ended up having to put her hand in to get the food out. Dog clamped its mouth shut and she couldn't prise it open so had to pull her hand out, shredding a finger.

Like a fool, she didn't listen to me and waited over the weekend to try to see the GP. They sent her to a&e just as I'd told her they would. She ended up on lots of strong antibiotics and had to go back daily for it to be re-dressed. She still can't move the finger.

OP, if you're worried that the hospital may raise something about the dog, it's unlikely. They were very understanding about what happened to my mum.

Go to minor injuries. Definitely.
You need to have the wound properly cleaned, dressed and treated with antibiotics.
My dog bit my finger when she was about to choke on a chicken bone. I was more scared of getting her into trouble than I was about the blood, pain etc. But the medics reassured me that in the circumstances I described, she wouldn’t be in any trouble and neither would I - unless I didn’t look after the wound properly.

Thank you - wow, sobering stuff and I am taking it on board

Getting up this morning I'd almost forgotten it had happened - mild pain and then remembered, did my stuff and only checked back in now.

I will act now - thank you

And yes, unworried by dog as he was definitely over the threshold and I didnt recognise .. and sorry intruder was either cat or fox Im guessing, too late to see but much more agitated than normal...