another vet story- opinions please

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by GSDfan on 28 April 2010 - 21:04

Incident....I work with a Police K9 unit where two of the K9's had a brief scrapping. One of them ended up with two puncture wounds on the upper part of his forearm, and a graze underneath. Very little blood, dripped 4 or 5 drops for less than a minute

In all reality a very minor injury, from experience with treating bites on myself and dogs in the past, all he needed was some antibiotics a good cleaning and maybe some pain meds to take the edge off. As long as he wasn't too sore he would be back in service in a day or two...perhaps even later that day.

Of course the vet wouldn't just give the meds, had to see him, so the handler took him in right away.

The vet put him under anesthesia, shaved the wound area and then some...took a scalpel and made an incision across the two puncture wounds (about and inch to 1.5 inches long). Put in a drainage tube and stiched it up with about 5 stiches!!!

The dog returned and looked like someone hacked his leg with an ax!

This dog is in the middle of Explosives training, and with the training situation it is VERY important he does not miss more time than absolutely necessary. This vet turned a minor injury into a major one and put this dog out of commission for way more time than just leaving it alone and letting it heal with meds.

This is not a pet dog that can take all the time he needs to heal, nor was it a horrible tearing injury... IMO complete overkill!

I know there are vets and vet techs on this site, I would love to hear their opinion on this as well as others. It's not even my dog and I'm so irritated, I have never seen a bite so friggin minor treated this way!!

by shostring on 28 April 2010 - 21:04

ALL ABOUT MONEY MAKING BIG BUCKS A LOT OF VETS DO NOT GIVE A STUF ABOUT THE DOG JUST THE BIG BUCKS

by GSDfan on 28 April 2010 - 21:04

Thats what really baffles me, the vet gives the K9 unit treatment for FREE, they have to pay for labwork and meds but all else is no charge!!

by melba on 28 April 2010 - 21:04

Same thing happened with one of my females. We were out playing ball when my friend brought his female over. I did not know his female was there and had mine go around the front to come inside. When I came around the side of the house his dog was on top of mine. Needless to say my little girl received a nice bite to the armpit. I started her on antibiotics right away but it swelled up overnight and I took her to the vet in the AM. The vet put her under, cut, put a drain in and gave her 10 staples. I figured I would wake up if I heard her licking but woke up half way through the night to find she'd pulled all but 2 of the staples out. I continued dressing the wound with neosporin and ace bandages until I was supposed to bring her back to have the staples removed, at which point I removed the final two myself.

I believe the vet treatment was overkill in our situation also, because the wound healed by itself with minimal scarring ( like anyone is going to check her armpit anyways!)

I don't know, we treat most minor stuff at home with antibiotics if necessary. I've got everything necessary to give IVs, sub-q fluids, antibiotics, sutures (Hahaha, me give stitches? NOT. That stuff makes me queasy) and all kinds of other goodies that I hope I'll never need.

Melissa

by GSDtravels on 28 April 2010 - 22:04

Sounds like major overkill to me. Why mess with it and risk more area for infection? If there was no swelling or bleeding, why was a drainage tube needed? How does the handler feel about this and did he/she ask the vet?

On anther note, after getting a bite just last week, I was told that antibiotic cream on a bite can actually cause infection. With a puncture wound, just soap and water and a loose, dry bandage, if any. It needs to dry and any cream or dressing will hold the infection in to the wound. I did everything wrong! I washed, but put Neosporin on it an wrapped it up.

by starrchar on 29 April 2010 - 02:04

I've never had a dog with a serious puncture wound, but I've had few cats that got serious puncture wounds. Our vet is a good friend, very conservative and is definitely not out for the money, but few of our cats needed a drain after getting a puncture wound (even though they are all neutered/spayed they still get into it at times). Sometimes it is very hard to tell exactly how deep the wound is just by looking, so if there is any possibility it is real deep then it is necessary to put the animal under anesthesia and investigate further. Our vet explained that if the wound is real deep it may not drain properly and a very serious infection can occur (even with antibiotics), therefore a drain is needed. Maybe this was the case with this dog. Also, the amount of bleeding is not an indication as to how deep the wound is either. I hope this may help.

by Robin on 29 April 2010 - 03:04

We were always told i---t is not what is on the outside that you have to worry about it is what's on the inside, --when the dog shakes his head he is taring and pulling on the muscle and tissue under the skin and that is where the most damage is done-- you are really not supposed to stitch up a bite wound you are to let it drain- that is why they put the tube in so it can drain-- antibotics and pain meds after that should be fine. all depends on how bad the wound is.
Robin

by OGBS on 29 April 2010 - 04:04

Hey Mel,
I think that in the long run the dog is better off with what the vet did.
If it did turn out to be badly infected, or inside damage, the dog would potentially be out for much longer.

As an aside, I am geting a ton of people (GSD and others) that are telling me how awesome Vlad's temperament is.
At almost 2, he is really turning in to an amazing dog! He is also quite a character!
Kudos to his Papa (and Mama)!!!
Take care,
--Steve

by melba on 29 April 2010 - 10:04

Hey Steve,

You're probably right, it was just a shame she pulled all the staples out. You have no idea the grossness level I was at when I woke up ( she was in bed with me when she pulled them out!). The vet didn't charge me for her surgery, just for meds as he did when my other girl had her black widow bite (want to talk about gross!) All the other vets in his practice would have charged us, but not him. On the other hand, since we have moved, my new vet is just as nice and is extremely familiar with working dogs.

The only vet I've ever had problems with was a just graduated "sum cume laude" and I know this because he rubbed it in several times during the visit. I told my vet and the other vet that occasionally saw my dogs what had transpired. Lol. The told me they had already been rather irritated with him, being mr. know it all with them too. Don't know what happend to the kid.

Melissa

by TessJ10 on 29 April 2010 - 12:04

"ALL ABOUT MONEY MAKING BIG BUCKS A LOT OF VETS DO NOT GIVE A STUF ABOUT THE DOG JUST THE BIG BUCKS"

"the vet gives the K9 unit treatment for FREE"

HAHAHA, where's your apology, shostring? And it better be all in caps. Let's see it.

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