Hello All, new here. I have 9 month old yellow lab named Bo whom I adore. Unfortunately, we gave in to good weather and visited a local new dark park. Long story short, my Bo was bitten by a mastiff mix on Saturday. Mastiff had Bo's head in a lock, and the bottom fang made a puncture wound in his neck below his ear. We cleaned him up immediately and I've been washing it daily with warm water and putting Neosporin on the open wound. The swelling on his face is down, he's happy, eating, acting normal. The puncture would is still open, about the size of a pen tip. It's not bleeding or seeping. It's clean and dry. I want to have him checked by the vet and put on antibiotics, but my spouse feels otherwise. Thinks he's healing well, and they vet is going to rake us over the coals with blood tests, cultures, etc. Any similar experiences? I'm a wreck.
Yes, get to the vet. It could easily become infected. Keir had the same a month ago and the Vet gave him antibiotics, anti inflammatories and painkillers. He also checked for any other injuries or problems due to the attack. Then I would look very seriously into getting decent insurance for him so that you never question a trip to the vet on financial grounds again. Hope he’s better soon. .
Hi Lisa and welcome . I`m with you here , any bite carries potential infection which could take a day or so to get hold, by which time he could be poorly . A course of antibiotics would put your mind at rest , poor boy x
When my boy was bitten - two puncture wounds on the anus! - the vet just said to keep it clean and apply antibiotic cream twice a day. No oral antibiotics. She actually didn’t charge us either! Said it was such a small event and she just felt sorry for Snowie being bitten on the bum. The first time Snowie was bitten on the ear, again a puncture wound, I just kept it clean and it healed. I went to the vet for the anus wound because I was worried about the area being prone to infection and it bled a lot.
In my opinion, I would go to the vet as you never know what infection could take place. Yes you can clean it, but infection can spread quickly. Please do let us know how you get on.
The same happened to my Lab and after a few days he had quite a large swelling, so we did take him to the vet. There is no need to have blood cultures/tests etc for a bite, so your spouse needn't worry about that. I always advocate at least phoning a vet for advice if not taking the dog, your vet may say carry on with what you are doing, or advise it is better to see Bo.
Finn had 2 puncture wounds in his neck from a Great Dane. You must look in his neck caus he has probably 2 wounds. I went to the vet straight away. He got pain relief and antibiotics. I had to clean out his wounds. I did that for 3 weeks. But definitely a vets visit!
Thank you all for your feed back. Took my Bo to the vet. He got his neck shaved, and there is still some swelling and a small pocket of fluid that is seeping only blood and clear fluid for now, but could get infected. He's on oral antibiotics for 2 weeks, I have to apply warm compresses and message the site three times a day to help it drain. If not, they it has to be drained by the vet. SOOO glad I went. On a side note, vet is $61.00 to walk in the door. No problem. But then they charge for everything they do separately. The shaving, the cleaning... I asked her to check his ears as he was in last week for an ear infection, and she said - "oh, I don't want to charge you for that now, come back in a few weeks". Total bill was $253. Seriously??????? Are all vets like this????? I can see charging for the visit and the meds, but $42.00 to clip and shave.
Yes, all vets are like this. This is why I pay insurance for my pet dog. She recently needed a tooth out. The insurance company paid the £700 pound Vet bill. My Cavalier needed an abscess removing from his eye. The insurance paid the bill, it was £7,000. I would never be without good insurance. .
Totally agree with @Boogie . My late boy Sam was diagnosed with cancer and needed invasive surgery, plus many tests of tissue and follow ups , all covered by the insurance , thank goodness , worth every penny . So pleased that you took Bo , and hope he is fully recovered very soon x
I'm glad the vet has checked Bo thoroughly. It's worth taking out insurance for peace of mind, even though the premiums go up annually. I try not to think about how much insurance costs each month for my two now!
Vets are pretty pricey. A bit like repairmen who come to the house. In the UK we are not used to paying for healthcare so what we are charged at the vets comes as a bit of a shock - I don't think they use the cheapest drugs either (the NHS has a keen eye for a bargain ) I would advocate pet insurance for sure, but having said that, I recently cancelled ours as we weren't claiming for anything and the premiums had taken a significant hike once Lilly turned 5 and continued to rise. We would not have managed to get her insured elsewhere at a reasonable price - because of her hip dysplasia - so decided to terminate the plan. We did however think very carefully about this, and balanced up lots of factors including our overall financial position (we can afford to pay for an emergency that arises even if it is a couple of £1000) and our general approach regarding quality of life over quantity (not sure we would go down the route of cancer treatment, or heroic surgery for instance). I think its always worth asking for a breakdown of cost though. Some things - if not urgently needed - are cheaper to buy online even if you factor in paying for a private prescription. @Lisa22 - glad Bo is okay, even if you needed a stiff drink after your visit!
Well, I think that is very expensive! It would be £30 to examine the dog (incl V.A.T.) and I don't think my vet would charge for shaving, the antibiotics would have been expensive. I would have expected my vet to have charged at least half of what you had to pay. However, I do have insurance but with that I have to pay the first £90 each year, well worth it though if a continuing problem or a fracture.
I definitely pay a lot more for a vet visit than when I go to the doctor. It is annoying having everything itemized, but I’ve had similar at human doctors. However, my vet does not charge for every item, and definitely not for clipping! I’m glad Bo is fine. I must confess, I’m against the overuse of oral antibiotics. They are essential when needed, but most wounds would have swelling due to the trauma. The first time Snowie cut himself (he lifted his leg against the rose bush and cut one of his balls), the vet on duty shaved the ball, cleaned the wound, injected an antibiotic, and gave oral antibiotics. We accepted it all. Thereafter we used to see the main vet who owned the practice, plenty years of experience, and she never gave oral antibiotics for a cut or bite wound. And talking to friends with years of experience with dogs, they said wait and see, and if gets worse overnight only then go to vet. If not getting worse, then all good. In Snowie’s first year we practically lived at the vet! But now in his 6th year, we are not such frequent vet visitors!
I'm glad Bo is ok I'm glad that I have insurance for Harley as she has had to have emergency surgery and lots of medical issues (mainly in the first 2 years of her life). It saved me thousands and thousands of pounds.
I charged the woman from who the dog bit with the vets bill....if she is insured there will be no problem. We have an insurance for Finn for calamities, ie when he runs out of the door suddenly and run a bike over, that sort of things. So when he bites another dog and the other gets hurt we will pay the vets bill!
I agree with @Anne123, the owner of the dog that bit your dog should cover the vet bills! I know of several incidents where this has happened in my area, and the owners exchange information much like after a car accident. I know one great dane in my area was attacked and the owner of the attacking dogs asked that she take her dog to his vet so he could work out payment.
Your vet sounds pretty expensive to me, I have to say... I have carefully weighed up all the pros and cons of insuring two dogs, and after much deliberation, Merlin is insured for accidents and operations - not for regular check ups, and not for medication. The premium was so high, it wouldn't have been worth it. However, I am very happy to know that we are covered in the event that he needs any sort of operation (including hospitalization, x-rays, after-care, etc). I'm very happy to hear your dog is doing better now; it's so horrible when they get bitten.
