Dog bites?

[thopkins22]

My morning walk today included being bitten by a dog trying to attack my dog. I blocked him with my forearm and paid the price. He had current rabies tags and a very apologetic owner, but I was anxious to get my dog(and self!) out of there so I failed to get information from the owner. I considered drawing my gun...but in the end I'm happy that I did not.

One gash and two puncture wounds later, I'm left wondering what the best way to clean out a relatively deep puncture wound is. I know enough to flush it out with alcohol and hydrogen peroxide, but would a Q-tip be a good thing to scrub it out with? I'm concerned about introducing even more bacteria than his mouth already did. So I've only done basic Boy Scout flush and bandage.

Don't worry, I've already made an appointment at noon with my doctor for a tetanus shot and I'll presumably pick up a course of oral antibiotics.

[DavidFourteen]

1. Prompt and thorough irrigation with normal saline (or water, if not available) for all bites.
2. Peroxide or iodine to clean the skin around the wound, but not the wound itself.
3. Tetanus update & a course of antibiotics (probably Augmentin, unless you're allergic).
4. Contact county animal control services so they can make contact with the dog owner to confirm immunization; also, the owner will be instructed to contact animal control if the dog becomes acutely ill or behaves strangely for the next 2 weeks.

Sounds like this could have ended a lot worse.

Just out of curiosity, what sort of dog was this?

[ST911]

File a report with police, or your local animal control authority, to document the incident. Dogs don't bite once, and such a paper trail will be needed when it's time to remove or destroy a potentially dangerous animal later.

I have also seen a number of homemade rabies certificates. Vet care can be expensive, but printer ink is not.

[theJanitor]

keep cleaning it until your appointment. and try to get as early an appointment as possible. i got bit a couple years ago. it was her housemate's dog, so i knew it's med history.

i did the same, blocked with my right forearm. the puncture wound went down to the bone. i "cleaned it up" and went to bed. the next morning it was a little swollen, but it was leaking puss. i called the doc and got an afternoon apt. by the time of my appointment, my forearm was HUGE!! and the flesh was bright red. the progression of redness was distinct and it was at my bicep. he indicated that my arm was infected and that the infection was traveling up my arm and would soon be in my torso, which would be VERY bad. he gave me shots and a BIG antibiotic dose.

also he told me that he wouldn't stitch up the wound, and that it was better to let the wound bleed/leak/eject all the puss and infected liquid.

[Gutshot John]

For a deep puncture wound you need to go to a doctor as the chances of infection are significantly higher since it's difficult to clean and its deep in the tissue.

Hydrogen Peroxide wouldn't be appropriate for that because of tissue damage.

I'd ask him for some Rocephin.

[LittleRedToyota]

For a deep puncture wound you need to go to a doctor as the chances of infection are significantly higher since it's difficult to clean and its deep in the tissue.

Hydrogen Peroxide wouldn't be appropriate for that because of tissue damage.

I'd ask him for some Rocephin.

+1 to this post.

i've been bitten twice in my adult life.

in one case it was puncture wounds and the doctor gave me an antibiotic as preventative medicine (some docs would prolly disagree with that, i dunno).

i the other case, it was more of a tear. i did not get preventative antibiotics for that one. the doc in that case said that, because it was a laceration rather than a puncture, it could bleed a lot (and it did) and was easier to clean, so there was a much smaller chance of infection, and i would not need antibiotics unless it started to show signs of infection.

at any rate, both docs said dog bites can easily become infected because of all the microorganisms that live in dogs mouths (kinda like human mouths), so any dog bite should be properly treated by a medical professional.

[thopkins22]

Thanks for the advice. Following Gunshot John's advice I held off on the peroxide, flushed the wounds out with water and poured a ton of alcohol(probably way more than recommended) into them. I was vaguely proud of myself, as the Dr. commented that it looked like a professional had done the dressing.

It was explained to me that it was probably a good thing that they're still bleeding because it will help push infection out...also the reason they don't stitch them.

One tetanus shot, one course of antibiotics, and cleaned with some sort of iodine and I was out of there. Now I need to do a more thorough inspection of my pointer.

I forgot to ask about showers, but presumably I'll try and keep the area dry and clean it afterward?

For the record it was a young(1-2yrs) mastiff mix. Kind of surprising as every English Mastiff I've ever known have been giant wussies.

[ST911]

For the record it was a young(1-2yrs) mastiff mix. Kind of surprising as every English Mastiff I've ever known have been giant wussies.

Mastiffs are often listed in breed-specific ordinancing, subjected to either regulation or prohibiton. The former more than the latter.

Mastiffs are a popular alternative to pitbull-types, which draw more attention.

Can be very nice dogs, though.

[QuietShootr]

My wife was attacked by a pit bull about seven years ago. The ER sent her to radiology to shoot a pic of her arm, because they said that pits and other large dogs often break teeth off in the wound when the tooth hits bone. Fortunately no tooth fragments were found, but I wouldn't have thought of that. They Dermabonded the holes closed and left small holes open at the edges of each puncture to allow fluids to drain.


(side note: **** pit bulls. I blew that cocksucker's brains all over the ground with a .45, and my only regret is that he's not still alive so I can do it again.)

[rockm4]

My wife was attacked by a pit bull about seven years ago. The ER sent her to radiology to shoot a pic of her arm, because they said that pits and other large dogs often break teeth off in the wound when the tooth hits bone. Fortunately no tooth fragments were found, but I wouldn't have thought of that. They Dermabonded the holes closed and left small holes open at the edges of each puncture to allow fluids to drain.


(side note: **** pit bulls. I blew that cocksucker's brains all over the ground with a .45, and my only regret is that he's not still alive so I can do it again.)

+1. My neighbors 7 year old little girl was playing in her own backyard when a pit bull came around the house and grabbed her, pulling her off the steps she screamed and I heard her and saw what was happening and grabbed my .45 also and beat the dog off when the owner ran up and was begging me not to kill the dog. I said you or it! He had no leash or even a collar I shot him right between the eyes. The dog that is, the police were called and we found out in court later that the dog had bitten 4 other people and the owner had bought their silence. The owner got two years probation and 1000.00 dollar fine and 200 hours community service. Oh yea my neighbors little girl got 47 stitches and 5 plastic surgery operations that witch this a@# ho#% paid for.