Raccoon attack injury!! - Wound keeps bleeding, how do we treat this?

If it is a big whole don't stitch it, you have to pack it just like with a dog bite. By packing it you allow for infection to escape better.

You can wash it out with iodine [the 1% titratable iodine type] then pack it with pine tar if you cant find pine tar you can use Petroleum jelly then top the wound with lanolin.
After packing the wound start offering some foods rich in vitamin K like, kale, collards, spinach, and turnip greens. Vitamin K aids blood clotting.

Chris

We're not going to be stitching. Right now we packed it (sort of) with ointment, basically just a big blob without gauze. She seems to be ok right now, I'm just not sure what else to do about the wound. Someone recommended Blu Kote, and my dad bought a can today, is this good for the injury? Our girl was bitten, so her skin is off that area, and was still bleeding last time I checked. Should we try using Blu Kote? Also, I bought a bottle of vitamin water for her, would it help? I believe an earlier post mentioned electrolytes or gatorade, but I bought vitamin water instead. Would it still work?

Thanks again for the help!!

From a nurse: Make sure that the feathers in that area are out completely, not cut or broken, because they have an artery that will just keep bleeding. If you think there are any puncture wounds, you would clean with hydrogen peroxide or betadine (full strength) a couple of times a day and then put your ointment on so it the wound edges stay soft and heal from the inside out, allowing any infection/drainage to escape. (I don't see the value in giving her a complete bath, myself.) I can't tell if you mean that the raccoon got a chunk of muscle as well as the skin??? If the wound is superficial, as in just the skin, styptic powder might help stop bleeding in a surface area by making the blood clot initially. Then later Blu-Kote would be a good idea...it dries, unlike ointment and may be less disturbing for your girl. Too bad she won't tolerate gauze or bandages!

As for the water, it depends what is in your vitamin water, but it will probably do her more good than plain water! I have some electrolyte powder for chicken emergencies, and it has a lot of vitamins.

Hope this helps. I'm sorry you have to go through this.

I read back and now I get the reason for the bath! Good point, you need to know if there are other injuries.

By the way, if what you need to do is bring together torn skin edges, and suturing is not an option, superglue is worth a try! You would put little lines across the edges you are trying to hold together. This is totally an off-label use, but medical and veterinary versions are used in surgery, I used it myself when I sliced my finger. (It's in my first aid kit)

Oh wow, thank you Tallulah! Right now our girl is a lot better, I've sprayed a few coats of Blu Kote on her and the wound has stopped bleeding already. Right now I'm waiting for it to heal completely. I just don't know when I can let her back out though. Should we wait until the feathers have grown back? Thanks again for the help!!

Oh and about the wound, it wasn't just the skin that was torn, the muscle was torn too. There wasn't a chunk pulled out, but there was definitely punctures, since the raccoon bit into her quite deep.