Ok, so here are a couple stories for you guys. When we first moved to Texas I was about 9 (I am mid 30's now) I found an adorable Siamese kitten and wanted to keep it. My parents were willing and so I brought him home, within days we knew it was epileptic. We called vets, no treatment was offered and they wouldn't euthanize because they were worried about having to sedate him to prevent an employee getting scratched if he seizes while being euthanized. Sounds crazy doesn't it? He was put down by my brother in law in the back yard. Fast forward to a 2 years ago, my sister is a vet tech now at a really high tech vet. My mom has 4 pugs, 1 male and 3 females, all fixed after the original pair had 3 litters. some sick, mean kid walking down the street pokes the male pug in the eye. The pug was behind a 4 foot chain-link fence. It cost $1500 even with my sister's employee discount.
I rescue puppies/kittens in my neighborhood, and since they are foundlings I don't take them to the vet. I de-flea and tick them, clean and bandage wounds, ( I have the cone of shame in 2 sizes), feed them a dog food that I purchase at a feed store (containing real meat and bone, not meat by product) and monitor them for a few days to a week, then find them a home. The kittens go to an cat rescue group that I trap, spay/neuter, and foster for. I do this out of my own pocket. I have re-homed 9 kittens and 3 puppies in the last 1 1/2 years. Unfortunately it's harder for me to find the puppies a home because I am on my own doing it. Because of my bleeding heart, as my husband calls it, I have ended up with a Belgian mix I found beaten and starving on the side of the road, a Siberian husky that a friend found and couldn't keep, another Siberian I rescued from a backyard breeder and who had never known human touch, grass or being dry, a Rottweiler scheduled to be euthanized for having heartworms, arthritis in her left hip and torn CCL ligaments in her right hip, 2 outside cats, a calico and her suspected solid black daughter (both spayed) that came with the property we purchased, 4 her the calico's daughters also now all spayed, and a tiny female kitten I found freezing to death in my tree, also now spayed. We have 2 AKC registered Siberian Huskies, a male female pair. We do have money put aside for emergency vet care, if it is enough I don't know. We already had to rush our outside cat Patches, the mother of all those kittens, to the vet because she was violated by a male cat a month after her spay surgery. She had her girl parts hanging out of her body! Luckily it cost $280 to save her and that was taken from our emergency fund. If another serious injury is sustained by 1 of my pets, and I can't afford it I would not hesitate to either doctor at home or euthanize with a bullet to save it from needless suffering. It's a fine line to walk, money vs health with animals. I feel I am a good responsible owner, other may not agree as I don't have a lot of money. I do a lot of my animals maintenance myself, I clip their nails, bath and groom, shave their pads, give all but rabies vaccine here at home, and doctor minor injures myself. Does this make me irresposible or a bad owner? Trying to save a buck now incase i need it later? What about people like the people down the street, their dogs, are starving, mangy, and very very aggressive (have ripped the front leg off a full grown German Shepard after tearing through fencing to get it, they also killed a weenie dog in its own yard, and a female Siberian/Shepard mix who got loose). When 1 of their dogs gets shot or hit by a car, they leave it do die in agony and just get a new dog somehow. Animal control and the sheriff do nothing, turn a blind eye.
Sorry for the ramble, my point is we may put aside money for a rainy day and discover it isn't enough. Or things come up, I believe the OP said someone got cancer. My mother has brain cancer and I now have to care for her 3 remaining pugs, her parakeets, and her garden as well as my own zoo and garden. At least these people are concerned and are asking for advice to help their dog, so let's stop bashing them or each other and offer advice.
I would clean the wound, apply topical antibiotics, and if possible get the poor dog on some broad spectrum antibiotic like penicillin for 10 days. I would get shavers, like for nose hair trimming and shave around the wound. This will help the wound air out,( preventing bacterial infection from setting in or hampering one that is already started), and will allow you to better see the extend of the damage and monitor it daily. Only keep dressings on the wound for a couple days then keep it uncovered. Apply the topical antibiotic 3 times daily for 3/4 days then 2 times daily till healed. For those who will question why I say to do this, I am a microbiologist who, unfortunately can't work right now because I have metal rods in my spine, minor nerve damage and am I'm extreme pain. VA doctors won't do squat except give me pills and tell me not to call back.
I rescue puppies/kittens in my neighborhood, and since they are foundlings I don't take them to the vet. I de-flea and tick them, clean and bandage wounds, ( I have the cone of shame in 2 sizes), feed them a dog food that I purchase at a feed store (containing real meat and bone, not meat by product) and monitor them for a few days to a week, then find them a home. The kittens go to an cat rescue group that I trap, spay/neuter, and foster for. I do this out of my own pocket. I have re-homed 9 kittens and 3 puppies in the last 1 1/2 years. Unfortunately it's harder for me to find the puppies a home because I am on my own doing it. Because of my bleeding heart, as my husband calls it, I have ended up with a Belgian mix I found beaten and starving on the side of the road, a Siberian husky that a friend found and couldn't keep, another Siberian I rescued from a backyard breeder and who had never known human touch, grass or being dry, a Rottweiler scheduled to be euthanized for having heartworms, arthritis in her left hip and torn CCL ligaments in her right hip, 2 outside cats, a calico and her suspected solid black daughter (both spayed) that came with the property we purchased, 4 her the calico's daughters also now all spayed, and a tiny female kitten I found freezing to death in my tree, also now spayed. We have 2 AKC registered Siberian Huskies, a male female pair. We do have money put aside for emergency vet care, if it is enough I don't know. We already had to rush our outside cat Patches, the mother of all those kittens, to the vet because she was violated by a male cat a month after her spay surgery. She had her girl parts hanging out of her body! Luckily it cost $280 to save her and that was taken from our emergency fund. If another serious injury is sustained by 1 of my pets, and I can't afford it I would not hesitate to either doctor at home or euthanize with a bullet to save it from needless suffering. It's a fine line to walk, money vs health with animals. I feel I am a good responsible owner, other may not agree as I don't have a lot of money. I do a lot of my animals maintenance myself, I clip their nails, bath and groom, shave their pads, give all but rabies vaccine here at home, and doctor minor injures myself. Does this make me irresposible or a bad owner? Trying to save a buck now incase i need it later? What about people like the people down the street, their dogs, are starving, mangy, and very very aggressive (have ripped the front leg off a full grown German Shepard after tearing through fencing to get it, they also killed a weenie dog in its own yard, and a female Siberian/Shepard mix who got loose). When 1 of their dogs gets shot or hit by a car, they leave it do die in agony and just get a new dog somehow. Animal control and the sheriff do nothing, turn a blind eye.
Sorry for the ramble, my point is we may put aside money for a rainy day and discover it isn't enough. Or things come up, I believe the OP said someone got cancer. My mother has brain cancer and I now have to care for her 3 remaining pugs, her parakeets, and her garden as well as my own zoo and garden. At least these people are concerned and are asking for advice to help their dog, so let's stop bashing them or each other and offer advice.
I would clean the wound, apply topical antibiotics, and if possible get the poor dog on some broad spectrum antibiotic like penicillin for 10 days. I would get shavers, like for nose hair trimming and shave around the wound. This will help the wound air out,( preventing bacterial infection from setting in or hampering one that is already started), and will allow you to better see the extend of the damage and monitor it daily. Only keep dressings on the wound for a couple days then keep it uncovered. Apply the topical antibiotic 3 times daily for 3/4 days then 2 times daily till healed. For those who will question why I say to do this, I am a microbiologist who, unfortunately can't work right now because I have metal rods in my spine, minor nerve damage and am I'm extreme pain. VA doctors won't do squat except give me pills and tell me not to call back.
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