Help my dog was hit by a car!!

[Nuggetsowner:)]

I know alot of you are not dog fans but....
My Chocolate lab was hit by a car. She has injured her lower left hind leg. She will not put any pressure on it. It is very swollen. She did let us feel it and it does not seem to be broken. Some of her fur was rubbed off and her wounds are oozing puss. She is moving around quite active actually. She is eating and drinking. We have got her separated from our other two labs to prevent her from further injuring herself or from them accidentaly injuring her further. What should I do?? Should I wrap it? Should I put Neosporin on it? Any advice out there would be appreciated!

 

[justusnak]

Oh no!! I am sooo very sorry to hear about your poor dog. If possible, get her to a vet in the morning. If she is not bearing weight, it could possibly be a hip, not a leg. Hips are generally the area that are struck by vehicles in a dog of that size. The poor dear. Watch her for shock....especially after sundown. Seems to be when bad things get worse! I hope she will be ok...keep us posted, please!!

 

[speckledhen]

I'm sorry about your dog; most of us love dogs here. You need to take her to a vet, IMO. This is too serious for us to tell you what to do to treat her. Hope she's okay.

 

[rooster-red]

I would put the neosporin on the wounds, as for the swollen leg... that might be several things.
Probably need to have it xrayed to make sure there are no fractures.

 

[Nuggetsowner:)]

Thank you so much for your concern. I am very worried but she seems to be in a good mood and very perky right now. It seems to be just her very lower left hind leg although she does have difficulty getting up once she has been lying down for awhile. We really do not know what happened. My husband and I were both at work and when we got home she was put in her kennel and injured. Our other dogs were still out and none of the neighbors were home to see what happened either. We live in a cal du sal of 6 houses off of a state hwy. We each have an acre of land so it is hard to say what happened. We are worried about what it will cost if we do have to take her to the vet. We are a young family and both my husband and I work and we have three boys. Money doesn't exactly grow on trees around here. Not that she isn't worth it. It just is hard to justify spending hundreds of dollars on the dog when the boys need things like braces and new clothes for school...

 

[GAhen]

You should take her to the vet. But.......
Neosporin would be good, and you probably should wrap it to keep her from licking it.
She could take a baby asprin for pain.........and it is an anti-inflammatory.
Just watch the swelling and you may want to do some range of motion exercises on it if she does not put weight on it in a reasonable amount of time.
Have you cleaned the wound??
There may be debris in it. Use a saline solution to clean the wound and you may need to use that to soak the bandage off if it gets stuck.
You can get that in the pharmacy section of most any store.
Good luck.

 

[Standard Hen]

I would get her to the vet, especially if you are seeing pus etc. She most likely will need anti-biotics also. Tell them your situation, I know some will do payment plans.

 

[Nuggetsowner:)]

I sent DH to the store for saline solution. We will clean wounds...we already washed with dreft and warm water...then put neosporin on and wrap. we will see how long it lasts before she has the wrap chewed off.

My dh says about 10 minutes. I will let you all know. When the job is done. Right now she won't leave my side. she is just laying here. I feel so bad. Funny how you get so attached to these darn animals.

 

[Southern28Chick]

Puss can be a sign of infection. I would say take her to the vet. I hope she gets better. I hate it when animals get hit by cars. She's very lucky to be alive. Clean the wound as good as you can. I would wash the area then use peroxide and finish it off with neosporin (spelling). I probably wouldn't wrap it if she's indoors because that would leave the infection in and you want it to come out. That's what the vet told me about cats with open wounds so I guess the same goes for dogs. The vet told me that the animal licks it because they're trying to lick out the puss which is the sign of infection. You have conficting posts on this now so the VERY BEST thing to do is get her to the vet.

I know vet bills can hurt. Like Standard Hen said a lot of vets do payment plans.

My prayers tonight go out to your dog!

 

[tiffanyh]

First, if she has open wounds, DO NOT wrap it. You they create a cover that done not allow the wound to drain, therefore the bacteria and pus builds up in the wound making it worse. Neosporin does the same thing, it acts as a second skin, sealing up the wound and not allowing the infection to move out. Your MUCH better off flushing the wounds. ECSPECIALLY if they are draining.

Second, she is probably in pain. A broken pelvis, if she is at a vet hospital, would require most likely to "crate" her to keep her movements to a minimun, allowing her to move around keeps the pelvis shift and does not allow it to heal properly or at all. Same with a broken bone. You can give her BUFFERED ASPIRIN for pain, but no advil or tylenol as dog can not properly metabolize the contents and it can cause liver problems long term. But try to immobilize her as much as humanely possible. That fact that it is swollen and that she is not weight bearing is a bad sign. The infection will most likely need AB's or it might not get better. You can take her temp (it should be 101ish to see how much the infection is affecting her overall, or if she may have a deeper infection in the bone you cant see).

I really reccomend you bring her to a vet. Tell the the truth, money is a concern and you appreciate them keeping it to the minimum. You have every right to say no to anything they recommend if you feel it is excessive or too expensive. I am a Cert.VetTech and completely respect that clients have a limit on the cost of their pets care. Why wouldnt that be a concern of most people? They might even be able to see if it is a severe break just by palpating the leg.

Also, keep an eye on the color of her gums, if they are pink, good. If they are pale or white, that is a good indication of internal bleeding/innjury. It is not likely based on what you describe but it is common in a HBC.

Please dont replace any of my info for what a vet might tell you, as they are the doctors. I am only a technician, but I have gone to get certified nationally so I have knowledge and years of experience with this.

Good luck. I hope she does well.