# Greyhound leg gash not healing



## LadyGascoyne (9 September 2016)

My boss' lovely greyhound tripped down the stairs and has gashed his leg. He's effectively gone one deeper than a graze and its left a large area of open flesh on his leg.

He's seen a vet who bandaged it, gave antibiotics and suggested nothing other than surgery. The dog is 11 and my boss understandably doesn't want to put him under anesthesic. 

He's eating, happy, not limping and no signs of infection but there is no sign of the wound closing. It is still under dressing. The area surrounding it is puffy and as his antibiotics have come to the end of their course, they are worried about it being so open. There is very little soft tissue on his spindly little legs. 

Is there anything we can try to get the wound to close? Advice on whether it's better open or covered? And anyone who can lend any credence to another suggestion which has been to use activated charcoal powder on it to seal it? 

My boss is very realistic about her options and if he does become uncomfortable, they won't let him suffer.


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## Bellasophia (9 September 2016)

Lots of info in this link...id definitely consider manuka honey for this wound..
http://www.surgerysupplements.com/how-to-heal-open-wounds-faster/
The wound should be cleaned with iodine type products and then the honey applied..wound gauze covered..best to keep a wound moist and honey will do this whilst also disinfecting it naturally without antibiotics...at this point it's worth a try.results are said to be over 90 per cent successful.


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## Clodagh (9 September 2016)

We gave up stitching up our lurchers legs and they always healed fine if left open. It takes a long time, and it looks worse but in fact infecion is less likely as it isn't sitting in a closed pocket. I agree with manuka honey. Good luck.


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## Alec Swan (9 September 2016)

There's a wonderful (read 'magical'!) product called Intra-site Gel (or something like that).  It was designed for and is used on humans.  It comes in a sort of mushroom shaped dispenser,  and I think that like other products (perhaps Manuka Honey) the healing property is just protein based.  I've certainly used it on horses with remarkable effect,  in fact I've never yet known it fail.

I understand that you're now in NZ but I would imagine that it's available with you.  The problem perhaps,  will be in getting the dog to leave it alone rather than constantly licking at the wound,  which in itself may be preventing the healing.  I suppose that one of those horrible lampshade collars will be the answer.  The problem with the current non-healing may be the dog's age and the fact that greyhounds tend to have very thin skin.

When I've used it on horses,  the wound shrinks and there's hair growing back,  within days.

Alec.


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## Dry Rot (9 September 2016)

Agree the lampshade collar.

Then wet the wound with salt water as often as you can. That was told to me by a vet with strict orders not to tell anyone! It works.

Wounds need to be stitched up as soon as possible before the edges start to heal. Probably too late in the OP's case. It isn't difficult and dogs don't usually fight it. I've never needed to use an anaesthetic. Being involved with hounds, we had to learn and it would always have taken too long to get to a vet. Some dogs only have to look at barbed wire to get torn.


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## Amye (9 September 2016)

Yes, the problem with greyhounds (and other sighthounds - i've got two whippets) is their thin skin makes it difficult. I'm assuming if the vet was happy to leave the wound it isn't so bad that it NEEDS stitching, so the suggestions above are probably a good way to go. Make sure the dog isn't licking the wound or anything though - a cone would do this or you can put on an old t-shirt/pair of leggings (depending on which leg is affected) to cover the wound when needed. 

Sighthounds are a pain with their wounds!! Mine have had more than can count - both have had stitches (more than once too) and our pup had staples without anesthetic on a small wound once! He is very placid and the vet thought it was better than putting him under. 

If it really isn't healing then stitching might  be the only option unfortunately


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## druid (9 September 2016)

Promogran to provide a good granulation bed if there is no skin covering the open area. Keep it bandaged and dog in a cone until it is nearly healed over. Once the edges are closer together use melonin or similar dressings (with honey/intra site or what have you if you wish) applied to keep the wound moist but clean.


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## Dry Rot (9 September 2016)

Amye said:



			Yes, the problem with greyhounds (and other sighthounds - i've got two whippets) is their thin skin makes it difficult. I'm assuming if the vet was happy to leave the wound it isn't so bad that it NEEDS stitching, so the suggestions above are probably a good way to go. Make sure the dog isn't licking the wound or anything though - a cone would do this or you can put on an old t-shirt/pair of leggings (depending on which leg is affected) to cover the wound when needed. 

Sighthounds are a pain with their wounds!! Mine have had more than can count - both have had stitches (more than once too) and our pup had staples without anesthetic on a small wound once! He is very placid and the vet thought it was better than putting him under. 

If it really isn't healing then stitching might  be the only option unfortunately
		
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Stitching has to be done before the edges of the wound start to heal. If that has already started, the vet will have to cut the edges of the wound back before stitching or they won't "knit".

An alternative these days might be to super glue the edges of the cut, or I think a vet may use special staples. I'm old school and will stick with a proper surgical needle, suturing thread, and artery forceps to hold the needle. My dogs trust me so I've never had a problem doing this myself.


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## NiceNeverNaughty (9 September 2016)

manuka honey can work wonders for these type of wounds


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## dollyanna (9 September 2016)

Honey and keep it covered, warm and moist.


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## Slightlyconfused (9 September 2016)

Alec Swan said:



			There's a wonderful (read 'magical'!) product called Intra-site Gel (or something like that).  It was designed for and is used on humans.  It comes in a sort of mushroom shaped dispenser,  and I think that like other products (perhaps Manuka Honey) the healing property is just protein based.  I've certainly used it on horses with remarkable effect,  in fact I've never yet known it fail.

I understand that you're now in NZ but I would imagine that it's available with you.  The problem perhaps,  will be in getting the dog to leave it alone rather than constantly licking at the wound,  which in itself may be preventing the healing.  I suppose that one of those horrible lampshade collars will be the answer.  The problem with the current non-healing may be the dog's age and the fact that greyhounds tend to have very thin skin.

When I've used it on horses,  the wound shrinks and there's hair growing back,  within days.

Alec.
		
Click to expand...

That was.used on our tb who did this


http://www.equimedag.co.uk/testimonials/

Look at the one called Dancer. 

He had a few bandage changes with the intra-site gel then he used the equimed silver dressing roll.


We have also used it on my collie when he had his dew claws removed and they wouldn't heal. Withing three bandage changes they had healed up lovely with the above dressing.


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## SusieT (9 September 2016)

From the sounds of it vet has said it does need surgery - sorry but I'd follow the vets advice. GA's are not the end of the world - and infection and 6 weeks of wound healing will be more stressful than closure and 2 weeks healing - although now the wound has been left who knows what will happen... I'd follow vets advice.


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## LadyGascoyne (9 September 2016)

Thanks everyone, I will pass all your suggestions forward.

It isn't the sort of wound to be stitched, it's like a bad graze; very shallow but wide. Maybe closer to a burn?

He saw the vet directly afterwards and goes back regularly so it hasn't been left unattended and he's still under their supervision really. The vet hasn't said he 'needs surgery', but that the only course of action other than waiting for it to heal naturally is surgery. He's very good about his bandage, poor boy. He doesn't lick or scratch it and he's very sound on it actually.

I think the general feeling here is to keep it covered and moist so we'll rule out that powder that was mentioned to us. Thanks for the other suggestions, will definitely look into a few.


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## Esmae (9 September 2016)

Manuka honey dressings.  Magic things.


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## {97702} (9 September 2016)

My greyhound dog gashed his leg chasing deer - I didn't have it stitched as it was only a skin wound and it healed nicely, but took a while.  In his case this was because he kept licking at it, so I had to resort to a collar!  I did try a t-shirt over it but he just licked the t-shirt until it was sodden instead.... sigh...

Sounds odd but a lot depends on your atmosphere depending where you are in NZ - it will take longer to heal in hot humid type weather - I totally agree with manuka honey or intrasite gel, both are great


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## SusieT (9 September 2016)

ok. In that case just wait for it to heal, it will eventually, sometimes I find wounds do better if they're not getting damaged open to the air, I'm not a big fan of dressing personally.


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## {97702} (9 September 2016)

SusieT said:



			ok. In that case just wait for it to heal, it will eventually, sometimes I find wounds do better if they're not getting damaged open to the air, I'm not a big fan of dressing personally.
		
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Sorry I hadn't read the later posts - agree with this 100%, I would definitely leave it uncovered for quicker healing


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## dollyanna (9 September 2016)

I did a lot of reading about wound care as well as discussing with a wound care nurse friend, and leaving open to the air will actually slow the healing down. When I was treating my dog's leg you could visibly see how much it deteriorated/slowed down on the days I needed to leave the bandage off for an hour in order to see the vet - I took photos at every dressing change and it took a couple of days to gain back the ground we lost leaving it open to air for a short period.


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## Aru (10 September 2016)

They need to go back to the vet and get it rechecked.puffy skin near an open wound can be the sign of infection even if it isnt bothering the dog.three main reasons why wounds dont heal in dogs.. infection,infiltration(dirt etc) and licking! They may need an extended course of antibiotics if they want this wound to heal open(by second intention)as at 11 the healing process will be slower then a young dog.
thats why we usually prefer to debride and stitch older dogs wounds rather then leave open as it cuts healing time down dramatically to 7 to ten days rather then weeks to months of an open sore that is open to secondary infection.
Old age in itself isnt a disease.it just makes underlying disease more likely.If heart lungs and bloods were normal I wouldnt hesisitate about doing a stitch up on an eleven year old grey.modern anaestheics and fluids to keep the blood pressure up and the pensioners tend to fly through dentals and minor procedures.

If none of that is an option and the vet thinks it looks clean and free of infection...ecollar to prevent self trauma and the dog licking away the healing bed of cells, manuka honey(nonpateurised med grade so you dont end up with botulism or another nasty)dressings chaged daily and time ....plus monitor very very closely for secondary infection...

Really would be safer to ga and stitch and be done with it though.open wounds on elderly animals have a habit of going south.


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