Dog Bites

Recently we had one of our little girls get bit by a neighbors dog.  Zoe is a sweet little Jack Russell terrier. The bite did not look too bad so her mom did what most people would do–she cleaned it out with peroxide and put Neosporin on it, this was on Tuesday evening.

Zoe acted totally fine, she went outside for her walks on Wednesday and she was eating and playing with her brother, Jack.  Thursday a.m. when her mom woke she realized that Zoe had peed in the house, she thought that was strange. She then brought her to her Leash Your Fitness  morning class. We noticed that Zoe was unusually slow and lethargic and just wasn’t acting “right” so her mom rushed her to the vet.  The vet flushed the wound and gave Zoe pain medication and antibiotics and Zoe was sent home.  That night her mom noticed the lethargy was getting worse and the infection was accelerating.  Zoe was rushed to the Veterinary Specialty Hospital where she was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. She had a severe infection with sepsis and systemic inflammatory response syndrome developing.

She was put on IV antibiotics with fans blowing on her to help bring her fever down. They thought they were going to have to do surgery to cut out the infected tissue but luckily that did not happen.  They did however keep her for an entire week, which for most of it she was in critical condition. They did ultrasound and other tests because they thought her internal organs were damaged because of the infection.

We are sharing this with you because we all looked at Zoe’s bite and thought the same thing, that it looked very benign. We want to help others learn from this scary and very expensive experience so we did a little research.

This is what the Veterinary Specialty Hospital told Zoe’s mom:

• Even bite wounds that appear superficial can cause extensive internal injuries.  The skin gets separated from the tissue and creates areas where bacteria gets trapped.
• Wounds that penetrate the abdomen require immediate veterinary care as they may cause internal injury such as organ laceration and bleeding.
• Bite wounds often need to be flushed extensively or sutured to prevent infection. (no staple sutures) Wounds that are managed within 6 hours require less intensive care.
• If you cannot quickly reach help, flush each wound with saline (clean water will do). Wrap large wounds, small wounds can be left uncovered. Do not use tourniquets to stop bleeding – use firm pressure if needed.
• Wounds can abscess or develop into severe infections VERY QUICKLY
• If you witness the bite, find out the rabies vaccination status of the animal doing the biting.

We have seen this happen a few times now where what seems to be a very benign “bite” turns into a major medical emergency.  Please do not mess with a dog bite–get your dog to a vet, it is much better to be safe than sorry.

The good news is after a week in the hospital, Zoe is back home with her mom and brother.  She is slowly starting to eat and get her strength back and should be back in class soon!!