Dog Attack - Any Advice?

[Loafer]

How is your dog now, Loafer, after a visit to the vet?

 

haggis

 

He's being kept in and sorted - general anaesthetic etc. Vet is happy there's no organ damage and isn't at risk, but certainly needs lots of stitches. One wound is 2" long and the same deep, but fortunately close to his scruff so no vital structure, cables or pipes disturbed (at first glance).

 

We're presently awaiting a possible pickup time, but that might be tomorrow now.

 

What a difference a dog makes! The boat seems too empty and too quiet!

 

Thank you for asking, by the way. And Mrs Loafer is very impressed by this forum's help and stuff - and wants me to add her thanks everywhere. Especially to Starcoaster.

 

Ta chum.

[craftycarper]

It's funny, four-five years ago when I last worked in clinic full time, I remember a vet in the critical care hospital I worked for investigating and using Manuka honey on an antibiotic resistant wound. This was viewed with great derision by most of the other vets, who pretty much viewed it as a last-ditch hail Mary lentil knitting way of doing something for the sake of it, but it paid off.

Fast forward four or so years to last month when I was in the Solihull referral clinic, they used active honey on my own cat's pseudomonas and enterococcus infected wound, and this is now considered to be very common and completely normal, and widely used in clinics all across the country- just like it would have been 100 years ago!

I was first told to use it when I found a hedgehog with an horrific wound in its side, it was a bit tricky to clean and treat her because of the spines so we just poured on the honey and hidie hog as she was named, made a full recovery and was released in the spring some years ago

[haggis]

 

He's being kept in and sorted - general anaesthetic etc. Vet is happy there's no organ damage and isn't at risk, but certainly needs lots of stitches. One wound is 2" long and the same deep, but fortunately close to his scruff so no vital structure, cables or pipes disturbed (at first glance).

 

We're presently awaiting a possible pickup time, but that might be tomorrow now.

 

What a difference a dog makes! The boat seems too empty and too quiet!

 

Thank you for asking, by the way. And Mrs Loafer is very impressed by this forum's help and stuff - and wants me to add her thanks everywhere. Especially to Starcoaster.

 

Ta chum.

Good that there is no organ damage but nasty all the same. I understand about the boat seeming empty and quiet which is why I will never again have just one dog. I have lived with dogs all my life and can't imagine being dog less.

Hope you get him home soon but even if it is tomorrow, he is in the best place to be looked after.

 

haggis

[grannykins]

I always have Manuka honey around, especially if we are away anywhere. I have used it on dogs, cats, reptiles and humans, all with good effect. Its commonly used on hospital dressings these days. Needs to be the Manuka honey though, for real effect, and the higher the + then the greater the healing effect.

 

Glad he is ok, and hope he is back with you soon.

Edited November 1, 2015 by grannykins

[madcat]

sorry your pal has been hurt and I hope he makes a good recovery.

[Loafer]

Latest just in: 5 puncture wounds, 2 of which met in the middle and was a 'tooth-meet' bite. He now has a drain in his shoulder to release all that fluid stuff that appears at times like this. He's being kept in overnight because of the drain, and probably the time of day, but vet's happy that he'll be ok ,but shocked. The dog, not the vet.

 

Incidentally the vet was happy with the warm saltwater and Savlon treatment we gave him on board, but disappointingly, both myself and Mrs Loafer missed 2 out of the 5 wounds, despite us both thinking that there MUST be more than two holes!

 

Manuka honey noted, thanks grannykins.

 

Thanks madcat. I love cats too, but am allergic to some aspect of their fur so I can't make use of them.

[Starcoaster]

Glad to hear he's getting the right care-I assume it's a Penrose drain he has in? Might be worth getting some scruffy towels and things out for him to lie on when he gets back, as the drain will, err, drain-assuming it's not dry by the morning and so, gets removed.

It sounds as if it was lucky the other dog got his scruff and loose skin, it sounds like it wasn't pissing about when it came to trying to damage him.

[Nightwatch]

When we had George the Staffie, he had a very rare tendency to get hold of another dog and do just that, hold. He wouldn't continuously bite just one, and hold. He wouldn't shake. It would take ages to get him off. Seems this GSD went for it, a full attack. Sad as it sounds this dog ought to be found and dealt with, with a muzzle or something, sadly, more permanant. You can't risk a child being mistaken for a dog.

 

George the Staffie is in the kennel in the sky now. A difficult decision. Very difficult. He was perfect in every way but this one.

 

Your pooch is in good hands and will recover it seems. He'll be pleased to be home soon.

[Loafer]

Glad to hear he's getting the right care-I assume it's a Penrose drain he has in? Might be worth getting some scruffy towels and things out for him to lie on when he gets back, as the drain will, err, drain-assuming it's not dry by the morning and so, gets removed.

It sounds as if it was lucky the other dog got his scruff and loose skin, it sounds like it wasn't pissing about when it came to trying to damage him.

 

I don't know the type of drain but we have lots of 'Towel, Dog, for the use of, one offs' ready. There's no doubt with Mrs L that he's in good hands!

 

Nightwatch, he'll get photographed when he gets home. I'll post the happy occasion here, tomorrow!

 

I'm guessing he'll be a sorry sight. Bald, tired, drawn, listless, slightly confused and a bit dizzy generally.

 

Well they do say that dogs take on the appearance of their owners!

[Starcoaster]

 

 

Bald, tired, drawn, listless, slightly confused and a bit dizzy generally.

 

 

Pah! average boater after a night at the pub...

[Loafer]

Pah! average boater after a night at the pub...

 

At last! Something I'm average at!

[Ally]

Just a pop in to wish you and your dog well. Glad to hear all looks positive. Been following the thread since yesterday, but had nothing knowledgeable to add. Starry was always going to be your woman for this. She helped us out a couple or more years ago with a problem we had with our dog.

I can't imagine our boat without puppeh, so I feel for you tonight. All will be back to normal soon, I'm sure. Hugs to the furry one!

[Ray T]

No where near as bad as the attack but Millie Moo is also convalescing after having a cyst removed from her neck.

 

 

 

I am amazed at the resilience of dogs.

 

 

[Starcoaster]

She's surprisingly spotty under that white fur!

[Ray T]

She's surprisingly spotty under that white fur!

 

She has got more spotty as she has aged.

 

Starry, she is a lot more calm now then when you last met her.

I would still advise folks not to touch her though, ask RLWP !

[Liam]

Sunday at 9pm and getting first class advice from a top class qualified vet.

 

Only on Canalworld.

 

Well done Starcoaster!

 

Hope the dog is ok...

[Guest]

She's surprisingly spotty under that white fur!

Simon is the same mainly on his underbelly and legs, Dennis was too.

 

It seems more noticeable in the summer much like 'freckles' on humans.

[Starcoaster]

Just to be clear, I am not a qualified (or even a quack!) vet, but a qualified veterinary nurse,

 

Would love to hear the RLWP tale...

[RichardN]

Good first aid and some good advice especially about infection and needing to see a Vet.

 

Picking up on a point made earlier:

 

We have normally managed to get to a Vets easy enough from the boat and our normal Vet is superb and immensely helpful over the phone. We did get caught out in September when one of our dogs contracted Haemorrhagic gastroenteritis (spelling?), which for a 12+ frail greyhound is no joke. We contacted the Abbeycroft Veterinary Surgery in Northwich, they put us straight onto their nearby hospital, the Willows Veterinary Hospital in Hartford, just outside Northwich, not far from Nantwich. At 11pm at night we are all tired having been up horribly early to catch the tide, seeing what looked like horribly used engine oil coming out of your dog is not what you want and things got desperate when the first 6 taxi companies either did not carry dogs or could not get to us within a hour or so.We talked to the hospital (Willows Veterinary Hospital) and they came out to Anderton and picked up Sue and dog, then gave her a lift back. I don't think they actually charged us for that bit of exemplary service.

 

Apart from some high flying referral "experts" we have always been impressed with Vets right round the country and our normal Vet is superb.

 

We carry antibiotics and more . . . but appreciate exactly where Starcoaster is coming from, don't do this at home boys and girls unless you know exactly what you are doing and have the full support of a Professional. We are very lucky having fantastic back-up from our own Vet plus a Vet in the family. Having a Vet actually on board is not an unusual event for us!

[Texasboater]

Very popular "old remedy" here, for copious bleeding is to shake Cayenne Pepper onto a wound. Hurts like Hell but stops bleeding very quickly. Not sure about using it on an animal though.

[Québec]

Just catching up on this thread. Glad your dog's OK, Loafer.

 

Our miniature schnauzer was set upon by two boxers on the loose in our local park, with their owner standing by in the distance holding on to two other dogs and doing nothing to help while my partner and her friend fought to keep the two off. Eventually my partner was able to pick up our dog who was bleeding profusely from a massive wound on her side. Fortunately is was a weekday and our local vet was only a couple of miles away. It was touch and go but after an operation and a few weeks recovery she was physically recovered but was clearly now afraid of open spaces and other dogs.

 

We reported the incident and put notices up around the park asking if anyone knew the owner. We quickly discovered who he was (he owned a local hairdressing salon) and also discovered that the Dangerous Dogs Act only covers dog-on-human attacks. The dog owning policeman who visited us, who was very sympathetic, said that if the dogs had bitten my partner or her friend they they would have been able to 'get him' under the Act. As it was they couldn't do anything except give him a stern warning.

 

We had pet insurance, which paid out, and we could have taken the guy to the small claims caught, but decided it was just too much hassle. The only upside to this was that as word spread around the local dog owning community a number of people started to stop going to the hairdressing salon, apparently the owner already had a bad reputation in regard to how he controlled (or not) his dogs. At one point the guy sent a 'friend' round to us complain that we had ruined his reputation, and threatening to take us to court!. It was all bluster, of course, and nothing happened.

[Starcoaster]

Very popular "old remedy" here, for copious bleeding is to shake Cayenne Pepper onto a wound. Hurts like Hell but stops bleeding very quickly. Not sure about using it on an animal though.

 

From a professional viewpoint, NEVER do this to any animal.

[Jerra]

We reported the incident and put notices up around the park asking if anyone knew the owner. We quickly discovered who he was (he owned a local hairdressing salon) and also discovered that the Dangerous Dogs Act only covers dog-on-human attacks.

I am getting more than a little concerned about the police attitude to these attacks. This is the second case in a few days where they have claimed the act only applies to humans and yet the extract from the law quoted here http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=80332&hl=

 

It clearly says the court can consider a dog dangerously out of control if it attacks another animal. How can the court take this view if the police refuse to take the case to court?

[Guest]

I am getting more than a little concerned about the police attitude to these attacks. This is the second case in a few days where they have claimed the act only applies to humans and yet the extract from the law quoted here http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=80332&hl=

 

It clearly says the court can consider a dog dangerously out of control if it attacks another animal. How can the court take this view if the police refuse to take the case to court?

 

I suspect it's either a case of ignorance of the law (It must happen, they cannot be expected to know everything) or possibly a fob off because it's not seen as a priority so it's an attempt at avoiding getting into investigating something they feel they don't he the resources to pursue. (Not justifying it just offering possible reasons)

[Jerra]

 

I suspect it's either a case of ignorance of the law (It must happen, they cannot be expected to know everything) or possibly a fob off because it's not seen as a priority so it's an attempt at avoiding getting into investigating something they feel they don't he the resources to pursue. (Not justifying it just offering possible reasons)

I suspect a fob off, lack of knowledge can be forgiven but if they lacked knowledge they surely wouldn't so confidently disseminate wrong information.