[lovinmylabs]

My two dogs have been playing a little on the rough side. My lab has a good little gash under her eye. It looks pretty deep....its not bleeding but I would like to put something on it so it does not get infected...any thoughts??:frown:

 

[DaneMama]

I would just clean it out a few times a day. I always keep chlorohexadine and betadine on hand...which is what I recommend for cleaning cuts/wounds. I don't personally use the antibiotic creams for cuts and scrapes because it isn't all that affective. And don't use hydrogen peroxide!

ETA: Betadine and chlorohexadine are both available at Walgreens. They are pretty pricey, but worth every penny. You should dilute them to 1:10 with water, because that is all you need. We use both of these for surgical scrubs so they do a really good job at cleaning! I would suggest switching off using one and then the other every other time you clean the wound, so as to use something new to combat bacteria.

 

[chowder]

On a similar subject, would this also be good for using on places that they have chewed and scratched or on rashes? I have been using things like Gold Bond Powder on some spots but I don't want to put it on anything that is too bad. My two boy pups have been really itchy and neither us nor the vet can find a single flea or flea dirt. I'm thinking maybe they found some poison ivy or poison oak in the woods (we have big wooded yard). The kids took Shadey to the vet and he is on prednisone for ten days but he has a big chewed rash on his inner legs that it would be nice if they could treat. Also for future reference.

 

[DaneMama]

You can definitely use both of those scrubs on "hot spots" like that. The cleaner they are the better they will heal up. Plus it will keep down on secondary bacterial infections, without the added licking from putting a cream on it, since dogs love to lick creams and ointments off LOL

Have you thought about it being an allergy to something?

 

[malluver1005]

Why not hydrogen peroxide? Is this just for cuts?

 

[chowder]

You can definitely use both of those scrubs on "hot spots" like that. The cleaner they are the better they will heal up. Plus it will keep down on secondary bacterial infections, without the added licking from putting a cream on it, since dogs love to lick creams and ointments off LOL

Have you thought about it being an allergy to something?

Since both dogs just started chewing very recently, we haven't quite figured out what it could be. They are both eating the same thing (EVO) and both live in different houses but Shade lives in an apartment and comes over to play and visit with us. He does share a dog playground at the apartment and encounters other dogs, but we can't find any fleas at all. I use fragrance free detergents and don't use anything like bounce sheets or carpet powder on the floors. The little dogs aren't scratching, only the big dogs. But the big dogs are the only ones that go on long walks and go play in the woods and all over the place. Right now I'm clueless since most of the plants are dormant.

 

[DaneMama]

Why not hydrogen peroxide? Is this just for cuts?

Hydrogen peroxide kills bacteria, but also kills healthy cells around the cut...so it can do more damage than good. The only thing that I use it for at home and at work is to clean up blood.

When it fizzes on contact with blood or bacteria, the bubbles produced are oxygen gas released from the chemical reaction it has with living cells. So the H2O2 turns to water (H2O) and oxygen gas...and it releases a bit of heat energy as well.

2 H2O2 → 2 H2O + O2 + heat

Chlorohexadine and betadine are much better to use to clean cuts because they are antiseptic but do not do the damage that hydrogen peroxide does. Not to mention HP stings and can be pretty unpleasant for a dog to have on them while cleaning an already painful cut/scrape/gash.

Since both dogs just started chewing very recently, we haven't quite figured out what it could be. They are both eating the same thing (EVO) and both live in different houses but Shade lives in an apartment and comes over to play and visit with us. He does share a dog playground at the apartment and encounters other dogs, but we can't find any fleas at all. I use fragrance free detergents and don't use anything like bounce sheets or carpet powder on the floors. The little dogs aren't scratching, only the big dogs. But the big dogs are the only ones that go on long walks and go play in the woods and all over the place. Right now I'm clueless since most of the plants are dormant.

Hmmm...are both big dogs long hair? It could be that they are blowing their coats (strange for this time of year, but Shiloh did about 2 weeks ago) and that might be causing them to be itchy...? I will keep thinking about it tho :wink:

 

[malluver1005]

Way back when, I used to use hydrogen peroxide (when I was out of chlorhexidine) to treat his hot spots. It is slower than the chlorhexidine, but still worked for us.