Pet of the month for August goes to a gorgeous boy Oscar.
Oscar was seen at Atwell vet after an altercation with another dog on a walk with his owners. Oscar came down to the clinic that afternoon for a check with the vet as his owners just wanted to get him checked as he had some nasty open wounds. His injury was significant and needed to be flushed and sutured. He was sent home with some pain relief and antibiotics to get him through the night as he was booked in for surgery the next day.
Dog bites can cause significant injury to the skin and soft tissues. The dog's teeth and jaws are very powerful and the wounds they inflict can crush or tear muscles and skin, penetrate through the chest wall and may even cause a collapsed lung or cause serious or fatal damage to intestinal organs. Even a bite that does not break the skin can cause crushing or bruising injuries to the underlying soft tissues.
Since the dog's mouth is full of bacteria, any bite that does puncture the skin may introduce bacteria or other infectious organisms below the skin surface, where it can multiply and spread. All bite wounds are considered to be contaminated and/or infected. If left untreated, the bacteria in a bite wound may progress to form localized abscess(es) and/or generalized cellulitis (a tissue infection).
His surgery went smoothly and Oscar was on the mend. When he came back after 14 days for his post op check Dr Raj noticed that his wound wasn't fully healed and that his body was trying hard to fight an infection despite the antibiotics. Unfortunately, Oscar had to go back under general anaesthetic to get the wound re flushed and sutured. The surgery went well and he was sent home that afternoon.
We are very happy to say that Oscar is all healed and he is back to his normal self. We would like to say a massive thank you for his owners for taking such good care of Oscar.