How long do dog scratches take to heal
What to Do If a Dog Scratches You
Many people know about cat scratch fever, but can a dog scratch be just as dangerous? Although you are less likely to contract severe illness from a dog scratch, there is still a possibility of it happening. If you are scratched by a dog, heres what you need to know.
Potential Infections Can Occur from a Dog Scratch
Dogs walk on all four feet and dig in whatever they can find, which means dog nail beds are very dirty. They can harbor all sorts of bacteria and fungi that can readily infect humans through broken skin, including tetanus. Dogs also lick their paws, transferring bacteria from the mouth onto the nails. This can, in rare cases, infect humans with MRSA or bacteria called Capnocytophaga if the scratch breaks the skin.
What About Rabies?
Can I get rabies from a dog scratch? is a popular online search. Even though it is highly unlikely that a human will contract rabies from an animal scratch, it can still happen. The virus that causes rabies is spread through contact with saliva or brain tissue from an animal infected with rabies, but it cannot penetrate unbroken skin. If a rabid dog with saliva-covered nails scratches a human, theoretically infection can occur; however, most dogs are vaccinated against rabies and are not at risk for infection. If your dog has had contact with a rabid animal, take additional precautions and seek veterinary care immediately.
How to Treat a Dog Scratch
Animal scratches may seem harmless, but they can turn into serious infections if the skin is broken. Puncture wounds may look the least serious, but they carry the highest risk of severe infection. If the scratch is bleeding heavily, apply pressure with a clean towel until the bleeding has stopped. Once the bleeding has subsided, wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water for three minutes. Clean and dry the skin, and then apply a small amount of antibiotic ointment and cover the wound with a bandage. Make sure to check the scratch for signs of infection, which include increased heat, redness, swelling, pain or red streaking on the skin. Monitor the wound for at least 72 hours, and if you experience any of those symptoms, seek the attention of a medical professional immediately.
WRITTEN BY
Sarah Wooten, DVMVeterinarian
Dr. Sarah Wooten graduated from UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 2002. A member of the American Society of Veterinary Journalists,...
Eye Scratches in Dogs: A Veterinarians Advice
These tips for dealing with retinal scratches in dogs will help you tend to your dogs scratched eye. The vet who treated my dogs eye told me how to cope with future retinal wounds.
Georgie has been to the dog veterinarian twice for eye-related problems: once for a scratched eye, and once for an eye infection.
I researched how to treat dog eye injuries and symptoms of cornea or retina problems in dogs but there is no substitute for an face-to-face diagnosis from a veterinarian! I didnt think Georgies eye problem was as bad as it turned out to be, and I feltguilty for not taking her to the vet untilthree days had passed.
Thats our rule, though. We have two dogs, and we dont usually take them to the veterinarian when they first show signs of being under the weather. Even a gurglingstomach in dogsmay not warrant a vet visit, especially since my dogs will lick the sidewalk if an ice cream cone or chicken drumstick touched it.Just like our own human healthcare we dont go to the family doctor at the first sign of a sore throat or tummy ache.But since dogs cant talk, it is a bit more difficult to assess how bad their injuries are. Heres what I learned about how to treat a dogs scratched eye
According to PetMD, theres probably a foreign object in your dogs eye if he is squinting, blinking rapidly and/or avoiding bright lights. Thats exactly what Georgie was doing.
Keep dogpet calm and talk in a soothing voice, write the veterinarians in Eye Injuries in Dogs. Its important for you to remain calm under the circumstances, because your dogwill know if you are anxious. Your anxiety will add stress to the situation. As you talk soothingly, gently lift the upper eyelid and look for debris lodged underneath. Do the same with the lower eyelid. Be careful not to force or slide your pets eyelid open because you dont want to drag the foreign object over his fragile cornea. Instead, softly pull the eyelid away from the eyeball.
Symptoms of an injury to a dogs eye
Dog eye scratches or injuries are commonly seen when he:
- Is pawing at hiseye
- Is blinking rapidly and his eye is swollen and inflamed
- Hasblood in hiseyes
- Hasa blood-fill sac or mass in his eye (subconjunctival hematoma) which may be leftover from a sealed cut in your dogs eye
- Has a foreign object in the eye that you can actually see
- Has a distorted pupil (the little black part) that reacts abnormally or is shaped differently
- Has a protrusion of eyeball or the front clear covering of your dogs eye
Sometimes the only sign of an injury on your dogs eyeball is his behavior. Thats how it was with Georgie: we couldnt see anything in her eye, but she couldnt open it! She was giving us a perpetual wink, which was only cute for one minute. It got even less cute as the hours wore on.
How to look at your dogs eye
You probably wont be able to see a scratch on your dogs cornea, retina, or eyeball because itll be teeny tiny. My veterinarian used a special dye to see Georgies scratched eye; I describe it below.
But, when you look into your dogs eyes and see an object, thePet MD veterinarians recommend flushing it out with room temperature water. If that doesnt work, try to gently ease it out with a damp cotton swab.
Id never be able to do this with my dog Georgie, but could probably get something out of Tiffys eye. In fact, Ive had to take two tiny pine needles out of that dogs eye! It was a pain, but it seemed to work. If you stay calm and keep your wits about you, you may be able to flush a small object out of your dogs eye. But if you cant remove it quickly and easily yourself, dont risk further damage to your dogseye. Cover it with a bandage and take your dogto your veterinarian right away.
Signs of a scratched eye or retinal wound in a dog
If your dogs eyes are bloodshot or if hessquinting or tearing up a lot, he may have a scratch on his eye. First, gently lift your dogs eyelids and check for debris. If you dont see anything, cover the eye with a clean damp cloth and bandage the cloth to your dogshead. Like a mummy! Im kidding but make sure he can see.
Remember the collar your dog wore when he was neutered? Its called an Elizabethan collar; now is would be a great time to dig it out of the garage. If you dont have one, bandage your dogspaws so he wont paw or scratch at his eye. Get thee to the vet!
According to Pet MD, other signs of a dogs scratched eye or eye injury include a watery, green or yellow discharge coming from hiseyes. These symptoms may indicate a foreign object trapped under the eyelid, abnormal eyelash growth, blocked tear ducts, an eyelid defect, an eye infection or allergies. In all cases, seek professional veterinarian advice. Your veterinarian will be able to treat the problem and tell you how to manage a dogwith an injured eye whenyou take himhome.
Now that the official veterinary advice on how to treat a dogs scratched eye is behind us, heres the real story. You searched for dog scratched eye or even scratched cornea and you may find my experience helpful.
How to Treat Scratched Eyes in Dogs
The best way to treat a dogs scratched eye is to take himto theveterinarian. I know its financially and in all other ways a pain, but its important to take care of yourdogs eye scratch the right way. Like I said, I waited for three days before taking Georgie to the vet. I regretted it but thankfully, she didnt lose her eye or eyesight. I dont thinkbecause how would I know?
Be aware that eye scratches are extremely painful for dogs
This is important to remember, because you dog cant tell you that a cornea scratch really really hurts! Ive never scratched my eye, but the veterinarian said that dog eye scratches are terribly painful. How do you treat a painful eye scratch? Take your dog to the veterinarian for painkillers. Dont give your dog baby aspirin or other painkillers unless you are 100% sure its safe.
One of my most popular articles is Dealing With Guilt When You Caused Your Dogs Death. Im not trying to scare or worry you! I just want you to know that feeling guilty because of a dogs injury or death is normal and you have somewhere to go if need be.
Watch your dog for signs of pain
Our veterinarian gave us painkillers for Georgie, and said to take as needed. When I asked how I know my dog is in pain because of the eye scratch, the veterinarian said dogs paw at their eyes, duck their head down, go off and sleep, and may not eat. The only thing Georgie did was paw at her eye once in awhile, but I thought that was because her eye scratch was itchy. I didnt even know veterinarians gave painkillers for cornea scratches I guess thats one of the most important ways to treat a dogs scratched eye.
Take your dog to the veterinarian
We didnt take Georgie to the vet for three days after we saw she had an eye problem, because we thought it was a simple eye infection. We put antibiotics in her eye so it didnt get infected, but decided to wait it out. Shes had eye infections before, without a known cause, and all the veterinarian did was give us antibiotic eye drops.
Vetericyn Ophthalmic Gelis a very popular eye ointment for dogs. Its safe, and may help keep a dogs scratched eye free from infection. Infection is the scariest thing about eye scratches in dogs, because an infection could cause eye loss. And that would put my dog at a serious disadvantage at the dog park!
But from this experience, Ive learned that a dogs eye scratch needs to be taken care of as soon as possibleby a veterinarian. Dogs feel things, but cant tell us how it feels. Its better to be cautious, not neglectful.
Be prepared for a green eye test
I didnt catch the name of the eye test for scratched eyes in dogs, but it consists of squirting stuff into your dogs eye to so the veterinarian can peer inside the eyeball with a light. The stuff turns the eye lesion green, making it easy for the vet to see a dogs eye scratch.
The last time the veterinarian did this test on our dog, there was no lesion. It was an eye infection caused by a piece of sand. The first time I took Georgie to the vet for an eye problem was a waste of a trip because it worked itself out. But, the second vet tripwas valuable and necessary.
Treat your dogs eye scratch with fresh prescription medication
Dont give your dog old medication or antibiotics without checking with the veterinarian first. When we first adopted Georgie, a friend told me she almost never takes her dogs to the vet. She gives her dogs leftover medications, and when theyre sick she always waits for four or five days before a trip to the veterinarian. I dont know if this is good advicewe take our dogs to vet almost every time they get sick, and the vet usually says to wait it out. Time will heal.
Ask for antibiotic eye ointment, not drops
I dont know why our vet gave us eye drops for Georgie first infection, because drops are SO hard to get into a dogs eyes! Georgie practically climbs up the wall in her attempts to get away from us. When we went back for the checkup (this wasnt for the eye scratch, it was for the infection), the veterinarian gave us ointment. Eye ointment is WAY easier to smear on a dogs eye than drops.
Be aware of the dangers of eye infection
Our veterinarian asked us to bring Georgie back in four days, to re-check hereye. It was fine. It took three weeks for the cornea scratch to heal, but now shes back to normal.
In Rehoming Your Dog? Coping With Guilt and Grief When You Have to Give Your Dog Away I share ways to cope with guilt and grief when you rehome your pet.
How My Dog Scratched Her Eye
Georgie woke up one morning and couldnt open one eye, like a perpetual wink. There was some discharge not infectious discharge, just some tearing but mostly the only symptom of an eye problem was her inability to open her eye fully.
This was the second time we had to take Georgie to the vet for an eye problem, but it was the first Id ever heard about cornea scratches in dogs. How did my dog get a scratched eye? The day before she woke up with her eye problem, she killed a squirrel in a park. The squirrel had a wood chip stuck between its big yellow teeth I know because I had to pick up the squirrel and take it to the garbage can (after my other dog Tiffy dragged it over to me).
I think my dog scratched her eye when that squirrel fought for its life. The squirrel was frantically scrambling around, and Georgies eye must have been scratched by the wood chip, or the squirrels claws, or even the squirrels teeth.
In Coping With Guilt When Your Dog Kills Squirrels, I describe my dogs relationship with those rascally critters. Im not proud of how my terrier treats squirrels, but I guess it really is a jungle out there.
What is your experience with eye scratches in dogs? Your comments are welcome below.I cant give advice for diagnosing or treating your dogs scratched eye, but you may find it helpful to share the symptoms of your dogs eyeball injury. It can help to write about your experience and itll show other readers that theyre not alone.
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