My pet has a wound

+ What to do – basic wound

• Stop the bleeding. Most wounds are accompanied with bleeding. If there is a lot then urgent care is needed at a veterinary surgery. If you can, stop the bleeding with constant and firm pressure. Be careful if your pet is wounded, it will be painful and so may display signs of aggression.

• Clean the wound. If you can, gently clean the wound. Clean water is sufficient, but if you have some antiseptic, we use diluted hibiscrub, then this will help reduce the infection risk.

• Assess the wound. Is the wound superficial, or is it deep? Is the wound a gash, or a puncture wound such that can be caused by a bite? Is the wound over a joint, or another sensitive location? All of the questions above lead us to manage the wound in slightly different ways.

• Bring to the practice. In all cases of a wound the sooner we examine your pet, the quicker we can advise and support the healing. An appointment with a nurse may be all you need, as they are experts in helping wounds heal, or if further treatment or management is needed then they will seek out a vet.

+ How long does the treatment take?

Wounds can take days to months to heal depending on how severe they are. Complications such as infection, our pets licking or chewing at the wound, or other interferences can all contribute to slowing the healing.

+ Will my pet need surgery?

Sometimes surgery is the best course of action. Wound healing can be supported in many ways. Outcomes and approaches can be varied and depend upon: desired time for healing, location of the wound, ability to stitch the wound, available funds.

We adopt three general approaches:

• Primary healing (repairing the wound surgically)
• Delayed primary healing (removing infection, letting healing start, then closing the wound surgically)
• Secondary healing (managing the infection, pain relief and bandaging)

Contrary to some belief, surgery is not necessarily the most expensive route to a healed wound. What may feel like a large upfront cost may make the total bill much less once the wound has healed.

The rule of thumb is a fast-healing wound is cheaper than a slow healing wound. Sadly, we cannot always predict which wound will behave but we can do our utmost to manage everything that may stop a wound healing.