I noticed one of the 3 week old pups I took in 2 days ago had a swollen right paw and lower leg. Today it's like 5 times the size of the other paws and it looks like it's filled with fluid. The lower leg is swollen as well.
Any idea what this might be? He was attacked and bitten by a dog a week ago, and has a big cut on his side that I've been treating. There are no vets locally though I can take the puppy to one 5 hours away.
I took this picture this morning but it looks even more swollen now!
cantaloupe / 6131 posts
I am not a vet, but it sounds most likely that the dog has an infection of some kind, especially if it looks like there's fluid. It could be caused by a puncture, an insect bite, or just a foreign object. Alternatively there could be fracture or break. Is there some foreign object trapped in between the toes that you can see? If so, get it out with some tweezers. If you have access to Epsom salts, you can try to soak the paw in warm solution for comfort. If the abscess ruptures, do your best to wash and drain it and put some antibacterial ointment on it, like Neopsporin or something and wrap it up to keep it it clean.
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@gingerbebe: i've searched the paw for anything but it's so swollen now that there really is no space for anything to be trapped in the paw! Also no epsom salts here alas. I cleaned it with hydrogen peroxide and applied some hydrocortisone to it.
grapefruit / 4800 posts
Poor thing. I'm not a vet either. How's the cut on that side look? Is he coughing or any other weird symptoms? Is he on antibiotics? Regular salt or even a soak in the ocean or cloth soaked in ocean water and wrapped on his leg and paw would help draw out an infection if there is an opening somewhere. Otherwise locals might have a drawing salve for infections. When our one pup had random swollen paw it ended up being lymes disease so he needed oral antibiotics. Best wishes!
grapefruit / 4321 posts
@Mrs. Bee: Wall Lemondrop. She's a vet tech and her husband is vet
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@Maysprout: he is on antibiotics. luckily the paw started draining on its own a little while ago and i soaked it in salt water which really helped it drain. i think the warm water provided pain relief because he seemed to like it. thanks for the idea! i applied some lucas pawpaw ointment which is a drawing salve and hopefully the rest of the remaining fluid comes out. it looks much, much better now!
here is a picture of his side. it's a deep wound almost the size of a quarter. i removed over 20 maggots from it and they ate through all the skin and fat down to the muscle. now i'm just applying betadine to it. i've treated this same injury many times (that was 1000 times worse in other dogs), so i think he will be ok if he's just strong enough!
he is eating puppy milk + tuna oil through a syringe well, but is still pretty lethargic and doesn't walk, maybe because of his paw, and i have to wipe him with a wet cottonball to get him to pee. his brother on the other hand walks around, eats mushy food from a bowl, and pees on a puppy pad all by himself.
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@Truth Bombs: yes thanks i did! but luckily wilbur seems to be doing ok now.
pear / 1547 posts
@Mrs. Bee: poor thing! If it's draining that's great. I would do tons of warm soaks to help drain any infection and decompress the paw so it doesn't cut off circulation to any of the little toes! Not a vet but animal loving people doctor 
grapefruit / 4800 posts
@Mrs. Bee: so glad he's doing a bit better! His side, wow, I never dealt with anything like that. You must be doing a terrific job caring for him though bc it looks clean. The lethargy could be due to so many things but the one hopeful thing is that our puppies often came with a bit of immaturity out of fear or extra caution bc of whatever traumatic situation they'd been through, so it might be normal puppy emotions as well as the hurt paw and side. . But lots of love, a little encouragement, they're resilient little guys and got their confidence back quickly after they recovered.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21628 posts
Poor baby! You're doing a great job taking care of him. I wonder if he got stung by something on his paw?
bananas / 9118 posts
@Mrs. Bee: I sent you an email, I'll think of a few more things and reply with more once I make coffee and have the boys up. So glad it's looking better!
Salt water soak was brilliant btw!
bananas / 9118 posts
@Mrs. Bee: PS- do you have access to Karo or sugar syrup? Low blood sugar is very worrisome in young puppies and kittens. When they get lethargic giving a bit of sugar syrup can really bounce them back.
bananas / 9118 posts
@Mrs. Bee: I'm sure you could just do a simple syrup, but you could even use a little (~half a cc) of the honey by mouth I mentioned in the email 
Even well managed puppies still with mom can get hypoglycemia, so when an orphan pup gets really lethargic (beyond typical sleep) a recommendation can be to give a boost of some kind of sugar.
*I'm of course not a DVM, but am a CVT and have raised orphan pups in the past and done work out on reservations with minimal supplies, so take everything written with that in mind.
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@lemondrop: thanks! i gave him some sugar mixed in with his usual food and he loved it! i also applied honey to his paw and his wound. even though he sleeps all the time, his big appetite is a good sign. i think he's a little fighter!
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@lemondrop: thanks for the sugar water recommendation! he was a new pup today. voraciously hungry, walking a little for the first time, even took a few bites out of a bowl. he's still a needy little thing, but his eyes looked bright instead of dim for the first time today. his paw is still a little swollen and of course he has that deep wound in his side, but he looks good!
pomelo / 5573 posts
@Mrs. Bee: Every time I see you've updated I'm scared the puppy has died - so happy to see this update!!! Yay puppy!
grapefruit / 4800 posts
@lemondrop: yay lemondrop! Such good info.
Glad the pup is perking up 
pomegranate / 3127 posts
Poor little guy! He's in great hands! I'm glad to see your update, hope he's getting better!
cherry / 148 posts
@erinbaderin: me too!
@Mrs. Bee: good for you for doing all this. Please keep us updated, cant wait to see the pup growing up big and healthy!
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
I'd been wiping Wilbur with a wet cottonball after every meal to stimulate him to pee, but he can pee on his own now! I put him on a puppy pad as soon as he wakes up, and he usually will go on it.
He's still eating well. He is pooping several times a day! He pooped all over his brother Panda's back in the middle of the night and I had to give him a bath. He's walking around, though his paw is still swollen and I think it still hurts. And his wound is closing. It's amazing how these type of wounds from fly larvae get so deep down to the muscle so quickly, but they also seem to recover pretty quickly. I'm taking care of another dog that had 5 golf ball sized holes in his neck and a pancake sized wound on his leg from fly larvae (maggots) deep into the muscle. You could smell him a block away. He is now almost fully recovered!
Wilbur struggles with staying warm because he was the runt of the litter, so I puppy wear him a lot or he sleeps snuggled next to his brother.
Construction on my dog shelter will be finished this week, and I'm going to start taking some of my dogs there on Saturday. I'm so sad to see them go, but we're going to visit a couple times a month.
Here are some pictures of Wilbur, Panda, and them sleeping together. They love each other and it is so cute!
nectarine / 2180 posts
@Mrs. Bee: they're adorable! I'd love to hear more about your dog shelter!
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@Pancakes: we're fencing one hectare (2.2 acres) on a farm 40 minutes away. there is a big pond for them to swim in (the dogs love to swim), and they'll have each other. We currently have 13 dogs and 2 that come every day to eat and hang out.
I'm going to keep 2 that are still sick, and 3 puppies. So 8 dogs will go to the shelter, but eventually all the dogs will be there once we move back to the states. They all get along super well except for one dog we named Challenger because he challenges all new male dogs. I hope I can find him a home.
Here's a picture!
apricot / 441 posts
@Mrs. Bee: I love reading about and seeing all your pups! You are such a great dog mama - and so brave for tackling all those wound recoveries!
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@Dahlia: the puppy is so small i just wear a fitted top and stick the puppy inside my shirt! i think it had a big impact on his recovery. i work at a desk so he just sleeps in there while i work, but now that he's doing so much better i usually leave him with his brother.
pear / 1521 posts
@Mrs. Bee: I'm so happy to hear about the dog shelter! I've been kind of wondering what you were going to end up doing with so many dogs!! It's awesome what you are doing to help them. I remember being on my honeymoon in Costa Rica and I had a really hard time dealing with seeing all the dogs. In particular we had dinner one night at an outdoor restaurant and there was a skinny dog wandering around and it just totally broke my heart (like couldn't stop crying about it at the dinner table!). It was so hard feeling like I couldn't do anything about it.
Anyway, just wanted to thank you for doing so much to help!
clementine / 849 posts
@Mrs. Bee: This thread gives me all the warm fuzzies 
You're a special person to put so much effort and love into getting these pups to thrive. They are lucky to have you! Sending Wilbur lots of healing thoughts!
persimmon / 1316 posts
I love your kind heart to those little fur babies. Glad he is recovering well. Keep us updated. Looks gorgeous there. What a life!
pomelo / 5866 posts
@Mrs. Bee: LO came home yesterday saying she wants to be a Dog Rescuer when she grows up. I think you have her dream job! Will share your stories with her.
| Today | Monthly Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Topics | 1 | 0 |
| Posts | 0 | 0 |
Ask for Help
Make a Suggestion
Frequently Asked Questions
Bee Levels
Acronyms
Most Viewed Posts
Hellobee Gold
Hellobee Recipes
Hellobee Features
Hellobee Contests
Baby-led Weaning
Bento Boxes
Breastfeeding
Newborn Essentials
Parties
Postpartum Care Essentials
Sensory Play Activities
Sleep Training
Starting Solids Gear
Transitioning to Toddler Bed
All Series
Who We Are
About the Bloggers
About the Hostesses
Contributing Bloggers
Apply to Blog
Apply to Hostess
Submit a Guest Blog
Hellobee Buttons
How We Make Money
Community Policies
I'm rooting for him!
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
34 comments