DEALING WITH INJURIES
Greyhounds (c.1500) Gaston Phoebus, Book of
the Hunt
Pierpont Morgan Library M.1044, f.37v
Suzanne Stack, DVM
Presented here
are some of Dr. Stack's recommendations for healing those wounds
that don't require a visit to the veterinarian but leave us
scratching our heads about how to
HYDROTHERAPY:
I couldn't agree more with the people who have posted about the
healing powers of plain old water. For any of the really banged up
greyhounds, particularly those with a lot of bruising/bleeding under
the skin or wounds that aren't going to or can't be sewed, hosing
down the wounds for 5 minutes twice a day works wonders. We're lucky
enough to have the weather here in Arizona where this is pretty much
possible year round. Stitches With bruising and/or edema, drains,
open wounds - I hose them all. With large areas that can't be
bandaged, this is usually the best solution. Often you can keep the
open area covered with a size large t-shirt so the greyhound leaves
it alone.
I've also stumbled upon the perfect leg
bandage for greyhounds which avoids the problem of tearing up the
dog’s skin by ripping off tape over and over to change bandages.
NICH: We buy
rolls of NICH. It's a stockinette-like (tubelike) bandage, comes in
several sizes. From small enough to fit over a leg to large enough
to fit around a neck (before NICH bandage, I always used tube tops
to cover neck wounds, very stylish).
As the name
stockinette implies, NICH is like a sock with both ends open. You
simply cut a tube-shaped piece to the length you need. Pull it up
over the leg and tape it to the skin at the top only. This keeps
your greyhound from licking the wound/stitches. It also gives you
access to the wound to apply a topical by lifting up the NICH
bandage.
The real beautv is
that when it's time to change the bandage, you leave the tape taped
to the leg and just cut the NICH off. Apply a new; piece of NICH by
taping it on right over the old tape. Thus you can keep a leg
bandaged for weeks and only have to rip the tape off once, at the
end of treatment. Mineral oil will help tape come off without
irritating the skin so much.
NICH is superior to
regular stockinette because it's clingy and has "breathing holes" so
the wound gets air. Butler (veterinary distributor) carries it in
our area.
NEOPREDEF:
I like Neopredef powder because it dries out the: wound and contains
a topical anesthetic so dogs tend to leave it alone. Don't want to
use anything sticky topically or It gets the NICH gunky in short
order.
ADAPTIC:
(Johnson & Johnson) pads as the first layer of the bandage on the
raw area will promote skin growth. Your vet can order these or you
can get them through a small private pharmacy, like the one near the
hospital that everyone goes to to fill their prescriptions.
NEXCARE WATERPROOF
BANDAIDS: Another tidbit... I
had long ago discovered that Nexcare Waterproof bandaids (used to be
CleanSeals) stick to torn greyhound ears. Well, they also stick to
greyhound legs. So, for those little cuts that you don't want your
greyhound licking at but are too small to go to the bother of
bandaging, just use Nexcare Waterproof bandaids.
FACILITATOR: (Liquid Bandage by Blue Ridge Pharmaceuticals) applied every 1-3 days (when bandage is changed) speeds the healing of wounds that must granulate in on their own. Apply Facilitator, then let dry for 10 minutes before bandaging.
BANDAGING A FOOT:
I'm not going to attempt to go into a long diatribe here about how
to bandage a foot Just wanted to remind you to be sure to put cotton
between the
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