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The Healing of my dog's docking?

I have adopted a puppy two month old, who its tail hae been already docked. I have been worried about the wound, you could see a little bit of cartilague, I placed her yesterday a little bit of antibiotic cream, but today she has it red. I don't know if this is normal in the healing process. How long does it takes to heal? Should I place on alcohol and antibacterial cream treatment? When I dripped alcohol into the wound she didn't cry or anything. I'm worried that she gets and infection.

Thank you very much


Asked by Member 1116003 on Jun 16th 2012 Tagged docking, tail, health, infection in Emergencies & First Aid
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Kali

If you can see cartilage or bone, she needs to see a vet ASAP. Good luck with her.


Kali answered on 6/16/12. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 0 Report this answer


Bruno CGC

Yes. The previous answer is correct. Docking is normally done only days after birth, and therefore should be fully healed without even a visible scar by 2 months (when pups are sold/adopted to new homes.) If the wound is still open, something is wrong. I suspect your dog's breeder didn't know what they were doing and docked the pups tails themselves in non-sterile conditions without proper training and much later than usual. This is a recipe for pain and infection... You really ought to see a vet, don't try to fix it yourself.


Bruno CGC answered on 6/16/12. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 1 Report this answer


Toto, CD, RN, CGC

The cartilage you are seeing is most likely the last spinal vertebrae! In a correctly done dock, the last vertebrae is also removed, leaving ample skin to stitch over the end of the spine. "Home" docks often leave this vertebrae, resulting in it rubbing against the skin and causing lifelong issues.
The ONLY solution is to have your veterinarian surgically remove this last piece of bone and restitch the end. At this point, it IS something that needs to be done with anesthesia in a sterile operating room.
Please be extremely careful with putting ANYTHING on the area as there is a direct opening to the spinal cord and very, very serious infections can happen, resulting in rear end paralysis.


Toto, CD, RN, CGC answered on 6/17/12. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 0 Report this answer


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