Injured dog....

[dansamy]

Our doxie/sheltie mix was injured this morning before church. At first, I thought it was dog bite injuries, but a neighbor reports that she was "hit by a car". Her injuries are not consistent with auto vs dog. This is a small dog. She should have had some shattered bones or ... something. This looks more like dog bites.

She's current on rabies. I've cleaned the wounds. I've given her a baby aspirin to reduce the inflammation and relieve pain. I gambled that it was a dog fight and not an MVA. If it was an MVA, aspirin could increase any internal bleeding. I've fed her half a can of canned food, which she never gets, in order to increase her caloric intake to nutritionally support/promote healing.

I've done all that I can humanly do. The only thing the vet would add is an xray and shaving the hair around the wounds. Maybe a prophylactic antibiotic. I plan to watch her the next day or two for signs of infection. I'll take her in for that.

I think maybe it's time to buy the dog run I keep threatening to put up. It's just a lot safer and more responsible.

[Miss Sherry]

Why would she even be in a position to be able to get hit by a car and you not know whether it happened or not ? Do you have a place in the fence she can get in and out of ? If a dog were wondering loose in our neighborhood it would likely be picked up by animal control and the owner would have to pay to retrieve the animal.

Also, why would she possibly be in a position to get bit by another dog? Do your neighbors just let their dogs wonder around ?

[dansamy]

We're in a rural area. No fences. Most folks have hunting dogs too. If a hound doesn't show up to get in the truck after hunting, they can end up being left. It's not unusual. Yes, she was out this morning unleashed to potty. That was a bad, irresponsible decision on my part. She's hurt and it's my fault. All I can do now is do everything possible to help her heal and make her comfortable. She's pretty much been under my feet all day. That's where she wants to lay. Other than a couple of scraped areas & two punctures, she's in good shape. No signs of shock. I think I do need to put up a run. It would prevent any future incidents

[Miss Sherry]

We're in a rural area. No fences. Most folks have hunting dogs too. If a hound doesn't show up to get in the truck after hunting, they can end up being left. It's not unusual. Yes, she was out this morning unleashed to potty. That was a bad, irresponsible decision on my part. She's hurt and it's my fault. All I can do now is do everything possible to help her heal and make her comfortable. She's pretty much been under my feet all day. That's where she wants to lay. Other than a couple of scraped areas & two punctures, she's in good shape. No signs of shock. I think I do need to put up a run. It would prevent any future incidents

Oh, I see. Naturally more freedom in a rural area. I'm sorry she's hurt. ?Sometimes more injuries happen when there is more freedom but is hardly seems like they would enjoy a life of always being cooped up in the house.

I do get tired of the lack of tolerance for animals I see in more developed areas. Some people seem to think it's horrible to even let cats roam. Right now we can't have pets due to my dd's allergies, but when I had cat's growing up we always let them in and out and now some places won't even allow cat's to be outside.It was like that at the condos where my dd use to live.

[dansamy]

The city has a leash law. The county is supposed to have one, but it's never enforced except in subdivisions with HOA built on old farmland bought for pennies. In the areas where it's still mostly farm or wooded, you never see animal control and rarely see a leashed dog. You might see one of those zip lines.

[Miss Sherry]

The city has a leash law. The county is supposed to have one, but it's never enforced except in subdivisions with HOA built on old farmland bought for pennies. In the areas where it's still mostly farm or wooded, you never see animal control and rarely see a leashed dog. You might see one of those zip lines.

Of course, animal control is just not needed so much in rural areas. It seems most dogs wouldn't leave their own property, if they have enough acres to roam on and are far enough back from a street for that to be a problem. But where I live, if a dog is not fenced in or on a leash, they only need to roam a few feet out of their own yard and they are either in the street, where they can get hit by a car, or in someone elses yard where they may get into a fight with another dog or come into contact with someone's child.

[elegantlion]

I hope she is doing well now. I would check her gums to make sure her color is good. Also watch for constant panting. If she becomes pale or has panting those could be signs she was hit by a car. It could be possible she got tapped, but not struck directly. Aside from internal bleeding an injury I've seen with animal vs car incidents is pneumothorax or Diaphragmatic hernia . Here's some symptoms to watch for...and here.

[Remudamom]

Don't feel bad about letting your dog run free in a rural area. Our dogs have the run of the place, I have absolutely no intention whatsoever of penning them. Yeah, there are risks, but my dogs get to roam our ranch.

[dansamy]

So far, she's doing ok. Even, unlabored respirations. Her tongue/gums look about the same color. She ate well last night. She didn't want anything to drink, but her food was canned food. High water content in it anyway. I slept on the couch with her all night.

[celticmom]

One of our large dogs was hit by a car and when taken to the vet the diagnosis was skinned knees. All the vet did was prescribe antibiotics.