You ever have an itch in the middle of your back that you simply can't reach and you had to find a wall to rub up and down on in order to scratch that itch? I think we have all experienced this at some point or another.
Well now imagine that you have a wound back there, don't know how to ask for help, and are constantly in pain and it is slowly killing you? That would be pretty bad wouldn't it?
Well that is exactly what happened to Dogdig who resides at one of the temple projects that we maintain and monitor recently.
This is actually one of the less graphic pics that I was able to get of him. Some of the others I considered to be too graphic to put online because it was truly gruesome as the wound was a "tear wound" that indicates that Dogdig was in a fight of sorts and rather than just get bit, the other dog in the fight latched on and was trying to kill him. It is kind of remarkable that he managed to get away and I am sure the fight was rather vicious.
In a lot of studies that I have seen, dogs in fights will normally go for the throat out of instinct. But since Dogdig is so short, he probably got into a scrap with a dog that was much taller than him. Dogdig might have gone for the throat himself but the other dog was then able to get easy access to his back and perhaps it became a deadly tug of war that resulted in a snout sized portion of his back being removed.
This is particularly deadly for a dog because it cannot tend to this wound and while it seems like it would be productive, dogs do not groom one another normally and can also become more vicious if any other dog or human attempts to care for the wound for it.
As much as we love dogs, they aren't actually very smart and can't differentiate between something that is trying to help them and something that is trying to hurt them. All they know is that something is hurting them, kind of like if you cut yourself as a child and your mother tries to clean the wound. The cleaning of the wound hurts badly but it is necessary and as a child you probably just cried and let mama do her thing, but Dogdig became enraged when we would so much as approach his wound.
Dogdig is a bit "famous" at the temple he resides in and this is why the monks saw to it that we come along and help them. This particular temple does a pretty good job of tending to the dogs that live there, but when the monks tried to help Dogdig, he would become aggressive and this is not his normal behavior. He is well-known for being one of the more friendly dogs and it is estimated that he has been a resident there for around 12 years. So we knew that something had to be done.
This is as graphic of a picture that I am going to show you but trust me, that wound was in terrible shape. Not only was there a large cavity there, but it was also covered in parasites and ticks who were slowly eating the little guy. We had to wear protective equipment and bait and trap him in order to transport him to the veterinarian. He also had to be sedated in order to receive treatment. Of course we would rather not do this, but we can't run the risk of the dog hurting itself or us when we are only trying to help him.
After the treatment, which would probably seem quite rudimentary by western standards, he calmed down quite a lot. The process after a few days became one of simply distracting him with treats and then having someone throw an antiseptic powder into the wound. This stuff kind of works wonders because it doesn't hurt the animal, but it protects all flesh and keeps away parasites as well. It can be purchased for almost nothing at nearly any pet shop in the world.
It goes by a variety of names but is normally just called "wound powder" and you can get a near lifetime amount of the stuff for around a dollar. It contains a wide variety of things, but the stuff that dos the "good stuff" is boric acid and carbolic acid. Now I know that most people are afraid of the word "acid" but these two are nearly completely painless and although Dogdig definitely could feel a sensation that felt like tickling and did a little non-aggressive dance that let us know it was working.
The wound isn't clean enough or healed enough for us to sew him up yet, but we will be doing that just as soon as the vets give us the go-ahead for this. Dogdig will be staying with us until he is completely healed. Normally, boarding a dog with a veterinarian would be quite expensive, especially in the western world but here in Krabi, Thailand we have worked out a deal with the local major vet that they do not charge us for any services, only materials, and this is just wonderful of them and helps us to help many more dogs than we would be able to without them. Therefore, if you live in the Krabi region, I highly recommend that you give your business to Bangkok-Krabi Animal Hospital. They have done wonders for us in the past.
Now just quickly to address why it is so important to assist dogs with wounds on their backs. Dogs are very able to clean their own wounds because like many dogs and cats of the world, their saliva contains an an anti-bacterial property that humans do not. If they can reach it, they can clean it well enough that it will not become infected in most situations but in this case the wound was not reachable by Dogdig and without our intervention he almost certainly would not have recovered.
He'll be back at the temple to rejoin his pals there (and hopefully make up with the one enemy that he has apparently made) in the next week or so. We will keep you updated!
if you would like to see how you can help out or simply spread the word, please visit our website at
http://krabianimalwelfare.org
Krabi Animal Welfare is a charity run entirely by volunteers and are a registered non-profit organization in Thailand and the U.K.. We aim to relieve the pain and suffering of dogs and cats within Krabi Province.
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