Bitten by a Squirrel

[GentleLake]

I don't think this is serious enough to put in Health and Genetics, but if so have no objection to it's being moved.

 

My lurcher, Tansy (super fast little dog with a high prey drive), caught a squirrel in the back yard this morning. It bit her muzzle in several places.

 

The bites don't seem to have gone the whole way through, just 4 small surface woulds.

 

She's UTD on rabies vaccination, so I'm not worried about that, but am wondering if I should put anything on the bites or clean them with anything.

 

I used a wet washcloth to clean the small amount of blood off so I could assess the damage, and I'm inclined to leave it at that and just watch the area carefully.

 

Would anyone with more experience do anything differently?

 

BTW, my dogs are raw fed, so I chucked the squirrel in the freezer to kill off internal parasites so I could feed it to her later -- after having to finish it off. (ugh!) My old high prey drive border collie/spitz type mix grabbed it from Tansy and carried it around for a while but it wasn't completely dead when I finally got her to give it up. She's definitely gotten old.

 

[MossyOak]

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[brndlbc]

Years ago one of our vizslas ate an entire adult rabbit. No ill effects as we too feed raw. Certain parts didn't digest though and during yard clean up I found the paws of the rabbit, intact, with fur, embedded in....well, you know. Curious if squirrel feet do the same?..... (jk)

[simba]

I tend to throw them into the shower and wash off the area with soap and water, since we had a bad experience with cellulitis a few years ago.

[nancy in AZ]

Try doing a search on Terrierman's site. IIRC he addressed this kind of incident and how he treats the wounds inflicted by prey.

[Maxi]

I tend to wash out bites and wounds in dogs, sheep and humans with chlorhexidine or chloroxylenol (Dettol in the UK) using the correct dilution recommended on the bottle..

 

ETA.. Dettol doesn't sting on open wounds ..unlike alcohol or iodine (personal experience).

[Gideon's girl]

I, too, would wash with a chlorhexidine sugical scrub, or something like that. Feel the area for heat every day, incase any infection sets in.

[GentleLake]

Thanks, everyone.

 

I don't have any Manuka honey, and a sinus infection that has my teeth hurting kept me from going out to get any today. I'll have to get some to have on hand.

 

I did end up putting some Betadine on the scratches. There was beginning to be a tiny bit of swelling. Not surprising. But they've gone down now.

 

Definitely will be watching for signs of infection.

 

One of my dogs had a baby bunny 5 days in a row as dessert and suffered no ill; effects from it. But I prefer to be cautious with any wild meat and do a three week freeze, just to be on the safe side.

 

I feed rabbit feet from time to time when someone give them to me. Have definitely seen fur in the stool, but never an intact foot. Brndlbc, I wonder if your dogs actually chewed the feet or swallowed them whole?

 

As I've noticed fur in stools I've developed a hypothesis that the fur might help move intestinal parasite loads along and eliminate or at least control them.

 

So far, so good. I haven't been particularly worried, but want to be alert to possibilities.

[Smalahundur]

I do think it is admirable that the squirrel at least put up a fight.

[simba]

I know for humans they now reccommend washing with tapwater instead of antiseptic, because putting antiseptic on tends to (a) slow wound healing a little bit and ( not remove the dirt in the wound. But they might prefer washing with antiseptic stuff if it's an infection-prone wound like a bite wound, I don't know.

[brndlbc]

GentleLake, guaranteed he swallowed them whole. The feet were complete...toes, nails, fur etc.

[GentleLake]

That's the way I feed rabbit feet, but mine crunch them up before swallowing.