Pitbull got in fight, doing best we can! any help appreciated

ReptileLove18

ReptileLove18

Established Member
my friends 12 year old pitbull was attacked by a gigantic bull mastiff the other day and today my friend came over with him and i noticed his cheek was swollen, then i was told what happened. so Roscoe, his pitbull was attacked by this bull mastif and the mastif grabbed a hold of Roscoes cheek and yanked before his owner got him off. the result is a fairly small hole in the lining of the inside of Roscoe's cheek, not going all the way through but a small hole in the lining. i told my friend that i think he should go to the vet, it doesnt look like its big enough to need stiches but cuts in the mouth are hard to heal because of all the bacteria and i think antibiotics would be the best way to go, especially since there is some pus coming out of it. he is unemployed right now and doesnt think he has enough money for a vet visit. so ive been using hydrogen peroxide and cleaning it every couple of hours, and after he eats. his owner gave him some ibuprofen to bring the swelling down and between the two its seemed to help alot.
any ideas on what else i could do until his owner gets some money together for a vet would be awesome, he's doing way better then he was this morning but anything would be helpful...
 
I am no vet but I have always been told and read NEVER to give a dog ibuprofen or other meds of the like. Dogs metabolize these medicines different and can cause severe liver and gastro issues with even one dose.

Hopefully one of the vets here will chime in.

So sorry to hear about the dog though, I am not sure what home remedy would be best.
 
i tried to warn him of it but its his dog so he did it... im dogsitting him for the next two days, of course i couldnt say no when i knew i could do more for him here then his dad could while running around job searching, so he wont have any more ibuprofen or the likes of it.
thanks cammie, he's a love, thinks he's a lap dog when he weighs darn near as much as me(an adult woman haha), never is mean or attacks, he didnt even try to rip up the other dog that attacked him. i just wanna do what can be done to get this healed up and make him feel better, he's getting old and needs to just be able to relax and be happy
 
NO MORE IBUPROFEN! Kidney, liver and GI toxicity are major concerns with using it. Keep an eye on his drinking and urination and if he starts doing anything unusual in that department or vomiting then vet time is not optional.

If there is pus then antibiotics are needed. In the meantime you can stop using the hydrogen peroxide and instead use dilute iodine. Hydrogen peroxide is really only good for the first cleaning because after that it actually damages the new cells trying to heal the area. Iodine does a better job of fighting infection without damaging the new tissue.

I just saw a dog last week actually that was attacked by another to only cause a small hole but swelling on the ear (and also got ibuprofen ironically) and didn't go to the vet and then a week later the dog was quite sick and came to me on ER. The dog was vomiting, lethargic, the wound was infected and extremely painful. What could have been a ~$100 charge to get antibiotics when it happened turned into a $500 ER visit because they waited. The mouth is a difficult spot because of all the bacteria like you said, and if there is already pus then infection is already present and could spread.
 
Thank you for the information Dayna, i was itching to start messaging all the vets on here but i knew if i gave it a minute someone would see this.
i wont let anyone give him any more ibuprofen!
as for the antibiotics, thats what i was thinking... i'm going to see if i can get a hold of him, he doesn't have a cell right now and convince him Roscoe needs to go to the vet. i'm going to show him everything you said and hopefully the fact that a vet said it will be enough. i know he doesn't have much money but i don't think it would be a horrible amount to get checked out and get antibiotics. he's afraid he won't have enough to cover the bill and doesn't want to go because of that..
 
Well if he has a normal vet he can at least call and get an estimate of the exam fee to get him started on what he needs to be able to cover. If owners tell me they have financial concerns up front then I can prioritize which tests are needed the most to try to minimize expenses (when possible) and give them at least a verbal estimate of what I want to do beforehand so they know what to expect. It's much better that way because otherwise if I run the diagnostics and then afterward they tell me they can't pay then it's too late and I can't really help them out. It's not something they should feel embarassed about or anything because everyone has rough patches and can't always do everything possible. But honestly, getting it taken care of now can save money later! If it becomes a full blown abscess and needs surgical intervention then you're really in trouble financially. I don't think he needs to go to the ER tonight (which are more expensive anyway) but tomorrow at his regular vet would be best.

I've been on vacation so haven't been on the forums much at all so I only happened to catch this thread. Feel free to PM me anytime though to bring my attention to threads I may not see! :)
 
i dont think he has a regular vet but i'll help him call around to all the vets in the area to get the basic exam fee info from them and go from there. he wasnt supposed to be back tomorrow but i'm going to see if i can get a hold of him and work all this out so that he can get Roscoe in hopefully tomorrow if not on Friday.
is iodine available at regular pharmacies over the counter?
thanks :) i'll keep that in mind!!
 
how often should i use it? and what in your opinion is the best way to apply it?
what i was doing with the peroxide was wetting some toilet paper with it and holding it onto the hole for about 10 seconds. he's been really good about it, thank god he knows me well, thats the only thing he doesnt like is strangers trying to mess with his mouth and toes
 
If you have a syringe and can squirt into the hole directly that would be best. An eye dropper would also work, and even a turkey baster in a pinch. Use it 2-4 times a day. I flush it in, then flush it out with just water, then again several times. Be careful because if it's starting to get painful he may get less cooperative...the dog I saw was normally a very sweet dog but tried to take my face off when I touched his ear (where the bite was) just because it hurt.
 
i will be careful and make sure i dont push it, i know he loves me but that only goes so far especially when he's hurting.
will it hurt him if he swallows any? it seems inevitable that some will slip down his throat!!

thanks again for all the help and taking the time to reply so much, really means alot :D
 
Some vets also offer some sort of payment plan or a pet credit type program where they can pay the bills off over a period of time. That's what I had to do after one of my dogs was attacked and required surgery to save his leg and staple up his neck. Definitely ask about that sort of thing too. I think the one most vets offer in my area is called carecredit.
 
pssh said:
Some vets also offer some sort of payment plan or a pet credit type program where they can pay the bills off over a period of time. That's what I had to do after one of my dogs was attacked and required surgery to save his leg and staple up his neck. Definitely ask about that sort of thing too. I think the one most vets offer in my area is called carecredit.
Click to expand...

i will tell him to ask about that! thanks :)
ill keep you guys updated on how things go too
 
So did he try to contact the owners of the mastiff to claim some help with the vet bills? Seems like he'd have justification to ask at least. I hate to stereotype but did those people even offer? No, probably not.

One of my previous dogs was chewed up by a neighbor's dog a couple of times and needed stitches, drains, overnight stay at the vet, plus airfare over to the city and back. I had NO problem asking them for help with the bill (even if it was just a token amount it meant they had to face the problem ) and I also politely "suggested" that if they didn't do something about that dog I would. Whining about having no money to share in the responsibility doesn't go too far with me when I see the family taking vacations.
 
they didnt offer and im not sure if he tried to contact them about it. im going to talk to him about it. unfortunately i wasnt able to get a hold of him today because he doesnt have a phone and i had 2 appointments after i got out of classes so i was only able to get a hold of a coupple of local vets to get costs of the exam. gonna call the rest tommorow and track down the owner and hopefully have an appointment for Roscoe for tomorrow afternoon or Saturday. one good thing to note is the swelling is wayyyy down today, no visible pus, all of that without any more ibuprofen and no more peroxide, at least theres a spot of positive stuff
 
Another thing to consider. Depending on where you two live the owners of the mastiff can be cited and fined because their obviously dangerous dog was not under their control (running loose or off leash). The first thing they will be required to show is proof of rabies vaccination so they'd better have that. Your friend has the evidence of the hazard and he knows which dog caused it. There really is no excuse for such an unprovoked attack. I don't care what breed it was either and it shouldn't matter.
 
thats what a vet said when i was calling to get exam fee info too. going to pursue that as well because that dog is dangerous, if you dont train your dog right and its violent and you cant control it that is a problem and it needs to be dealt with..
ive tried to track Roscoe's owner down, no luck yet, he's my boyfriend's best friend and my boyfriend has set out to look for him and i've got Roscoe here with me. the swelling is gone completely, no visible pus. ive called all the vets in the county and determined it will be between 60 and 90 bucks for the exam and antibiotics, depending on if they do tests too. so now we try to find the owner and get him in............... im real irrated at this point that he's being this difficult to track down
 
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