I've only been bit twice in all the years I've live- handled groundhogs, possum, fox, raccoon, and rats. The first was a very small single-canine puncture, through a glove, from a small raccoon.
The groundhog, above, got me a little better. My fault -- I was cleaning stone out of the hole and I knew that Mr. Monax was very close by, as there was only a foot or two more left on the pipe. I got a little careless, however, and was not respectful enough. Like the dogs, I got taught a small lesson about discretion. Live and learn. Old school operant conditioning, no clicker training or treats involved. Think I will forget this lesson soon? I bet not!
No, I did not get a rabies shot and engage in a lot of drama. I tore a strip off a towel, wrapped it around the wound and tied it tight with electrical tape and finished the dig. At home I washed the wound, hit it with proviodine, and let it air dry like a sensible human being, with a small strip of loose paper towel over the wound to keep the public from gagging.
The wrong way to deal with a wound like is to slobber antibiotic ointment over the damn thing and bandage it up -- that simply keeps the wound wet and open and ready for infection. A scab is Mother Nature's way of sealing up a wound against troubles, and most wounds -- human or dog -- will fill in fine in time. I tend to load a ripped dog with antibiotics the first few days after they are bit, especially if it's a fox or a raccoon, but in this case I could see the wound very well (no hair) and simply flushed it well, first with water (never with hydrogen peroxide!) and then with proviodine.
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4 comments:
Nasty! I've used lavendar oil on bad cat scratches and they healed nicely.
Glad you didn't lose your hand : )
I did not realize that hydrogen peroxide is bad for wound treatment, so I looked it up and found that it can adversely affect fibroblasts, source:
http://www.medicaldaily.com/dangers-hydrogen-peroxide-242258
Hydrogen peroxide kills tissue, especially the smaller raggedy bits of edge tissue common to wounds and helpful to healing. The bubbling effect of hydrogen peroxide can loosen ground in dirt in a wound, but is generally less effective and more damaging to tissue than simple tap water under light pressure from a squeeze bottle. Water cures a lot and destroys nothing.
I've been scrolling through your posts lately and I enjoy your well-thought out perspective.
That said, I'm curious why you didn't opt for a rabies shot? Sure, rabies is rare in groundhogs, but the shot isn't that bad and rabies is 100% fatal if you do get it. What was your thought process behind not getting it?
Lauren
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