Yoda Our Dog Has Pressure Sores

Dog Pressure Sores - What to do when your dog has bedsores. (Sept 2019)

Last month we went to New Zealand to visit my family. It's the first time we ever had to leave our dogs in kennels and it was not an easy decision but I had not seen some of my family in ten years and it was our first holiday in a long time. 

Sadly when we returned from our holiday we discovered that our Bichon Frise Yoda had some pressure sores on his bottom. 

Now let me start by saying the Kennels were fantastic. Our dogs were looked after really well and we're very happy, as much as they could be being separated from their owners, however, Yoda our dog tends to scoot on his bottom a lot. He just has a habit of scooting on his bum, he always has and well, at home he itches his bottom on a soft surface. 

Clearly, in a kennel, Yoda had been scooting on concrete which caused him to have two sores on his bottom. This is something we didn't notice until about 4 days after he came home. By this time the sores were looking pretty bad. 

Pressure Sores on Our Dogs Bottom

I googled what to do and got some cotton wool dipped in saltwater and cleaned the two sores. However, over the next few days, poor Yoda began to act differently. 

He just stayed in the same place and didn't really want to move. He lost his interest in food - which is not normal for Mr Piggy Wiggy and I wasn't sure what was happening. After two days of not really knowing what was going on, Yoda had developed sores on both sides of his body and legs, from... laying in the same position all day. 

A Dog With Bedsores

After two days, I decided we needed to take Yoda to the vet because he just didn't seem himself and he had developed more sores on his body. We really were confused about what was going on as it was the first time this had happened and we didn't really know what to do. 

Visiting the Vet for Pressure Sores

So we took Yoda for an appointment. It turned out he had a high fever over 40 and that one of the pressure sores on our dogs bottom was infected. 

The vet shaved the areas where all the bedsores were located and then used cotton wool and solution to clean them all. By taking off all the scabs and hair, the Vet was giving Yoda a chance for his sores to heal.

He was then given antibiotics and Loxicom (a medication to alleviate inflammation and pain) and we were given a dog body grow to cover his body. The grow would cover all the sores in one go and give them a chance to heal. 

Helping Your Dogs Bed Sores Heal at Home

So what are we doing to help our dog's pressure sores to heal? Well, firstly Yoda is wearing his dog grow. It's very similar to a baby grow. In fact, we stopped by the local store and purchased some real baby grows, size 24 months which were only £4 for a multipack so we could change the grow as it became dirty. 

Trust me, the grows can easily get remnants of poo on them even though there is a hole for Yoda to do his business. 

So firstly we are putting Yoda into a new dog grow (babygrow) each day to protect his wounds. 

How to Wash a Dog's Bed Sores

So we have a small bowl which we fill with water and salt. We then soak cotton wool pads in the bowl and use those to wash each wound clean twice a day. 

Yoda doesn't like it and whimpers a little but he knows we are helping him and after just 24 hours the sores on his body are healing nicely. They had not gotten very bad. The sores on the bottom, however, are taking time to heal but with regular cleaning and protection, they will eventually heal. 

My husband will be taking Yoda back to the Vet 74 hours after he was first seen so his pressure sores can be checked and they will check to see if his fever has gone down. 

Yoda is still just laying down not doing much but we are moving his positions regular and taking him to different rooms so he can be in different environments as he feels so rotten. 

Hopefully, Yoda's pressure sores will heal soon enough and then we will just have to deal with his other condition, which is arthritis. He has to be on long term loxicom for this to help with his pain and inflammation. He's really had a rough year, breaking his teeth and then dislocating his shoulder and now this.

Hopefully, things will pick up soon.