My dog had a horrible accident on Friday. My husband had taken him out and when he got back to the house; left him in the car (comfortable weather)to switch a load of wash over and then was going to take him for the ride to pick up my daughter from work. In an approximate 5 minute span my dog had broken down the barrier in the back of the car and scrambled through a window and was gone. We believe a squirrel was running the fence line and he is very prey DRIVEN. My driveway is only 25 feet from a main road.

From what the police(my daughter's friend's father) said (they brought him home); he was running out of our street into the main road when he swerved back onto the sidewalk but it looked like a truck may have gotten his paw. His foot was a mess! Blood everywhere and the pad gone.

The vet's verdict is that he somehow burnt his pad off; maybe connected with the exhaust pipe on the truck. He was xrayed and there was no sign of injury such as a break or fracture though he was diagnosed with arthritis in the wrist (not related and he has not shown any symptoms) I'll address that after his paw is healed.

The vet prescribed antibiotics and pain medication for 5 days. He was so uncomfortable and he is generally very stoic; I gave him the pain medication Friday and Saturday. There was some slight improvement yesterday that I decided to forgo the pain meds but have continued with the antibiotics.

Are there any natural safe pain relievers and anything which can hasten the healing of the pad. It is very raw; though I have noticed some improvement.

It has been a terrible weekend of fighting with my husband which is not fair since I have left the dog in the car while bringing bundles into the house etc. I just feel so bad that he got hurt like this and how it could have been so much worse. Again any suggestions on how I can make Thor feel better will be greatly appreciated.

As an aside I had been working him in drive and focus for the past three weeks and he was doing so much better than I would have imagined. (He's been a companion dog for 8 1/2 years) Could this work have reawakened a once very active prey drive?

What pain med the the vet give?

Tramadol 125 mg twice a day for 5 days. I did discuss the side effects and made the decision to cut the dose to 100mg and give as needed thus he received 3 doses over 2 1/2 days and when he showed signs of improvement I stopped it but he is in pain and it did help. I'd like to be able to give him something for the morning when it seems to be at its worse.

Edited by Sheila Buckley (08/18/2008 06:33 PM)
Edit reason: typo

 Quote: sheila buckley

Tramadol 125 mg twice a day for 5 days. I did discuss the side effects and made the decision to cut the dose to 100mg and give as needed thus he received 3 doses over 2 1/2 days and when he showed signs of improvement I stopped it but he is in pain and it did help. I'd like to be able to give him something for the morning when it seems to be at its worse.

Well, I had it in my mind (as a non-health-professional) to say, after the O.P., "Why not Tramadol?"

What side effect prompted you to stop? Did he have constipation?

125 mg. seems like a good dose.

I lean pretty heavily towards pain relief for something like this. Tramadol has pretty rare side effects besides some minor transient possibilities, I believe.

Many painful injuries (including burns) are helped by applying a cold gel-pack for short periods of time. I'd check with your vet to see if that would be a good idea for Thor. It's not nearly as effective as (or a substitution for) the medication but it might help, however briefly, ease the pain between doses.

The thing about pain management is you really want to stop pain from fully developing. Once it gets to that point it seems to take longer to get rid of and it has a cascading effect of stress, anxiety, and depression...all of which delay healing. I know many vets give a dose of pain medication before a surgery just to get a jump-start on it.

Poor boy...Thank God it wasn't more serious.

 Quote: Sarah Morris

The thing about pain management is you really want to stop pain from fully developing. Once it gets to that point it seems to take longer to get rid of and it has a cascading effect of stress, anxiety, and depression...all of which delay healing.

Very well put.

This is something that I really agree with, after having adopted many adults and seniors in not-spectacular health.

There are potential side effects to all pain meds, but Ultram/Tramadol doesn't have many of the opiate problems, and it's not an NSAID, which can be magic bullets for inflammation-driven pain but which have several serious (potential) side effects.

 Quote: connie sutherland

Well, I had it in my mind (as a non-health-professional) to say, after the O.P., "Why not Tramadol?"
What side effect prompted you to stop?

He didn't have any; I think the antibiotics help with that. Because of his age almost 9 and not having a blood panel in over a year I was worried about possible liver kidney function since that is how it is flushed from the system. I think you call that paranoid? I must admit though pain relief far outweighed the possible side effects at the time of the injury. Now though he is putting more pressure on it and other than the morning doesn't seem overly bothered. The morning is ugly though.

I have never heard of this drug but I feel a lot more confident in its use after reading your responses. I just feel so responsible for a very preventable injury if I led by example and took every precaution to keep him safe. It is the identicle feeling to when my son fell down the cellar stairs in his walker.... no ill effects..... he's 17 now and a pita
So I imagine this too will pass.

 Quote: Sheila Buckley

I have never heard of this drug but I feel a lot more confident in its use after reading your responses. I just feel so responsible for a very preventable injury if I led by example and took every precaution to keep him safe. It is the identicle feeling to when my son fell down the cellar stairs in his walker.... no ill effects..... he's 17 now and a pita
So I imagine this too will pass.

I use it (for myself, I mean) when I need more pain med than aspirin.

I was very happy to discover that I could replace Vicodin and that ilk with it. Used it when I fractured some bones in my hand a couple of months ago, for example.

This is a pretty good overview, I think:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tramadol

Of course it has potential problems. Again, all pain meds do. But so far this one seems to be one of the safer ones that work on moderate-to-severe pain.

All JMO.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

I was very happy to discover that I could replace Vicodin and that ilk with it. Used it when I fractured some bones in my hand a couple of months ago, for example.

Passing on Vicodin? A rare person indeed! LOL! How's your hand now? Better I hope.

I use a great burn remedy that virtually eliminates pain and heals the wound quickly with no scaring. PM me for more info.

Pictures of a 2nd degree burn on my husbands arm, it never got infected (Gary took no oral antibiotics), the dressing NEVER stuck to the wound, it healed in 10 days with no scar, the hair grew back and it tans normally.
If you are easily grossed out don't look.
http://s215.photobucket.com/albums/cc270/DebbieBruce/?action=view&current=05033623.pbw
http://s215.photobucket.com/albums/cc270/DebbieBruce/?action=view&current=d73f1842.pbw