dog bitten by a rat

[chirpychirpy]

what should you do if your dog is bitten on the outside of his/her mouth by a rat?

[daffy654]

If it were my dog I would take it to the vet so the wound could be thoroughly cleaned and a prophylactic course of antibiotics prescribed in case of infection. Rat's mouths are full of germs.

[LoftyLottie]

I would be forever at the vet with our JR cross, however daffy is right. What I do is thoroughly clean the wounds with salt and boiled water (not boiling) and keep a very close eye on things. So far she has been fine. The minute the wound looked in anyway infected she would be marched off to the vet. The vet gave me a tube of a prescription ointment called fuciderm (I think that was what it is called), and said to apply it to any skin lesions she might get. I have run out, so will now get some more in preparation for the winter when the rats come off the fields into our garden grrrrr.

[LoftyLottie]

My dog has her yearly injection which includes a booster for the disease that rats carry.

[lankeela]

Ignore the claptrap spouted as usual by Dancairo, and check if your dog's vaccinations against leptospirosis are up to date, if not get the vet to jab him. Also get the vet to give a course of antibiotics and keep the area clean as stated above with salt water.

[LoftyLottie]

That's the word I was looking for Lankeela - lepto etc. I was too lazy to look it up. Have phoned the vet today who is leaving out some fuciderm cream for me, so thanks for the thread chirpychirpy.