If you are a dog owner, you want to be sure that you are taking the best care of your dog at all times. However, this does not mean that you can necessarily prevent every illness or injury. Just like children, dogs get hurt sometimes. The question then becomes, when should an injury to your dog send you to the pet hospital for emergency care and when can you wait and see if the injury heals on its own? Get to know some dog injuries that do require emergency care at the pet hospital. Then, you can be sure you get your dog to a veterinarian right away if they experience these kinds of injuries.

Puncture Wounds

Puncture wounds are one type of injury that should not be left to heal up on their own. If your dog has experienced an animal bite or other source of puncture wound, the problem with these wounds is that they can look fairly unimpressive. 

In other words, puncture wounds can appear minor when, in fact, they are not. Puncture wounds are deep, penetrative wounds that can easily get infected. The initial injury pushes bacteria deep into the body, which can result in severe infections. This is especially true if the injury is from a bite but can apply to any type of puncture wound. 

The wound will need to be looked at and thoroughly cleaned out at the pet hospital. Most often, prophylactic antibiotics are prescribed as well (antibiotics to prevent infections from developing). 

Wounds That Continue to Bleed Despite First Aid

If you have a dog that gets a cut or other bleeding injury, you will want to apply some type of first aid to the wound. For example, you may want to put pressure on the wound to stop bleeding or wrap the area in a bandage to help absorb the blood. 

When your dog has a wound that continues to bleed even with first aid, you will want to go to the pet hospital. Your dog may need stitches or other treatments to help get the bleeding under control. 

Your Dog Cries Out in Pain

If your dog is crying out in pain from an injury, whether you can see something is wrong like a cut or puncture or not, you should head to the pet hospital. Your dog could have broken a bone or suffered another serious internal injury that could require serious painkillers, surgery, or other treatments to help your dog feel better. 

Now that you know some of the dog injuries that require emergency care at a pet hospital, you can get your dog the care they need if and when they need it.

For more information, contact a pet hospital in your area.