Injured dog

My dog was recently attacked by two larger dogs and received several puncture wounds to his hip, shoulder and chest.  He also had a long portion of skin ripped on his neck exposing the tissue underneath which the vet closed with several stitches.  He had to trim the edges of his skin to be able to close the wound.  We tried to tend his injuries, but he seemed to worsen over the next few days.  He had a lot of swelling and draining on his left shoulder/torso area with a red bulge at the site of two puncture wounds that the vet had stapled.  He stopped drinking and would only eat it I spoon-fed him canned pumpkin.  He would not lay down at night, but tried to sleep sitting up, sometimes finally collapsing on his bed.  He would sometimes perk up during the day, but still wouldn’t eat or drink and would have bad nights.  I was traumatized watching him seem to suffer and consulted with the vet to put him down.  I feel I made a hasty decision, and now imagine, what if he finally recovered.  Was I right to be concerned about his suffering?

Hello!  Please note that I cannot give second opinions on specific cases; it is outside the scope of this site.  There is, however, a formal way of obtaining a second opinion after the death of a pet in the UK and clients would have to contact their vet or the RCVS (Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons - they have a good website and phone line) to find out more.  I will try to provide links.  A second opinion can be very helpful in terms of understanding what happened and why in any specific case and thereby finding closure.  The vet involved in assessing the case would get to see the clinical notes made at the time and other details provided by the vet and thereby would be in a position to give a fair and full assessment.  For this reason, second opinions should be obtained through the proper channels. In general, bite wounds over the chest are brutal injuries, despite there being only a tiny entry hole to see after the event.  Frequently, the teeth go deep, substantially damaging the muscles - and even the lung - beneath the skin's surface.  Further, there are almost always bacteria living on the attacking animal's teeth which are 'injected' into the chest cavity, wall or muscles by the bite, often resulting in messy, deep infections. You would not be alone in opting for euthanasia after so deep an infection had taken hold.  These infections can take a long time and significant surgery to recover from.  I'm sorry that the case had such a sad ending  and there is support available in the form of the RALPH site (a website that can be found on most search engines).  It is a very helpful resource and can really help owners to find closure and grieve. I hope that this helps a little at this sad time.

Hello again   Following on from my previous convoluted answer, please find here a link to a relevant page of The Ralph Site (you may have to copy and paste it), associated with helping owners to find peace after the sudden death of a pet:   https://www.theralphsite.com/index.php?idPage=90. Should you be interested in discussing the medical care that your dog received, we would always advise speaking to a senior member of your vets in the first instance.  It is not unusual for vets to have a follow-up meeting with a client after a stressful case such as this.

However, as I outlined at the beginning, I do not understand enough about the situation to provide a medical second opinion.

Wishing you and your family all the best at this time.

Thank you