Urgent! I Need Help!

[angelfaerie19]

I have a dog and his name is Jax. Right now my family is broke and we can't take him to the vet. He has cuts around his neck from his collar and they are infected, oozing, and it smells horrible. I need to know if there is anything over the counter that will make him better before it gets worse and does him more harm. Please, if you know anything at all let me know ASAP!

[Pawsitive Thinking]

Firstly bathe the wounds then hotfoot it to your nearest pet shop to see if they have an antiseptic to put on it. Then beg, borrow or steal to get that poor animal taken to the vet

[lv4dogs]

If it smells then theres a VERY VERY VERY good chance gangrene has already set in. He needs to be on VERY STRONG antibiotics. Unfortunatly once the smell starts not much can be done without antibiotics. Most likey he will need to have some of the skin trimmed as the tissue is dying.

I am sorry I couldn't be of more help but he needs to see a vet. Once it starts to smell it is a dire emergancy!

Do you or your family have a credit card?
Or if you are a reputable client your vet should let you charge it.

One of the stray cats I found had to put to sleep because the gangrene was so bad and it was only about a 1.5 inch cut.

[lv4dogs]

Oh yeah and obviously remove the collar & buy a new one.

Good luck & please get him to the vets. I know you have no money but this is an emergancy!!!

[lv4dogs]

I hope you're not scared away or just a troll or whatever. I'd really like some updates on him. I really am sorry I can't be of more help but he really does need to see a vet.

Maybe your vet can work out a payment plan? Sometimes people donate money to the vets and it is put into a fund and is used to help out people in need. Maybe your vet has something like that.
Or a local humane society may be able to help?
A credit card?
Something.
Anything.

[Jessika]

Get him to the vet immediately. Even if you can't afford it, most vets WILL NOT turn away a pet in need of medical care especially in an emergency situation such as yours and most will be MORE than willing to either work out a payment plan or take a post-dated check. If it smells that's a good indicator that infection has already set in. DO NOT let your dog suffer just because you don't have the funds for medical attention!

Thsi is the result of not properly adjusting the collar to compensate for a puppy's growth!!! It's such a shame!! Please tell me also that you DO NOT use a choke collar as an every day collar right??

[angelfaerie19]

First off I want to thank all of you for your help with this. When you are poor it makes things harder than ever. I finally got in touch with the vet and they told me some things I can do with home products until I get the money to take him. In reguards to the ******* who said my dog should be taken away, you know nothing of my family and my pets. We have had animals ever since I was a little girl. I am 19 now and no one in this family has ever abused animals. And, just to let you know, we have bought him MANY new collars since he was a puppy. So lets just keep those kinds of comments to yourself.

[lv4dogs]

Well good luck with him. Please keep us updated.

Did you check with any of the things I mentioned above that may help?

[angelfaerie19]

Yes, when I called the vets I asked them about those kinds of things and they said yhad nothing. And when I told them that we had no money they said that there was nothing they could do unless we had money. There are no payment plans, blah blah blah. What do you expect though? I live in Tennessee. Now I don't know what I am going to do. I don't want this to kill my dog. I've had him since I was 11. I don't want to lose him now because of some ********* vets that don't give a ****.

[lv4dogs]

What did the vet tell you to do?

I know about idiotic vets, In a way you can't blame them they do get screwed alot (lots of people don't pay them back I used to work at one) but then again they shouldn't turn down an animal in dire need. Its a tough call on their part.

[angelfaerie19]

I know that it is a tough call, but we have taken our animals to them for the past 2 years and always paid. Yet they won't let us bring Jax in and work out a payment plan. It just isn't right.

[Majestic]

You might want to call other vets and see if they can take your dog in. Also, you may want to stop by their office and ask instead - bring all records of your dog being taken care of by your current vet.

There're always some vets out there who wants to help and/or get more 'patients'

[bckrazy]

Do you have a local ASPCA? They can provide emergency vet care and give you a low-payment plan, OR you can surrender your dog to them so they can save his life, if it seems very serious. If it smells and it's oozy, it is probably seriously infected and it could kill him. Really, would you rather keep your dog and watch him die, or surrender him, save his life, and allow him to be adopted out to a home that is able to pay for good food, good shelter, and vet care? It isn't your vets fault, most vets (especially in small towns) simply cannot afford to offer low payment plans. That's why low-cost SPCA care is out there.

Honestly, caring for a dog is VERY expensive. Reconsider owning dogs until you are financially stable. Do you have any idea why the collar caused such severe cuts? The collar should be loose enough to slip 2 fingers between the dogs neck and the collar. If it's kept on 24/7, it should be flat nylon material, NOT a chain or a rope. This obviously didn't happen overnight, so we aren't being "assholes", we are justifiably questioning whether your family knows how to properly care for your dog. Make sure you educate yourself about dog ownership, it's like caring for a toddler for 10-15 years.

[dragondawg]

attempt to find an animal rescue organization in your area. They may be able to help subsidize the health costs. An antibiotic of choice such as Cephalexin isn't that expensive. However as someone else pointed out the diseased tissue will have to be surgically removed, and would incur Veterinary charges.

Don't attempt to doctor it yourself. I'm sure if you visit some "natural healing" forums suggestions will include things like peroxide or iodine which will just make things worse.

Be persistent in finding help. The infection isn't going away on its own.

[Vela]

First off I want to thank all of you for your help with this. When you are poor it makes things harder than ever. I finally got in touch with the vet and they told me some things I can do with home products until I get the money to take him. In reguards to the ******* who said my dog should be taken away, you know nothing of my family and my pets. We have had animals ever since I was a little girl. I am 19 now and no one in this family has ever abused animals. And, just to let you know, we have bought him MANY new collars since he was a puppy. So lets just keep those kinds of comments to yourself.

You can't ask for sympathy with one side and call people *******out the other. First off your dog never shoud have had a collar on so tight as to cut his neck, if you are 19 you should have paid attention to that. Secondly, if he DID get cuts, you should have taken care of it even by cleaning and taking off his collar BEFORE it got to be an infected oozing mess. Being poor is no excuse not to adjust his collar or clean out his wounds once they happened. That does not happen overnight, period. Just because you have had pets your whole life does not mean they get proper care. If you are 19 you are pefectly old enough to be repsonsible for this situation and calling people ******** because you didn't properly care for your dog in this instance is not the best way to get help. I hope your dog gets better and you are able to help him. I truly feel for your situation and lack of money. Try contacting the local SPCA and seeing if they can help you. You may have to surrender him but it's better than him dying from infection. Good luck.