Pets: Wound Remedies

Our lab mix cut her paw pad straight across and rather deeply the night before the 4th of July while playing on the beach. Of course, we called the vet and caught him as he was closing up the office but he pretty much told us to just keep her on "crate rest" as much as possible as stitches don't usually hold up well on that area. We were told to bring her in the day after and keep it covered with gauze and the sock & tape trick.

Well, it wasn't doing too well so we went to the store near our house and grabbed some Amish-made raw honey. We applied liberally, even gave her some to snack on, wrapped in gauze & medical tape, and the "sock trick" and by the next morning, you could see new growth and some of the old tissue dying off, and the bleeding was MUCH less so the poor puppy didn't have to be on a serious "crate rest" which was hard enough on her!

Within a week it was closed up but not fully healed. 10 days after the cut (again, clear across her pad and pretty deep) it was 100% healed, not black yet as the rest of her pad, but it was enough for her to run and play without bandages and socks on! Miracle! The vet had never heard of it but he's now done research on it and recommends people keep some in the cupboard just in case! Wish I had known this with my other dogs, greyhound that was always getting cut and banged up (they're graceful most of the time, goofy the rest! Ha! ) and my Brittany constantly had hot spots that drove us both insane, nothing worked on them!

Try to make sure you get local and RAW honey. Regular honey from the store will work, even plain sugar, but the raw honey works SO much faster, I've found. It works by drawing the water out of the tissue so the old bits can die off faster and are way less likely to get infected, there's more to it than that but roughly that.

**Also the sock trick for pets, amazing and so often necessary! Grab an old sock, preferably as tall as possible, unless you have a small pet, and put it on the foot/paw/leg having trouble, and use medical tape to tape it to the dog's leg above the injured area and fold the top over the tape so the dog can't get at the tape. Make sure it's not too TIGHT, just enough that it won't fall off or be easy to mess with.

Another tip that was invaluable to me was skipping the "cone of shame" and instead, using a travel pillow from the regular big box store that I got for $10. It has a clip that keeps the two ends together and if you put that up by their ears they usually can't get it off. Rescue remedy on their paws and ears (or drops on food/water/treats) can also help keep them calmer so they can rest and heal!

Vets are amazing! But the less we have to stress ourselves and our pets out by going there and using home remedies instead, with good judgment, of course, the better off we'll all be. Blessings!

I had a cat that had a massive open wound under its chin which had gotten infected. I was taught by an holistic animal vet to pack the wound with raw honey. It worked like a dream. It was a sticky mess and she would lick her fur ... which aids in the healing also. I was also told that if I did not have Honey, that plain Sugar (yes I did say plain Sugar! ) can be used to pack the open wounds and it will work the same way. I have used the remedy on my kids and dogs also and am a believer! Also taking Turmeric internally....

I read about how great honey was in healing wounds/cuts in animals and it's true! Our dog seems to get hurt weekly, and anytime he has an open wound, we clean it with HP, put honey on a gauge bandage and then wrap it. After a few changes, it heals great! Thanks for the tip!

My dog was bitten by another dog and had a large open gash on her leg. The wonderful vet we see advised me to clean it, then drizzle UNPASTEURIZED honey all over it, cover it loosely with gauze and wrap it (not too loose, not too tight). She informed me that the honey has antibiotic and wound healing properties in it. I did this, and changed the dressing (cleaning and reapplying honey) every couple of days - the wound healed quickly and beautifully. You do have to wrap it though, because the dog will lick all of the yummy honey off otherwise. Make sure the honey is unpasteurized otherwise all the good stuff has been cooked out, and get the squeezable kind for way easier application.

I'm a nurse, and for cleaning it I would just use saline water instead of anything too complicated and irritating - if the wound has dirt and gunk in it, in which case you have to get as much out as you can, gently.

When wrapping with a bandage, try to find the stuff that doesn't have sticky gluey adhesive as it will be very painful to take off as it sticks to the fur and pulls. I found that tensor-type wrap at the vet's that is self adhesive and stretchy - no glue, it just sticks to itself.

Jennifer from Springtown, TX' might want to try honey on the horses open wound. Helps keep infections at bay.

I have little faith in vets and I try to find things that work and have some luck - manuka honey is really good as antibiotic internally and externally for animals and they like it. Chamomile teabag soak for any eye problems. These are 2 tried and trusted ones for me.