For those with dog attack survivors

[Westwood Farms]

Hi,

I need a question answered. I am unsure what to bed little Amber in. I have all sorts of stuff, but with all the open wounds, what is the best bedding to use. I want to minimize the threat of crud getting in the wounds. I would love to hear what you have used.

And to uplift all our spirits, lets see pictures of your dog attack survivors again. I'm gonna tell Amber all about them.

thanks,

Alicia

 

[Marty]

I'm at a loss here, I must have missed something.

I am assuming your horse was attacked by a dog and has been seen by the vets etc?

Ok for bedding for a horse with injuries I would choose hay or straw. Shavings would just stick to the wounds in my humble opinon. Hay would be fine if the horse has to stay stalled for any length of time just in case she wants to nibble on it, it would be better for her to be nibbleing on hay VS straw.

I am very sorry this has happened!

 

[Sandee]

Sorry not much help on the bedding but I would think whatever you would use in a berthing stall (shredded newspaper is one) would be good.

I didn't take pictures of my guy when he was injured. He only got a couple of scratches on the face the rest was a split lip and punctured jaw that you couldn't easily see. He's a bit wary of dogs at shows (those that aren't on leashes are my pet peeve!). This is him last year.

 

[countryrose]

I don't remember that we changed bedding we were using when my mare was attacked. The wounds had to be cleaned and disinfected once to twice daily. I believe Straw tends to stick tight to a horse worse than hay or shavings would.

Sorry, I have no pictures to share. The vet kept them in case we found the dogs for prosecution--we did not!

I can still see it in my mind so really did not want pictures to remember.

Good luck.

 

[justaboutgeese]

If I had a choice it would be long straw. Shavings might tend to stick if wounds are fresh and possibly oozing a bit. Hay IMO (not just to disagree with the forum members) would tend to shed the heads and blossoms if its good hay and again might tend to dirty the wounds further.

 

[Sonya]

I really have no clue, but my first thought was some real soft grass hay. This would be pricey, but if it real soft like canary grass, maybe???...TSC has shredded cardboard, I wonder how that would do? Sending wishes for Amber's speedy recovery. Keep us updated on her progress.

 

[LoriG]

We bedded with fluffy pine shavings. My mare had the worse wounds on her hind legs and we had modified XL sweat pants to cover them. She also had one ear completely torn off. I did not have a problem with the shavings sticking as we had to clean and debreed the wounds daily. My mare was in foal and I did not notice her laying down alot, maybe she thought she could not get up again. I do not have a happy ending to this story, she lived for about 2 weeks before I had her put down.

 

[4mymirage]

Hi

We had a couple hurt pretty bad...

Went to the garden center, bought peat moss, bedded entire stall with about 8-12 inches and packed it lightly to make "mattress" then put about 6-8" straw on top....

Best wishes

 

[Robin1]

Grass hay. It is soft and if she gets the urge she can munch on it. That is what we use in the foaling stalls too. It is not as likely to get stuck in her injuries. I hate trying to "pick out" shavings from wounds.

Robin

 

[Miniv]

I've personally never had to deal with dog attack wounds (knock on wood), but I would be inclined to lean toward soft grass hay (with no seeds or heads) or as a second choice, paper shavings.

Alicia, please do me the favor of touching your little Amber with love for me? Thank you.

MA

 

[MInx]

I can't say Alicia, as haven't had it happen. I wonder if you could use soft rubber matting? or even cover that with carper remenents?

I can tell you that we had a man walk right up our wooded private drive(2 lane) like it was nothing today past our house and barn with the horses watching with a Rottwelleer!

Carl stopped him and said "what are you dong?" The man said "walking my dog!" angrily, so Carl told him, "fine but this is private property and we have our animals here and it's posted!

The man just glared at us, snarled something and kept on walking! Now we live in the back woods so he continued walking till he'd walked completely through our place! Man was I ticked, now that dog knows where our little guys are if it ever gets loose! Why are people so stupid!

Sorry so off subject but somewhat related to post. Maxine

 

[Westwood Farms]

I want to thank everyone who have posted for me. I may try the carpet thing first, it is the easiest to get on a Sunday. I have had her on hay, but it does not stay in place. Turf I can buy tomorrow. Thanks for everyones suggestions!!

 

[HGFarm]

We are currently going through this right now and we have found that clean GRASS HAY is soft and it will stick some to seeping wounds, but comes right off with clean water.....