Split Neck: Result of Tight Leash in a Brindle Boerbel

Hello Steemians, I trust we’re having a nice day!
I bring to you today the story of Lex, a 3year old Boerbel dog that almost lost his life due to the sheer reckless attitude of his owner,I’ll avoid unnecessary medical terms so as to communicate better, I hope you enjoy reading.

Boerbel dogs are known for their exemplary size and energy that they command And are also one of the intelligent large breeds. These attributes will make one want to get extremely strong leash for them just to avoid unwanted attack on neighbors and passers-by. Such is the case with Lex.

Lex was rushed to our clinic recently, following an accidental case of strangulation due to prolonged use of tight metal leash which dug deep into the skin and muscles of the neck as seen in the first picture above. You should know that apart from the chronic stress and pain that the dog was subjected to, the risk of deadly infections such as tetanus was automatically heightened.

As the students doctors available, which includes me and few of my colleagues, we had to keep Lex in a resting position and devised means to detach the leach from where it dug into. We used few tools from sterile dissecting set, we clipped hairs from around the wound, and we lavaged ( flushed) the site of wound with normal saline for several minutes since we could detect from some indications that it was a contaminated wound already.

Lavaging was important to reduce all forms of contamination that could have occurred prior to that moment and so as to achieve a relatively cleaner wound.
We debrided(cutting off dead tissues) the wound, applied topical antibiotics and reduced bleeding using pressure bandage.

We couldn’t suture (close up using patterns)the wound because when you suture a contaminated wound, you expose the individual to the risk of chronic infection which could prove severe.
Lex was placed on Analgesic medications(pain relieving drugs) oral antibiotics, vitamin Bcomplex and diet.
He was also to come for follow up three days after for continuous wound dressing.

I couldn’t get concluding pictures from Lex’s case because I had to go for another lecture in Theriogenology Department.

But the important lessons from this case are;

• Dog collar is the only suitable leash as far as the dog neck is concerned. Every metallic leash should be attached first to a dog collar to prevent strangulation.

• Never leave a leash for more than 24hours on a dog without leash free periods.

• Care for your dog’s leash as much as possible for they could be a source of infection to your dog.

• General Care of your dog is important.

Thank you for reading through