Hopefully they can get a solid diagnosis and get her on the mend.

She has been on 500mg Amoxicillin, Amoxicillin Clavulanate 875 mg, Clindamycin, and Cephalexin 500mg.

I aint no vet or great and wise dog dr but oak and walnut have a poison too.

Have you tried a drawing salve on the area.

Well, it's kind of an open wound now so not sure that would be a good idea.

I sure hope you get a diagnosis Ang and the treatment isnt expensive

I no way back probably 30 years ago I had a small cut on my arm and all my other scratches and scrapes would heal, but that one never then one day it festered up and started spreading so I went to the doctor, they gave me oral antibiotics that didn't slow it down,went back they gave me a hi dose of something in the rump, it stoped it dead in it's track and it healed very quickly.

Rawleigh salve if it’s open? I’m just thinking of everything my dad used treating beagles.

If Dixie will let you, you could try squeezing and kneading the area to try to knock the remaining wood loose, to help her body expel it. Most of the swelling is from her bodies attempt to push the wood out.

Keith

She has some of those symptoms but not all of them. I don't believe she's ever ran a fever, she eats like a horse, and if she has any pain it's minimal... she's definitely not in much pain.

But she does have itching, abscesses, inflammation, and pus around the wound.



Thanks Danny. I truly believe that if we can just get it diagnosed, the treatment won't be that expensive. If it does end up being Staph, a strong antibiotic will clear that up. If the stick is still in there and shows up on the scans, a simple surgery should remove it.

The dog is not yet 3 years old, and that's just too young to die from something that I truly believe is a simple issue once we find it.

https://wagwalking.com/condition/antibiotic-resistant-bacterial-infections

Take a look this also talks about culturing

O kay here goes you can mark me down as crazy but grandpa use to take a potato raw dice it up and apply it to a wound on a dog or mule that was injured with a cut or infection of some type. If it worked within twenty for hours you would know. The object or infection would be drawn out.

I'm thinking we may be dealing with 2 things, and that the staph infection is one of them. Notice in that last article how it says it's more likely in dogs with a weakened immune system such as those taking Prednisone? Dixie's been on Prednisone for 5 months straight.

For the first 4 months or so, she had no weeping open wounds like she does now. I think the stick is in her mouth yet, causing the facial swelling. The prednisone that reduces that swelling led to a weakened immune system which let staph come in.

I work tomorrow, but Pete is taking Dixie to the vet in the morning to take a look at the wound on her side, which now looks absolutely terrible, to see if he can do anything for it until we get to MS State 10 days from now. He's going to ask the Doc about the possibility of a staph infection and see what he says.

This is what her side looks like tonight.

Sorry to say, If it were my dog I wouldn't let it suffer with open wounds for another ten days. If the vet tomorrow can't figure it out and get her pain and suffering under control quickly, it sucks really bad, but I'd have her put down. I have had to do that a few times over the years and it hurts my heart but in the end I believe it was for the best.

I hope you get it figured out though. I wish her and you the best.

She really does not seem to be in pain. Even if you touch the area. Which doesn't make sense, but she doesn't. It does seem to itch her though.

Very sad situation, prayers for you all.

That is good. In that case I don't blame you for waiting it out. I just assumed it was painful as it looks like it would be.

Best thing is she is still eating and drinking. To me, she can heal. I would have cut open, lanced, drained everything she has infected. Sounds like you have tried multiple rounds of antibiotics so it likely is viral or antibiotic resistant. Initial photo of face very much looks like a snake bit dog face. She very well could have some type of related necrosis injury from the related venoms and could result in some tissue loss but again likely will heal if still eating and drinking. I would definitely try the oral treatment of the injectable ivermectin. I have used it for years in all my hounds/beagles and now with covid research there is also much evidence of it being a virus replication disrupter. One generic bottle of injectable ivermectin was around $30 and will last you for years and years as a very good wormer and parasite control as well. I have never once used a heartgard type product for any dogs and never once had an issue with heartworms. A vet years ago who field trialed around 30 bird dogs told me about it.

Keep reading and keep seeking info and you likely can overcome this with Godly wisdom and doing things yourself. Have faith!