Punctures understate the injury underneath. Two small holes can cover crushed muscle, a torn body wall and trapped contamination, with the skin closed over within hours. That is why a dog who seems fine can be seriously unwell two days later. Phone Abby Veterinary Hospital and Emergency in Abbotsford and bring them in.
Why October brings more of them
Bite wounds rise every autumn, and it is not because dogs change. It is because the circumstances do. The light goes early, so the after-work walk now happens in the dark. Off-leash parks and the trails around Abbotsford fill up in the same narrow window between five and seven, when everybody is squeezing a walk in before dinner. Dogs meet more dogs, in poorer light, with owners who cannot see body language at twenty metres.
Add to that the season of visitors. Thanksgiving and the gatherings that follow bring unfamiliar dogs into houses that already have one, often with children, food and a doorway involved. Most of those visits go fine. The ones that do not tend to happen in the first ten minutes, in a hallway, over a dropped plate.
None of this is a reason to stop walking a dog or having people over. It is a reason to know what a bite wound actually is, because the handling of the first hour decides how the next week goes.
The iceberg problem
Picture a tapered spike entering elastic skin while both animals are still moving. The point travels, the tissue beneath it shears apart, and then the skin slides back and closes. What is left underneath is a space holding bacteria and tissue that will not survive. What is left on the surface is a damp patch in the coat, or nothing you would notice.
There are four things going on under a puncture, and none of them are visible:
- Crush injury. The jaw pressure damages muscle and fat well beyond the tooth marks. That tissue dies over the following days.
- Dead space. The shearing creates pockets under the skin where fluid and bacteria collect, sealed in by healed skin above.
- Contamination. A dog’s mouth puts a mixed population of bacteria deep into the wound at the moment of the bite.
- Depth you cannot judge. Over the chest or belly, a canine tooth can reach the chest cavity or the abdomen. A tiny external wound over the ribs is one of the most serious presentations there is.
This is why an apparently minor bite is usually opened up, explored and flushed rather than simply cleaned on the surface. Surface cleaning a sealed pocket of contamination does nothing, and three days later it becomes a swollen, painful, feverish dog who now needs far more done.
What to do in the first hour
The useful version of first aid here is short, because the main thing is getting the animal to us.
- Separate the dogs safely. Never put a hand, foot or face between two fighting dogs, and never grab for a collar or scruff. Reaching for the collar is the commonest way an owner gets bitten. Work through the options that keep you out of reach first: a loud, sudden noise; a solid barrier pushed between them, such as a board, a chair or a garbage can lid; water from a hose or a dumped bucket; a coat or blanket thrown over the aggressor’s head. If two adults are present and nothing else has worked, each person takes their own dog by both hind legs above the hock, pulls straight back and walks backwards in a wide arc so the dog cannot turn and reach them. Neither person lets go until both dogs are behind a closed door. Once they are apart, keep them apart.
- Check yourself and anyone else first. A dog bite to a person needs its own care: see a doctor or a walk-in clinic the same day, or call 811 for advice, and go to emergency for heavy bleeding or a bite to the hand, face or a joint. It is also worth reporting the bite to Abbotsford animal control so there is a record.
- Muzzle or restrain with care. A dog in pain may bite the person they love most. A basket muzzle that lets a dog pant freely is the safe choice; a fabric muzzle holds the jaws shut and is for a moment of handling, not a car journey. Do not muzzle at all if your dog is struggling to breathe, vomiting, panting hard, flat-faced, or has any wound to the face, jaw or muzzle. Never leave a muzzled dog unattended, and take it off at once if their breathing changes. If you cannot muzzle safely, a towel over the head works better, and tell us on the phone so we can meet you.
- Control obvious bleeding. Firm, steady pressure with a clean cloth, held without a break for at least five minutes. If the cloth soaks through, press another on top rather than taking the first off. Do not keep lifting it to look, and do not apply anything tight around a limb. If the bleeding will not slow, keep the pressure on and leave for care now rather than waiting it out.
- Leave the wound alone otherwise. No hydrogen peroxide, no rubbing alcohol, no ointment from your own cabinet, no human products of any kind. They damage tissue, they make our assessment harder, and some are genuinely harmful if licked.
- Phone us and come in. Tell us roughly the size of the other dog, where on the body the bite is, and how long ago it happened. All three change what we prepare for. If breathing is affected or bleeding will not stop, set off now and phone from the car rather than working through this list first.
If the other dog is known to you, ask the owner for their contact details and their dog’s vaccination status, and write it down at the time. You will not remember it accurately later, and it genuinely matters.
Where on the body changes everything
A puncture in loose skin over the neck scruff is a different problem from the same puncture over the ribs. The ones that worry us most:
Chest. A bite that penetrates the chest wall lets air into the space around the lungs. A dog can look stable and then deteriorate. Fast or shallow breathing, an unwillingness to lie down, or breathing with the mouth open after a fight is an immediate emergency.
Belly. Bites over the abdomen can tear the body wall or the organs beneath. Signs can be delayed and subtle: a dog who is quiet, hunched, off their food, or who vomits the next morning.
Neck and throat. Swelling here can affect breathing and swallowing, and the structures are close together.
Legs and joints. A tooth into a joint is a serious problem that does not look like one from the outside. Non-weight-bearing lameness after a scuffle needs imaging.
Face and eyes. Small dogs picked up by larger dogs frequently have eye and jaw injuries alongside the obvious ones. Any change to an eye after a fight is urgent.
Small dog, big dog. When a large dog picks up and shakes a small one, the external wounds understate the injury badly. Those patients are assessed as whole-body trauma, not as a skin wound, whatever the skin looks like.
What happens when you arrive
The first thing is a hands-on examination with the dog’s comfort as the priority. Pain relief comes early, because an animal in pain cannot be examined properly and does not need to wait.
We clip the fur around the area, because punctures hide in fur and the number of wounds is almost always higher than the number you found at home. Then we work out depth. Where the bite is over the chest or abdomen, or where a joint or bone may be involved, our pet diagnostics give us imaging and bloodwork to see what the skin is hiding, rather than guessing.
Many bite wounds are then explored, flushed and managed under sedation or general anesthesia through our emergency surgical services, with anesthesia and patient monitoring throughout. Some wounds are closed. Many are deliberately left partly open, or given a drain, so that contaminated fluid has somewhere to go instead of building up under healed skin. A wound left open on purpose is not a wound left untended, and that distinction confuses a lot of owners.
Our guide on recognizing pet emergencies and when to bring your dog or cat in covers the wider set of signs that should not wait until morning.
The two-day rule
The common pattern is a dog who seemed fine at home and is unwell two days later, with a hot, swollen, painful area and a fever. That gap is the natural history of a sealed, contaminated wound, not bad luck.
If your dog was in a scuffle more than a day ago and was never examined, come in now rather than monitoring at home. Any one of these means come in immediately:
- Swelling that appears or grows over 24 to 72 hours.
- Heat over the area, or a soft fluid-filled feel under the skin.
- Discharge, or fur that keeps getting wet in one spot.
- Pain on being touched somewhere they did not mind being touched before.
- Reduced appetite, lethargy, or hiding.
- Limping that is getting worse rather than better.
Any of those, phone us. A wound opened and flushed on day one is a straightforward job. The same wound on day four is a bigger one, and your dog has had three uncomfortable days in between.
Cats are not a smaller version of this
Cat bite wounds behave differently. The teeth are needle-fine, the holes close almost immediately, and the result is often a swelling that appears several days later with no visible wound at all. Favourite sites are the face, the shoulders and the base of the tail. A cat who came home from a fight and is now quiet, off their food and sore over one shoulder needs seeing, even though you cannot find a mark.
Cat bites to dogs, and cat bites to people, also carry a high infection rate for the same reason. A cat bite to a human hand is a reason to see a doctor, not to wash it and carry on.
Reducing the odds this autumn
- Walk in the light where you can, and use a light and reflective gear when you cannot. Seeing an approaching dog sooner is what gives you the chance to step away.
- Learn the early signals, the ones before the growl: a stiffened body, a hard stare, a closed mouth, a dog who has stopped sniffing. That is the moment to leave.
- Keep the leash loose. A tight leash raises tension in both dogs. Turn and walk away rather than holding your ground.
- Be honest about off-leash parks for your particular dog. Some dogs love them and some endure them, and the second group is where fights start.
- Manage visiting dogs properly. Introduce them outdoors on neutral ground, pick up the food bowls and the chews before anyone comes in, and give each dog a separate space to go to.
- Do not feed dogs in the same room if one of them is a guest, however well they got on in the yard.
- Keep vaccinations current. It matters most on the day you cannot ask the other owner anything, and our medical services team can confirm what your dog is due.
Frequently asked questions
My dog has two tiny holes and seems completely normal. Does that still need a visit?
Yes. Those two holes are the top of an injury you cannot assess from the outside, and the window where this is straightforward is the first several hours. A normal-seeming dog with a fresh puncture is the best possible version of this, and it stays that way by being seen now.
Can I just clean it at home and watch it?
No, please do not watch and wait. Surface cleaning cannot reach the part that matters, because the skin has already closed over the contamination, and watching is how a simple wound becomes a difficult one. Do not use peroxide, alcohol or any product from your own cabinet. Clean water rinsed over the surface is fine on the way to us, not instead of coming.
How long after a fight is it too late to come in?
It is never too late to come in, but the job changes. Within the first few hours, exploring and flushing a wound is usually simple. After two or three days we are dealing with established infection and dead tissue, which takes more doing and is harder on your dog.
Do bite wounds always need to be stitched closed?
No, and often they should not be. Closing a contaminated wound traps the problem inside. Many are left partly open or drained on purpose so they can be flushed and can drain, then allowed to close gradually. Whether a particular wound is closed depends on where it is, how deep it goes and how old it is.
My dog bit another dog and seems unhurt. Should I still get them checked?
Yes, for two reasons. The dog who started it frequently has wounds too, often on the face and front legs, and they are easy to miss in a thick coat. It is also the moment to confirm vaccination status while the details of the incident are fresh.
What about a bite from a wild animal?
Regard it as more urgent, not less, and phone us before you set off. In British Columbia the rabies picture is specific: bats are the only established source here, and terrestrial animals such as raccoons and coyotes are not. So any contact with a bat counts, including a cat who brings one home or a bat found indoors with your pet, even with no wound you can see. Do not handle or release the animal; if someone wearing gloves can safely contain it, it may need testing. Bring your pet’s vaccination records and tell us exactly what happened.
Is a puncture over the chest really different from one on a leg?
Very much so. The chest wall is thin, and a tooth that goes through it changes the pressure around the lungs. Any bite over the chest, together with fast breathing, open-mouth breathing or an unwillingness to lie down, is an immediate emergency.
Speak to the team at Abby Veterinary Hospital and Emergency
If your dog or cat has been bitten, phone us and come in. Tell us where the wound is, how big the other animal was, and when it happened, and we will be ready for you when you arrive. We are open 12:00 AM to 8:00 AM and 12:00 PM to 12:00 AM every day. If a bite happens in the morning while we are closed, phone us as soon as we open at noon and keep your dog quiet and confined until then, but if breathing is affected or bleeding will not stop, do not wait for us: get care immediately.
Published by the team at Abby Veterinary Hospital and Emergency.
This article is for general educational purposes only and is not a substitute for an in-person veterinary examination or advice about your individual pet. If you have an urgent concern about your pet, contact Abby Veterinary Hospital and Emergency right away.
Abby Veterinary Hospital and Emergency
Unit C, 2388 McCallum Rd, Abbotsford, BC V2S 3P4
Phone: (604) 969-0911
Email: info.abbyer@gmail.com
Hours: Everyday 12:00 AM to 8:00 AM, and 12:00 PM to 12:00 AM