Can someone please help.. What happened to my dog?

[alexisty]

I have a 7 yr old black lab. Two weeks ago we took her to the vet because she wasn't eating, throwing up and just lying around. After xrays the vet said she had an enlarged spleen and had been shot twice by a lead pellet gun, which is toxic. They removed her spleen, I picked her up the next day. It was time for her two week check up. We notice a small spot of yuk in her hair on her back. My husband pulled at it trying to remove it from her hair. A small chunk of hair fell out, leaving a bald spot. At the vets office I explained to them what happened. The vet tech looked at it and started pulling and removing more hair. When she had finish there was an area approx 4 in by 10 that is bald. The entire time she was doing this she kept saying "I have never seen anything like this." The animal hospital takes no respondsibilty for this. Can someone please help... What happened to my dog?

[Margot49]

Good advice.  I would like to see updates too as I have little experience when it comes to burns in dogs.

[Ghilly]

There is no doubt in my mind, this is a burn.  The skin has the appearance of parchment, it has cleanly defined margins where you can see normal skin, this poor dog has GOT to have serious pain!  I don't know HOW the vet can take no responsibility for this if they even SUGGESTED that it could have come from the heating pad they put on her post-surgery, but to take no responsibility for this is negligence in the extreme!  I would take her to a new vet IMMEDIATELY and I would also open up an investigation with the AVMA concerning the current vet and animal hospital.

I am worried that, depending upon the depth of the burn, you will run into far greater problems a week or so down the road when the skin on top of this burn starts to slough off.  With burn victims, the burns themselves are often not the real problem, it's the aftermath and the infection that sets in as skin sloughs off and internal things are exposed that causes the problems.  And this is a HUGE burn!  

I would also contact a lawyer.  You should NOT be responsible for any treatment for this wound if it was, indeed, caused by the negligence of the animal hospital and its employees.

PLEASE keep us posted on your dog's condition!  Poor thing!  I can't imagine what she is going through right now!  She must be amazingly stoic if she isn't showing signs of severe pain!

Ghilly

[Margot49]

I really didn't think so either, grasping at straws.

Dudn't think of a burn but can't believe the Vet didn't follow up!

Maybe they should look into filing a complaint with the VMA.

Poor dog

[skydnsr]

I don't think a reaction to anaesthetic would make a wound with clearly defined edges like that.  It still looks like a burn to me, from what I can see.  For the vet that did it to profess not to know what happened is horrible in itself.  

[Misfits4Me]

Good lord! I would like to believe that this Vet would be doing everything in their power  to answer your questions & heal your dog......If he is not concerned about this horror, then he/she is negligent and IMO, charges should be brought!

This is not a normal reaction to anesthetic or a normal burn, period!!! If indeed the heating pad did this, then the temperature is incorrect and again they are negligent for letting this happen! Did your Vet offer any solution as to an ointment or topical gel or anything? Surely they answered these questions or offered help....Did you even get to see this Vet? What did he/she say?

Something is VERY wrong here.....I would not let this go....Get your dog to another Vet ASAP...Burns are very dangerous because of infection.....You must get some answers quickly as to how to care for this......PLEASE, let us know what you find out...I'll be thinking about you both!!  Karla

[skydnsr]

I really don't know much about burns on dogs, but it seems to me that if the burn was thick enough to cause the hair to fall out, it had to be more than a superficial burn.  Also, the look of the skin, if it is like parchment, suggests a deep burn.  When the skin changes texture, it means that the tissue was destroyed.  Again, I'm not sure how accurately the photo depicts it.  But a change in the texture of the skin is alarming.  A superficial burn will redden the skin, like a sunburn, but it doesn't change the skin to a parchment-like consistency.

[skydnsr]

Okay, the heating pad.  Oddly enough, I was burned in surgery, and my skin looked very much like that.  I would take her to another vet.  You don't know how thick the burn is.  In my case, it turned out to be 3rd degree.  It didn't hurt that bad for the first few days, but after that, it became agonizing, and it was very complicated to heal from.  How long after your dog's surgery was this picture taken?  If I understand you correctly, and it has been two weeks, and she is not in terrible pain, maybe she's going to be able to heal on her own, but I still think you need another vet.  This is horrifying.  It just should never happen.

[alexisty]

The vet did say that it could be a reaction to the anesthetic used. They also said that maybe she was burned by the heating blanket/pad that they put on her after her surgery. We have done a lot of research online and cannot find anything like what we are going through. She seems to be doing fine, getting better every day but she looks sooooo bad. I want to help her get better but I don't know what to do. I don't know if I should just let it heal or should we put something on it.

[skydnsr]

The skin does not look normal.  This is horrifying to even think about, but the possibility of a radiation burn comes to mind.  If that depiction of the skin is accurate, I would take her to another vet immediately.  I hope to dear heaven I am wrong, and if I am, I apologize for even saying anything.  I am so sorry for the situation.

[Margot49]

First of all, I am so sorry and angered to read your dog was shot!!  Any idea who did that and when?
Did the Vet tell you why he had to remove the spleen?
After the tech saw the hair loss, did the Vet actually examine it?
Is the hair continuing to come out or still confined to that area?
How is the dog otherwise?

I'm stumped unless this is just from possibly a reaction to drugs or anesthetic used.  I have seen dogs loose hair after surgery but not in a pattern like that.

Perhaps someone else here has.
Only thing I can suggest is possibly get it checked by another Vet and one familiar with skin conditions.

Was blood work done?

Please update and good luck.