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my dog was bit by a bear the other night in the yard. it is on her right flank. bite is just a good scrape on the outside of leg, and a 2 small shallow punctures on the inside. one on the leg, and the other is on her teat bag.

this puncture is full of a frothy froth, for lack of a better term. her abdomen is not sore anywhere, and the puncture is not closed up. it is full of air though. the froth was very firm and compact 5 days ago an just in the armpit area of the back leg, it is now a loose froth and has expanded out to about a 8 inch area. she is not sore in this area at all and the froth is not smelly at all.

I have been giving her penicillin shots the last 5 days, as well as carpofen.

my question is, "is this a stomach puncture", or do you need more info? and should I staple the hole closed?

Anyway you can post or send a picture of the wound?

don't staple the hole closed fi it is a bite hole get a syringe fill with saline solution flush it out //let it drain// with a bear bite there is a lot more tramma than there looks it will take a few weeks to heal properly;; jim

sorry, pics aren't gonna happen, I have never had good luck in getting things to work out there.

the trauma from the bite makes sense, the leg muscle is a bit sore yet. will flush it out with saline and watch it.

thanks for the input.

I have to second leaving the hole at least partially open for drainage. Washing it out with saline is a good idea also. Here is something to think on though.
A dogs skin is really not connected to the flesh very well over most of the body. What connective tissue there is doesn't have much blood flow so healing is slow. So is any spread of medication or white cells etc.
I would use a topical antibiotic in there after cleaning it. Then put cotton or any absorbent material over the drainage. Then use a vet wrap or ace type bandage to wrap the whole area that is showing signs of air bubbles. Firm enough to hold the hide against the flesh and keep the air out.
Air causes problems in a situation like this. It can get out of control real fast. I know it sounds like a lot of extra work and trouble and it is. But I had a similar thing happen once where the dog was separated from her hide over a much larger area. If you want more details and explanations pm me your number. But in short the wound tries to heal itself in two parts . not the hide back to the tissue .