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So I got bit by a dog
Thetheroo
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I was out jogging last night, and I came across a mother and her daughter walking a lab, I think. As I passed the dog leapt up and bit my arm, not enough to cause bleeding but barely enough to puncture the skin. Today the area looks like it is bruising over and feels sort of numb.
What I've done is wash out the area with soap and water, but do I need to do anything else?
What I've done is wash out the area with soap and water, but do I need to do anything else?
Thetheroo on
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CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Jumping to conclusions a little, don't we think???
Before you go sign up for a series of painful rabies vaccinations, if it is possible, talk to the owners of the dog. If they say it's been recently vaccinated (and ask for the paperwork, or the name of the vet) then I wouldn't lose any sleep unless the wound looks infected. However, if they don't know, or you can not find them, then talk to your doctor A-STAT and let him determine what you need. Remember, the internet is no substitution for a good PCP.
If he can locate the owners of the dog and if they have vaccination records then he won't need the shots.
Otherwise, yes God damnit get rabies shots. They are not as painful as they once were (a long series of stomach shots) and are pretty much just normal sucky intramuscular shots. As far as tetanus goes, it's possible you have a current enough tetanus shot that you won't need another, that was the case for me last time I stepped on a nail. But if it's been greater than however many years your doctor is comfortable with, then yeah you'll need another tetanus shot as well.
I also support sticking the dog owners with the bill for all medical treatment. I used to deliver mail (a high-risk for dog bites profession) and carriers who got bit were strongly encouraged by our employer to take the dog owners to court and recover the medical costs (as in: all court time automatically paid time off from work, any extra settlement for pain and suffering went directly into the employees pocket) and I never knew a carrier who lost in court after a dog bite, the owner is generally at fault in these cases.
It's also important that you bring this to the attention of the authorities because there's an outside possibility that their dog has bitten other people before. If that's the case, the dog is going to go buh-bye. If it was a one-off freak thing, then no, they aren't going to put the dog down. But you still should report the incident just to be on the safe side. The next person who gets bit by that dog could be a child, an elderly person, a diabetic, or an immune compromised person (ie: someone who is pretty well fucked if they get bitten) and you don't want that on your conscience.
Whoa there Big Chief WhackAPuppy, the OP only asked about what he should do medically involving a minor dog bite, not whether he should have the dog dragged into the street and shot...well, like a dog. Save your pseudo-legalese and general baseless anger for the next guy.
And for the curious, dog bite caselaw varies wildly state-to-state and even county to county within a state.
I'm a very live and let live sort of person, but if there's a dog that is biting people at random on the street I would call that a public health hazard that needs to be addressed. What if it does have rabies? I'm not advocating a summary execution, but the owner should be found and advised to keep their dog under control or away from other people.
Courts don't order the summary execution of dogs because they bit one jogger on the arm. But it establishes a history of that particular dog biting, which is important because if it bites another person, then yeah that's a dangerous animal who poses a public health risk.
A dog that potentially attacks people unprovoked is not something to be brushed off. Aside from medical treatment, making sure the incident is properly reported is important.
Well that's for him to decide. We are providing information to him, and he'll make an informed decision that agrees with his perception of the incident.
True, but if it is enough to cause a noticeable injury and concern in a healthy adult, it would probably be worse for someone more vulnerable.
It didn't cause much of a bite, and I don't even know if it technically broke the skin. I don't blame the dog or the owner, I wasn't really watching where I was jogging and I had my Ipod on. The only reason I really posted is because the day after the area started to bruise a little, and I had no prior experience with this type of stuff.
Thanks for the advice, I'm trying to track down the dog's owner and find out its medical history, and I'm up to date on my Tetanus shot.
Glad to hear it seems to be a minor bite. Here's a link to what familydoctor.org has to say about dog bites. Your actual risk of rabies infection seems to be extremely remote.
http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/firstaid/bites/203.html
In this case, it was night, buddy was running past, went by in extremly close proximity- and the dog freaked a bit and protected its owners. Golden labs are extremely protective of family and children, and it was a bit retarded to not give them a wide berth.
Tetanus, though, maybe. Even healthy dogs can carry that. Though you did say no bleeding, so even thats a stretch, but better safe than sorry. Tetanus shots are a good thing to have anyway.
And irregardless of what everyone else is saying, this can be a very serious thing. Any breaking of the skin by any creature runs a risk of infection, even if the first thing you did the second you got bit was clean the wound out.
Keep a close eye on the wound. If it starts getting dark beyond just the bruising, hot to the touch, more tender then a wound like that should be, oozing, and specifically if the veins around the area begin getting dark, go to the doctor. Really it couldn't hurt to go anyways if at all possible.
Dogs mouths may be cleaner then human mouths, but they're still a pit of bacteria and germs, very little of which you would want running around your bloodstream.
This has been the voice of experience speaking.
<edit> Miss the "no bleeding" part. But if it punctured your skin at all, you should still keep an eye on it.
Make sure you're not the Antichrist?