Treatment: Place a fairly wide linen bandage, or, what is better still, some wide strips of Mead’s adhesive plaister, round the chest. Union, as a rule, of the broken rib soon takes place.
Showing how to bandage a dog’s chest for fracture of ribs and other injuries to the chest
Fracture of the Bones of the Skull, especially those of the forehead, occasionally occur.
Symptoms: The broken bone will be generally found depressed; the part is very painful, and swelling soon occurs. This injury is often accompanied by a good deal of acute congestion of the brain, the result of concussion, and as a result the dog often becomes unconscious soon after the accident. This may continue for days, or until the pressure, the result of the fractured bone on the brain, is relieved by operation. The dog, of course, during the unconscious condition is quite paralysed in all four limbs. After the pressure is removed, the dog soon regains consciousness, and strength to the limbs gradually returns.
Treatment: In these cases it is important to keep the dog absolutely quiet; to feed on liquid food, carefully given with a spoon or bottle, in small quantities often. When the patient is very restless, an ice-bag may be applied to the forehead, and small doses of bromide of potassium given every four hours mixed with the food. When the fractured bone is depressed, and is pressing on the brain, the sooner this is relieved by operation the better. Of course, for some time afterwards the dog must be kept very quiet.
Fracture of the Upper Jaw: This occasionally occurs as the result of a blow, as the kick of a horse; also from being run over.
Treatment: A bandage cannot be easily applied here to any advantage. If the mucus membrane has been torn, and the bone exposed, all loose pieces must be removed, also broken and loose teeth; and the mouth should be thoroughly washed out three or four times a day with a teaspoonful of borax to half a pint of water, and the dog fed on sloppy food for a time.
These cases, as a rule, do very well.