wound on my dog s face

Question
hi! i have a 5 yr old female dachshund. she has two wounds under her eyes/cheek area, on both sides. it is about 3 cm.when you look at the round wound, you will see red flesh already.  i clean it with povidone iodine dilluted in warm water. it clears after weeks of treatment, then it returns in about a week or so. it will start with a lump, then it becomes bigger until her eyes become deformed. then it raptures, her cheeks will be wet with blood and water (i think)then i'll treat it again with iodine. his has been going on for months now, and it worries me. the vet in our town doesnt know what it is. they dont have a laboratory. recently one of her eyes became shadowy and there were gummy secretions. then it cleared after a few days. this happened twice already.

hope you could answer my question and thanks in advance!


Answer
Hi Joy, and thanks for your question.

This almost sounds like some dental problems (abscess, etc) to me. How are her teeth? It could also be a sinus problem. The eyes swelling and showing discharge, and they fact that the "wounds" seem to come from the inside are clues to me, that this is probably a dental or sinus issue.

If your vet can't adequately treat this problem, I would seek help from another vet for this problem. Has the vet not given her some antibiotics for infection? If you can't find another vet to help you, ask the vet to examine her teeth and do an Xray that shows the teeth AND the sinuses. This would at least rule out either of these two things. He should also start her on a good antibiotic just in case it's an infection (which I feel it is, but I'm not a vet, lol). It is very important to get this diagnosed, as dental problems can lead to heart disease and other serious disorders because of the bacteria that resides in the mouth. These bacteria migrate all over the body and create health problems of the heart, liver, kidneys, joints, etc.

Meanwhile, try cleaning these places with a mild salt and water solution and follow up with an antibiotic cream (not ointment).

Let me know how it's going and how she's doing.