Expert: Dr. Louis N. Gotthelf - 7/24/2005

Question
Hi there!
I own a precious 11 month old Golden Retriever, I usually have him tied up and take him for swimm everyday and for long walks however one day my mother in law left him free for a while and he run off. When he came back there was a liquid coming out of his mouth and it was obvious that he had been poisoned. He was given four injections and some other medicines as well as salty water (to make him vomit) and plenty of milk. It took him 5 days to recover, but about the fourth day we noticed a very bad smell coming from him and realised he had huge wounds all over his neck, like skin was splitting away. these wounds supurated and that's why they smelled badly. We cleaned the wounds and take him to the sea (he loves swimming) with the sea water they have become much better and will eventually disappear, my biggest concern is that he also lost much hair, to the extent that it is so obvious at his back. The vet told me he didn't think this had to do with the poison he ate but I cannot think of any other explanation. could you help? Goofy seems to be fine now and he wants to play and eat much more than he did before!

Answer
Whatever it was, it was toxic enough to cause the skin to die off.  If it was something like a snakebite, that could explain the necrosis.  If it is healing up, that is good.  There probably will be a large scar where the skin has healed and it may be deformed as healed tissue tends to contract.