My small dog, Princess seemed to have gotten into a fight with a larger dog. X rays showed a hole in her chest wall and a collapsed lung. Vet discussed options with us and she ended up placing a chest wrap on her along with trying to draw put the air in her chest. She said not much of anything came out. Update today still showed a collapsed lung and the vet is concerned the other lung could collapse. What do you think of the situation? How have other dogs repsponded to these types of situations?
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Hello, sorry to hear about Princess. In cases with dog bites all cases are different. The general goal is to treat the most pertinent issue, in this case air in the chest cavity as this can cause severe respiratory distress and even death. The next risk with dog bites is infection, so having aggressive antibiotic therapy is essential. Finally, lung contusions will get worse before they get any better. Therefore, I would expect the x-rays of her lungs to look worse before they show improvement. My only concern which goes in hand with having air in the chest, is that of a lung lobe laceration. This may cause continued air leakage into the chest and thus could lead to respiratory distress.
I would continue to monitor her x-rays intermittently and watch her for any signs of respiratory distress such as open mouth breathing, blue gums, or increased abdominal effort while breathing. If you note any of these , then Princess should be evaluated immediately.
Otherwise, Princess should be on antibiotics and pain medications for the next couple of weeks. Hope this helps and I wish Princess a speedy recovery.
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