As with humans, dogs are prone to getting many different types of bacterial infections. Properly treating the infection requires a firm diagnosis and specific prescription or holistic antibacterial agents that will treat the type of bacteria that plagues your dog. Whether you decide to treat your dog's infection with antibiotics or are planning on using a home remedy to cure your pet, you should first have your pet diagnosed by a veterinarian or holistic veterinary practitioner before undergoing any type of treatment.
Things You'll Need
- Antibiotics or holistic antibacterial agent
- Towel
- Soft cloth
- White vinegar
- Prescription for oral medication
- Vitamin C drops
Instructions
Treat a Skin Infection
Take your dog to the vet if he exhibits extreme scratching, loss of hair, open pustules, oozing sores, crusty or inflamed dry patches or raised lesions on his skin. These may all be signs of a bacterial skin infection that requires medical treatment.
Clean the infected area with soap and water and apply a topical prescription or over-the-counter antibiotic ointment to the affected area of your dog's skin. Follow the dosing directions given to you by your dog's veterinarian or on the package.
Ask your vet for an oral antibiotic medication for your dog if his infection is severe or long-lasting. Give your dog the proper dosage of oral medication each day until the medicine is finished. Do not skip doses or discontinue use of the medicine before the prescribed date.
Clean and dry thoroughly the infected area of your dog's skin throughout the course of therapy. When you bathe your dog, towel dry the inflamed skin and reapply the topical medication.
Ear Infection
Take your dog to the veterinarian if you believe he may be suffering from an ear infection. Your vet will most likely flush your dog's ear with an ear wash solution before cleaning the ear tissue with a disinfectant.
Ask your vet to show you the proper way to clean your dog's ears at home. This will help you to keep your dog's ears uninfected in the future. The vet will prescribe antibiotic drops that will cure your dog's ear infection over time.
Clean your dog's ears regularly using a soft cloth dipped in white vinegar. Then, apply the antibacterial drops into your dog's affected ear or ears, taking care to follow the proper dosing instructions on the package insert or prescription. Use the drops until they are gone unless otherwise instructed by your vet.
Add Vitamin C drops to your dog's water source daily to help ease the inflammation caused by the infection.
Leptospirosis
Take your dog to the nearest veterinary emergency clinic or your local vet if you suspect she may have contracted leptospirosis--a frequently deadly bacterial infection transmitted through the urine of many wild animals.
Allow your vet to give your dog intravenous fluids and antibiotics to help control the infection, which, left untreated, may destroy your dog's kidneys or liver.
Continue treatment with oral antibiotic therapy, preferably doxycycline, after your dog is released from in-patient care and until his infection is completely cured. Treating your pet with long-term antibiotic therapy can also reduce the risk that he will become a carrier of leptospirosis after his initial infection is healed.
Treat any liver or kidney problems secondary to the leptospirosis infection as recommended by your veterinarian.
Brucellosis Infection
Treat brucellosis infection in your dog with high dosage of tetracycline and aminoglycoside medication, as prescribed by your veterinarian. Test your dog for seron negativity after treatment.
Castrate any male dog that has been infected with brucellosis, even if he has recovered and is seronegative after treatment. He may still be able to pass the infection along to female dogs through mating.
Quarantine your dog for at least 21 days after his treatment is complete to ensure that he does not transmit the bacteria to other animals or humans.
Test your dog's blood for brucellosis every six months if you continue to breed after he has recovered from the initial infection.