EMERGENCY TREATMENT OF CHEMICAL BURNS

Last week we mentioned that there are different types of burns, with varying intensities. Let’s look at each type of burn more closely, and deal with their respective treatments:

BURNS BY CHEMICALS
The chemical burns with which we veterinarians are most confronted result from the patients’ encounters with acids and alkalis.
Recently, I have more and more been seeing burns on the skins of dogs/cats which originate from the misuse of anti-parasite chemicals. Most anti-tick/anti-mite/anti-flea medications (baths) have to be diluted before application to a pet’s skin. Perhaps the logic “if a little will help, then a lot will help more” leads pet owners to use stronger-than-recommended concentrations of an anti-parasitic chemical.
This sometimes results in “burning” of the skin, and even death, as the chemical is absorbed by the skin in toxic quantities.
But let’s get back to the problem of acid/alkali burns. Believe it or not, most of these cases are not accidents, but are willful, malevolent, wicked, brutal and depraved acts of cruelty meted out to dogs and cats – lowly domestic animals that are in the care and custody of mankind. I maintain that any human being who has the evilness of soul to throw acid on a cat or dog is quite capable of disfiguring a man, woman, or child by the same means.

EMERGENCY TREATMENT OF ACID BURNS
i) Clip the hair on and around the burn area, if the animal would allow you.
ii) Wash the site of the burn with a lot of water.
iii) Rinse the spot with a baking soda solution. The solution is made by mixing four level tablespoonsful of baking soda into a pint of water.
iv) You may place some ice packs (crushed ice in a cloth) on the wounded area in order to reduce swelling, inflammation, and the pain.
v) Later, especially if the hair is falling out and the skin is sloughing, you may have to use a soothing ointment that is mixed with an antibiotic (e.g. zinc oxide with an antibiotic ointment).
vi) Contact your veterinarian for further advice.
N.B. If you have, in fact, witnessed the dastardly act of a person throwing an acid on an animal, you should report this crime to the Guyana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GSPCA), or to a veterinarian, or to the police. The law must act against all such individuals who willfully perform acts of cruelty to animals!

EMERGENCY TREATMENT OF ALKALI BURNS
The steps (i), (ii), (iv) and (vi) advocated for acid burns above can also be followed for alkali burns.

However, in the case of caustic soda (or any other alkali) burns, one must wash the wounded area with a weak acid solution (acids counteract alkalis, and vice versa). The solution can be made by mixing two tablespoons of cooking vinegar (e.g. EHP White Vinegar) to a pint of water.
Please note that if the skin is bruised and you wish to take steps to prevent a secondary infection, you may wish to use an antibiotic ointment (as suggested in (v) above). However, in the case of caustic soda (alkali) burns, I would not use the zinc oxide ointment recommended above for acid burn treatment.
Lastly, perhaps I should mention that anytime the burns are severe and cover more than 50% of the animal’s surface area, you may wish to follow the guidelines for the treatment of the other types of burns (electrical, solar radiation, hot water, etc.).