Cooper recently visited us as he had sliced his tongue whilst playing with another dog. Cooper had to have a general anaesthetic and quite a few sutures placed in his tongue.
Did you know a dogs tongue is like a radiator, a water-lapper, a healer of wounds, a food conveyor, a register of tastes, a texture sensor, and a wet equivalent of a dogs handshake. A dogs tongue has more responsibilities than any other part of the dog anatomy — excluding the brain. And oddly enough, for all its duties and actions, it is one of the most maintenance free structures of all the dogs body parts! Tongue wounds do not usually heal on their own.
Can Dogs Heal Wounds by Licking?
No, not really. Dogs lick naturally because it is the only way they can keep their wounds clean. When you’re a wild, wounded dog, the only way you can remove dirt from your wound is by licking. You can’t rinse it off in a sink with clean water and use a clean towel for drying it. Dogs also don’t have band-aids and similar coverings to help the wound stay clean until it is healed.
All you have is your ability to lick the wound clean.
Therefore, nature has developed this ability into the best thing that it can. Dogs’ saliva prevents some bacteria from growing. However, this is only minorly effective, and the benefits largely stop there. There is nothing in a dog’s saliva that can make wounds heal faster. They don’t heal their wounds by licking; they simply keep them clean to prevent infection.
It is important to remember that dogs in the wild can easily succumb to infected wounds – and they often do. Dogs are not immune to infections due to the slight antibacterial properties of their saliva. Allowing them to lick your wound doesn’t make it heal any faster, and it is not a terribly effective way to prevent infections either.
A dog’s tongue is usually warm.
If your dog’s tongue feels extra warm when they lick you, it’s likely because the normal body temperature for dogs is 101.0 to 102.5°F (38.3 to 39.2°C).
If your dog is running a fever, their tongue may feel even warmer, but don’t count on this as an accurate assessment of their body temperature. Taking a dog’s temperature by mouth is unreliable and, depending on the dog, not always easy or safe. The most accurate way to determine a dog’s body temperature is with a rectal thermometer.
If your dog has been panting in a cool room (or eating ice cubes or snow), their tongue may feel cool due to the evaporation of saliva from the surface of their tongue. However, it should quickly return to a warm temperature when they stop panting.
Do dogs tongues heal wounds?
Bleeding tongue: A dog’s tongue is important for many things including eating, cleaning themselves, lapping up water, bonding with the pack and showing submission. Luckily, there aren’t many issues or illnesses that affect dogs’ tongues, however they are susceptible to injury perhaps during general investigation with their mouths by biting, chewing or picking up something which may be sharp or have rough edges. Injuries could also arise in many other innocent ways including chewing a bone, rough play or maybe even simply trapping their tongue between the teeth (hey, Im sure we’ve done that ourselves!)
Although small cuts or abrasions on other body parts may not be deemed all that much of a concern, tongue injuries can lead to significant problems. When a dog’s tongue is cut, it bleeds excessively and this bleeding can be difficult to stop.
See your vet immediately if the cut appears deep or the bleeding is difficult or impossible to stop.
An ice cube held directly on the wound will constrict the blood vessels, and help stop bleeding.
Applying direct pressure while holding the tongue with a gauze pad will work, assuming you can hold the tongue of course!
Everyday all-purpose flour can be used for small cuts to stop the bleeding. Simply pack the wound with the flour and then hold a gauze pad tightly against the wound. The flour should help the blood to clot.
If it’s a small nick, keep an eye on it for a day or two to make sure it isnt getting infected. If you can’t get the bleeding to stop, or if it stops and starts to bleed again, then don’t delay in calling your vet as your dog may need a stitch or two. If you are in any doubt, then call your vet.