Renowned greyhound veterinarian, Dr. Chris Boemo says a cautious approach is best when it comes to the immediate treatment of potentially serious injuries.

While bandaging is the best way to treat many types of injuries, more serious ones such as dislocations and fractures require splinting as well as bandaging, ideally from the moment the injury occurs.

“Splinting provides additional external support to minimise movement at the fracture site, and if you suspect a fracture may have occurred you should bandage and splint it so that you are minimising that movement whilst awaiting definitive diagnosis (from a vet),” Dr. Boemo said.

“Everybody reads the newspaper, and one that is fairly thick and curved as a splint will be able to provide some reasonable stability.”

“For instance, if it’s a major sprain there is a chance the dog has also dislocated its wrist or ankle, so you should be splinting it as a precaution.”

While vets have custom made splints at their disposal, greyhound participants can use household items such as a newspaper as a make-shift splint when a vet is not around.

“Everybody reads the newspaper, and one that is fairly thick and curved as a splint will be able to provide some reasonable stability,” Dr. Boemo said.

“Applying bandaging and splinting at the time of the injury will minimize swelling because some injuries can swell up very quickly, and then once you do that you should seek veterinary attention as soon as possible.”

Dr. Boemo demonstrates how to splint an injury in the video below…

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