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My dog has an oozing back sore, but it doesn't hurt. What is it?

Updated on September 23, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Large (61lb +) | Female | spayed | 8 years and 1 month old | 97 lbs

My dog has an open sore on her back. It oozes brown liquid and blood. She is not in any pain and lets us examine her without a problem. When we squeeze the area to get the liquid out it does not bother her. What could this be?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on May 10, 2017

Poor Randi. This sounds like an abscess (bacterial infected pocket). These are generally treated with an oral antibiotic and antiseptic flushing of the wound with Diluted Chlorhexidine (3%) solution or Betadine diluted 50:50 with warm water. You will need to take Randi to a vet to get this taken care of since an oral antibiotic is needed to completely rid the bacteria which is seeded into her skin. Typically these are caused by some kind of trauma or puncture to the skin, but they are generally not painful to the pet; although, they can lead to more complications (i.e. sepsis) if left untreated. Until you can get her in to the vet you can continue to clean as needed and flushing it with sterile saline is ok to do.
The good news is that these are usually relatively easy to resolve and pets recover fairly quickly when treated appropriately. I wish your fur baby a full and speedy recovery.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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