Can surgical glue be used on dogs?

Surgical glue is used by surgeons and vets when they need to seal an incision quickly, cleanly, and securely. It also has its application for closing wounds as part of first aid.

Did you know that? I didn’t.

When Cookie cut her paw pad, I was double-checking the best ways of taking care of the wound and getting it healed fast. I did find some articles on the internet that mentioned crazy glue. Of course, that just sounded down-right crazy.

When I turned to the Dog Health Issues Facebook group, super glue came up again.

This time from a respected vet technician. While some other feedback also considered this crazy, I was intrigued.

You can superglue the laceration closed. Just make sure it’s a new super glue so that it is not contaminated. Clean the area well, pat dry and super glue the laceration shut. It is basically the same as surgical glue just not sterilized …

Surgical glue versus superglue

There is a medical-grade super glue that you can get that works on pads. My dumb fur kid cut hers about 2″ across…took her to the emergency vet and they closed it with superglue. 300 dollars later…. she cut the other pad the next day (I crawled the yard on all 4s to find a broken unearthed bottle on old land) and we glued it ourselves …

I have closed many wounds with superglue, work beautifully.

It was already late for us to try because the wound was no longer fresh and I was afraid of contamination.

However, I did ask Jasmine’s vet and he actually didn’t think it was such a crazy idea at all.

Cut pads are hard to heal because every time they put weight on it , the edges are pushed apart. Glue is unlikely to hold edges together but can act as a bandage to attempt to protect skin cells trying to heal..

Dr. Rae Worden

He was skeptical about whether it would be effective enough but didn’t think it was a crazy idea.

So that’s quite interesting. Perhaps if Cookie ever cuts her pad again, we might take her in and have it professionally cleaned and glued, depending on the wound.

The bandaging route we chose works fairly well but it’s a long process. The glue might or might not have worked better.

Notes:

• the wound needs to be perfectly clean prior gluing as you don’t want to seal any bacteria or debris into the tissues
• never use glue for wounds from animal bites
• note that the application really hurts at first

Related articles:
Dog Wound Care: Scissor-Free Bandaging
Dog Wounds and Manuka Honey: Our Experience Using Raw Manuka Honey for Wound Care
Canine Wound Care 101: Classification, treatment, and physical therapy

Further reading:
Simple First Aid to Treat Your Dog’s Cuts and Small Wounds at Home