I have a dog that has a small shoulder wound that won't heal. He is not diabetic. We put a cone on him at all times except at night - he's small...

I have a dog that has a small shoulder wound that won't heal. He is not diabetic. We put a cone on him at all times except at night - he's small and gets under the bed covers - so for the vast majority of the time it is covered. It was originally a wound made by a hornfly larvae. It was debrided and stitched 4 times so far. The last time the vet cut the whole area out. The same area just won't heal. It seems wet all the time so I'm not sure if the other dogs may be licking it for him. He's been on endless rounds of antibiotics and we put triple antibiotic on it twice a day. This has been a year now, and $1000 in vet bills. We're at our wits end and need another solution to dry this thing out and get it healed.

Hey there. THanks for your response. Our worry centers around having to take this little monster back to the vet for yet another surgery and bill. The hornfly larvae was assumed because of the "tunnel" that was present. Yes, when they cut around the whole area last time, the culture was sent to UGA. Everything was negative.. I don't have a photo but I'll try to get one this evening. It looks a bit like a volcano. Red and puffy around the rim with an inset, wet mucous in the center. The whole thing is about the size of a pea.

It was assumed each time that he was having a reaction to a part of the suture that was still in the wound,  but the suture is out this time and its getting worse. It could be that he's licking it during the night, but with the cone and antibiotic on it during the day, you'd think we'd be seeing at least some sort of improvement. Instead, it's getting redder, deeper and more mucous-y.

This is NOT MY DOG, but this looks A LOT like what his wound looks like.

Yes, an xray was done last time too. Nothing. From my understanding, UGA did a full workup and didn't find anything unusual. I'm thinking of trying an iodine wash and then trying to dry it with a hair dryer on low. Or maybe smooshing some honey in it? I'm willing to try anything.

Hey there. Below is a photo of his shoulder. He's little so a tshirt won't work, but I have made him several different variations of shoulder sling-type coverings that cover well, but he still licks it through the fabric and keeps it wet. It's been infuriating. Last night and this morning I did a betadine wash, dried it and smooshed manuka into it. 

Henry

He's cute but he's a monster. We call him Henry the Horrible.  I'll try warm compress. Yes, I think the center is necrotic. It looked SO GOOD a month ago and was almost healed. We left the cone off for the weekend and on Monday checked it again, and it was back to this and getting worse since. Little bastard.  The last surgery was almost 3 months ago.

I tried Tea Tree Oil on him for a few days. He doesn't like the taste of it so it was handy to put on before bedtime. He didn't have any adverse reaction to it, but I was afraid to use it for an extended period of time. I also have Eucalyptus Oil but haven't tried that.