The occurrence of abdominal injuries is unknown in dogs. There are many etiologies associated with this injury.
Abdominal injuries are often occult.
Penetrating injuries from gunshot , impalement injuries, and bite wounds are more obvious. Gunshot wounds represent the most frequent penetrating abdominal injury. The wounding potential of missiles is related both to velocity and mass of the bullet. This is most easily understood when recalling tissue injury is directly proportional to the kinetic energy delivered and kinetic energy is proportional to the mass of the missile but more importantly, to the square of its velocity. High velocity missiles produce cavitation within the abdomen which is sufficiently energetic to disrupt hollow organs, break bones and spread contamination.