Medical treatment of animal bites in medieval periods

Interesting article in the Wellcome Trust magazine on the history of medicine. Author Kathleen Walker-Meikle. She is studying the recommendations for treating animal bites, starting with Constantine the African, mentioned in earlier posts. Medieval folk lived in very close contact with animals, often sheltering in the same habitation. Bites and punctures from animals would naturally be a common occurrence. As animal bites were often believed to contain noxious poisons, especially if the animal was angry or came from a hot and dry climate, one first had to determine if the bite was from a venomous or non-venomous animal. If bathing in the sea didn't work or wasn't practical, medieval physicians turned to ointments and potions. How about this ointment--pigeon droppings mixed with garlic and salt? A common potion was theriac, a complicated medical compounds that came down from classical antiquity. Eventually, cauterization or amputation might have been necessary. Another recommended treatment was to split open a chicken and lay it upon the wound. I'm sure there were other magical incantations, folk rememdies, and some things that actually worked!