Surgery wound.

[cuddlepop]

As some of you know Connie had her op yesterday and has quiet a large wound on the side of her belly.
Today while out walking she decided she wanted to play and her wound started to weep.Blood appeared to be everywhere so took her to the shore and let her do what she wanted which was play in the water.we wrapped her in a towel and took her home.
It has stopped and she's now chilling infront of the fire.
Stiches are still intact and come out a week on Saturday.

Now I could phone the vet but you lot are free
When do you start panicking?

[Dadie]

just dont let her play
boring walks on the lead only until the stitches come out
or it will have to be house arrest!
(back garden only)

[cuddlepop]

just dont let her play
boring walks on the lead only until the stitches come out
or it will have to be house arrest!
(back garden only)

She will go banana's.Connie might be 10 but she thinks she's a pup.
Guess we'll have to do seperate walks."monkey nuts" needs walked for hours.(our other collie)

Typical Connie under house arrest and the weather's beautiful in Skye.

[Dadie]

you dont want to ruin the vets hard work by her opening up the wound and having to have more stitches or having to keep them in longer (more chance of infection too)

[cuddlepop]

you dont want to ruin the vets hard work by her opening up the wound and having to have more stitches or having to keep them in longer (more chance of infection too)

I know I'm listening you've got to be cruel to be kind.

[Dadie]

when Benson our old spaniel had an op to remove a large lump from his side we got a long list of things he wasnt allowed to do until he had his stitches out including not going up and down stairs, jumping on furniture, had to be lifted in and out the car, short walks on the lead only etc
we ended up camping in the living room with him on a mattress on the floor until he had his stitches out as we couldnt bear his crying at night without us
he also ended up wearing very fetching halterneck tops to keep the wound area clean when we were out as the bandages kept slipping and exposing the stitches
things we do

[carasmam]

House arrest and boring lead is the only way to go It is a shame when the weather is this nice.
Cara had to wear a rather fetching babygro when she had stitches as the cone drove her mad and she kept trying to nibble her stitches out. She got them in the end - probably knocked a bit off the final bill though, not having to get them out
A friends german shepherd escaped from the garden while wearing a lovely pink leotard to cover a wound - did nothing for the hard dog street cred lol

[cuddlepop]

House arrest and boring lead is the only way to go It is a shame when the weather is this nice.
Cara had to wear a rather fetching babygro when she had stitches as the cone drove her mad and she kept trying to nibble her stitches out. She got them in the end - probably knocked a bit off the final bill though, not having to get them out
A friends german shepherd escaped from the garden while wearing a lovely pink leotard to cover a wound - did nothing for the hard dog street cred lol

The vet wasn't there yesterday when we picked her up so was really only told about all the tablets she's to go on.OH thought she's have a lampshade on but she doesn't.
She's a very good dog with the vet so he probably thought she'd be fine.
We should have known what do do with her is the other impression we got.

[carasmam]

Pity they dont give out a sheet with do's and dont's like a hospital would. Pretty much what Dadie said about furniture, stairs and getting in/out of the car. We camped out in the living room too !! Then we bought a lower bed for ourselves so she can up and down easily after the ligament op Can she reach her stitches to nibble or are they in an akward place? Maybe she doesn't need a lampshade.
Hope she's still taking it easy at the fire side and there is no more blood.

[cuddlepop]

Pity they dont give out a sheet with do's and dont's like a hospital would. Pretty much what Dadie said about furniture, stairs and getting in/out of the car. We camped out in the living room too !! Then we bought a lower bed for ourselves so she can up and down easily after the ligament op Can she reach her stitches to nibble or are they in an akward place? Maybe she doesn't need a lampshade.
Hope she's still taking it easy at the fire side and there is no more blood.

The stiches pratically run all along the side of her belly.Bleeding has stopped and she's getting restless.
Its probably not helping having the young dog about as Connie wants to play catch up.
When will the itching start as I guess thats when she'll try to nibble the stiches?

[carasmam]

Sounds as though she has quite a few stitches then


Cara started licking as soon as she could, but really started nibbling on the 3rd day as the wound dried. She had stitches inside too, so when she got 2 out the vet said not to worry unless the wound looked as though it was opening up. By the 6th day she had them all out but it stayed closed and the babygro was to stop dirt and to minimise the licking. Vet said to let her clean it for a little while but not too much or it would soften and open. As they can really drag it apart with their tongues.

[cuddlepop]

Sounds as though she has quite a few stitches then


Cara started licking as soon as she could, but really started nibbling on the 3rd day as the wound dried. She had stitches inside too, so when she got 2 out the vet said not to worry unless the wound looked as though it was opening up. By the 6th day she had them all out but it stayed closed and the babygro was to stop dirt and to minimise the licking. Vet said to let her clean it for a little while but not too much or it would soften and open. As they can really drag it apart with their tongues.

Vet has a surgery in Portree tomorrow think I'll pop in with her if still not happy with the behaviour.
We've to watch for excessive licking and swelling.
What's excessive?
Like you I wish they gave out information sheets.

[carasmam]

*My opinion only, any experts on here feel free to shoot me down *

Dont let her lick for more than a minute or so. Or if she's licking one particular area only.
Cover it somehow, especially when you are sleeping, because you dont know what she'll get up to. But also fresh air has to get to it so if she's occupied with something else, such as a chewy treat, bone or a wee walk, that will take her mind off it keep it out in the open as much as possible.
Not sure about the swelling bit though. But you will know in yourself when your not happy with her.
Could you phone the vets? They may give you advice over the phone tonight and put your mind at rest before seeing them tomorrow.

[Torvaig]

I would phone the vet as surely they wouldn't charge for a phonecall especially for advice and infor they should have given anyway....it's worth a go and better than lugging her about.

P.S. I once saw a dog being carted about in a child's pram; it was old and arthritic but the owners still wanted to take her out and about and it sat there like a lady!

Oops sorry Carasmam; a wee bit of duplicate advice....must be good then...

[cuddlepop]

*My opinion only, any experts on here feel free to shoot me down *

Dont let her lick for more than a minute or so. Or if she's licking one particular area only.
Cover it somehow, especially when you are sleeping, because you dont know what she'll get up to. But also fresh air has to get to it so if she's occupied with something else, such as a chewy treat, bone or a wee walk, that will take her mind off it keep it out in the open as much as possible.
Not sure about the swelling bit though. But you will know in yourself when your not happy with her.
Could you phone the vets? They may give you advice over the phone tonight and put your mind at rest before seeing them tomorrow.

Thank you for your opinion it is appreciated.
I'll go with my hunches,never let me down so far.

[cuddlepop]

I would phone the vet as surely they wouldn't charge for a phonecall especially for advice and infor they should have given anyway....it's worth a go and better than lugging her about.

P.S. I once saw a dog being carted about in a child's pram; it was old and arthritic but the owners still wanted to take her out and about and it sat there like a lady!

Oops sorry Carasmam; a wee bit of duplicate advice....must be good then...

Think what I'm afraid of is they tell me to take her down to Broadford which you know is about 40 minutes away to be told she's fine.
Wouldn't it be great if there was an internet picture service for advice from the vet.

[carasmam]

There's a sideline for them - we could use mobile phones to take a picture and send it to them and then they could send advice back in a message. Even if it was a premium rate number it would be worth it

[cuddlepop]

There's a sideline for them - we could use mobile phones to take a picture and send it to them and then they could send advice back in a message. Even if it was a premium rate number it would be worth it

Think NHS were trying to pilot something similar for outreach areas.

Daughter's taken a picture with her mobile to show all her friends in school today.
If I could download from her phone and post I would.
I would wait till after you've all been fed.

[cuddlepop]

My poor baby.

[carasmam]

Aah poor Connie. The shaved bit always makes it look worse too I think.
Tell her she's got to chill out and take it easy from her doggy pals (and the moggy ones no doubt !!) in Caithness