BANDAGING HELP ?

[twisted]

hi, my dog socks recently had surgery to remove some mast cell lumps.(you can read about his surgery here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=152970) all went good with the surgery but he has torn out his stitches on his paw twice now....

the 1st time the vet restitched it up and used surgical super glue on the wound. the site is on his left front paw. the vet also wrapped it up in stretchy gauze. two days later i took off the gauze as it was getting dirty. socks left it alone till today...came home from the store and he tore out every stitch in his paw.

id bring him to the vet BUT he charged me another 40.00 ontop of the 500.00 for surgery to stitch him back up the 1st time and im poor now, plus its sunday.

i can not put a cone on his head as it would sit right on another larger area they took a lump out of on his neck...

so i rebandged it today with some gauze after i cleaned it with soap and water and peroxide. does that sound right ? i dont want it to get infected. he is on amoxocylin (sp) for hat but it still worries me.

[Misskiwi67]

Have your dog wear a bootie, or have the vet do it. If you put the bandage on too tight, you can cut off circulation to the foot and your dog could lose its foot. I've seen it happen at a shelter where the problem wasn't caught quickly, and I've seen swollen, painful, infected feet more times than I can count from owners that finally figured out there was an issue.

[twisted]

yea i keep checking it making sure i didnt put the bandage on too tight. the booty is a good idea but right now its an open wound. i have to wait to call the vet in the morning.

[twisted]

i called the vet today and the receptionist told me i would have to bring him and leave him tomorrow so he could be put under...im like "what?" the last time he chewed his stitches out the vet just restitched him up... i dont think putting him under for stitches is worth the risk.

so she made an appointment for later tomorrow afternoon as there is nothing open. i thought a gaping wound would get a little more attention...and then asked me if im using the cone collar. i said no, he has stitches in his neck....

i dont know i was just set back by that phone call. sorry for the vent.

[Misskiwi67]

It will heal just fine if you can get your dog to stop licking. There are several alternative collar options available. Bandaging is always the last choice due to significant complications being common.

You can put a towel around the outside of the collar to prevent rubbing of the incision there, you can use the inflatable collars (although these are less likely to help with foot licking)... sometimes you just have to get creative.

Its summertime, and the clinic is likely fully booked and there's not much else they can do. Do you have an emergency clinic in your area that can see you sooner?

[twisted]

well we went to the vet and the vet decided not to stitch it up. he gave me some cream that promotes healing and some extra bandages. the negative is he will have a big scar.