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Popped Stitches


jaybeece
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Soooo le mutt would appear to have popped his stitches :confused: I've kept him as still as humanly possible and he's not allowed to play with the foster dog (which is hard), but given it's on his side it's a tricky spot.

It's not bleeding or oozing, but it is gaping a little and doesn't look nice. He doesn't appear to be in any pain either.

So is it something that can wait until morning? I'm happy to take him to the emergency vet, but would rather not given it's bed time now and the cost involved. Taking him in first thing tomorrow would be a lot easier for all concerned (even if work will whinge about it).

If photos help I can post a couple.

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Thanks IHF, he's inside and will be all night so not much chance of dirt getting into it at all. He isn't licking at it either.

I guess he'll be ok till morning, just wish the vet had sewed him up a little better :confused: He's already been into the emergency vet once when it started bleeding heavily a few hours after the op. He's been pretty good, but when he sleeps he'll curl up with the wound to the outside a lot so it's been put under quite a lot of stress just by him sleeping.

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That should have healed better than that by now. He will need to have that restitched.

Have you any surgical tape or even a bandaid? If you can stick the tape on one side and try to draw the wound edges together, then bandage the area till you can get to a vet. If you have some superglue, dab a little on the skin on either side of the wound and hold the tape/bandaid on until it dries enough to hold.

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skin glue :thumbsup: Dermabond or anything similar is handy to have in these situations. You can always pop some on before stitches are due to pop out

Dermabond would be useless if catgut sutures can't hold a wound together, and anyway it is not something people would have handy.

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I've been a RN (Human!) for about 19 years, and I'd say it needs re-stitching.

Unless you have a close look and are *certain* it's dry blood, it might be muscle tissue that is exposed.

It needs to be covered in a normal saline soaked bit of gauze, and then covered/taped /bandaged up securely to keep it moist/clean until you get to the vet.

Good luck.

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just wish the vet had sewed him up a little better

Some dogs just don't have strong tissue, and /or don't heal quickly :thumbsup:

If this is the first time something like this has happened- be aware next time :confused:

Hope it gets fixed, and you have no more trouble! :thumbsup:

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catgut is not the best for holding external wounds together. Yeah they TEND to pop especially if you trim the ends. Hence synthetics.

Glue can sometimes take some pressure off the stitches (before it gets to this stage not when already like this) and that wound has not really been stitched properly at all. WEIA is right that looks like amateur blanket stitch then a surgeons work.

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catgut is not the best for holding external wounds together. Yeah they TEND to pop especially if you trim the ends. Hence synthetics.

Glue can sometimes take some pressure off the stitches (before it gets to this stage not when already like this) and that wound has not really been stitched properly at all. WEIA is right that looks like amateur blanket stitch then a surgeons work.

Yeah I'm really suss on the quality of the stitches that were done :rofl: He only had 4 and he was at the bloody e-vet only a few hours after the surgery bleeding heavily. It's never looked like the 2 edges are close enough for a decent heal either.

Yukko .

How is he going today?

He's been restitched by a different vet (same place). This time it looks like a proper job that's actually appropriate to the area. The owner of the vet clinic is trying to blame me/the dog for the stitches going which is frustrating because he's been kept so still for the last week.

Just hope pet insurance does end up paying up for everything and this is the last freakin time I have to take him to the vet for it (other than to take out the stitches). It's cost $1,500 so far and the poor dog's been put under a general twice in a week and been in a fair bit of pain which I'm not happy about.

EDIT: Thanks for the suggestions last night, I hit the sack before seeing them :rofl: If it happens again I'll know what to do at least

Edited by jaybeece
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They put him under a GA again?

When Sams stitches came out they gave him a local only and stitched him up - but he was an easy dog.

Shame that they had to put him under again - i would not be impressed either

Hope he heals well now

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They put him under a GA again?

When Sams stitches came out they gave him a local only and stitched him up - but he was an easy dog.

Shame that they had to put him under again - i would not be impressed either

Hope he heals well now

Thanks :laugh:

I guess the vet put him under again because he was worried he'd move around too much or not react well, somehow the dog has a note on the computer to say he's not good with people :laugh: I've told them it's some DOGS, not people but they don't seem to pay attention to these things.

New vet time methinks. I've stuck by these guys despite them being expensive because I thought at least I'd get good quality vet care, I think I would have been better off picking the cheapest one I could find instead.

The new stitches appear to be holding up well at least.

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