Hi my dog's bandage came off 2 days after getting stitches on his paw. He's meant to get it changed on tuesday but since it's off now I don't know what I'm meant to do. My vets are shut on Sundays. I currently put a sock on his paw so he can go in garden to toilet. Will he be OK til Tuesday or is there a risk of infection? He also keeps licking the stitches. Thanks.
These things are so worrying. It's impossible to say what you should do - although stopping him licking the stitches would be very sensible, and at least keep the paw clean and dry. Bandaging paws is quite a special thing, and really best done by a vet. If you look on the website for your vet, there should be an emergency number you can call. Whenever I've called out of hours, a vet or vet nurse has called me back and given me advice. If your vet doesn't provide this service (then switch to a vet that does) you can always call the emergency service of another vet now.
We discovered recently that putting a bandage on a dog is really easy. And yes, they come off easily, too! We had to bandage Snowie's paw, not because he had a sore paw, but because he had stitches in his eye and there was a risk of his dew claw pulling out the stitches. The vet gave us two things: a cottonwool-type bandage to be applied first, to make the area nice and soft. And over that a self-adhering bandage, adheres to itself, not to the fur. In fact, it is not sticky at all. Pretty amazing fabric. Can you not go into the vets or a vetshop or even a pharmacy and buy the bandage products? If your vet said you should keep the bandage on till Tuesday then I suspect your dog shouldn't be licking the stitches.
I had this problem with Maisie when she was a pup. I got some self-adhering bandage from the local pet shop (a pharmacy would have something similar) and used a sterile dressing underneath. It did the job until we were able to get to the vets. At the vets, they used basically the same bandage, but it cost a lot more!!
You already have lots of good advice already, I just wanted to add to make sure you put a plastic bag on along with the sock to keep his wound completely dry when he goes outside. Even though it lets the sock get wet, I had best luck with putting on the baggie then the sock over it to hold it in place. You don't want to leave it like that as the plastic isn't good for the wound, it's just for popping in and out for a wee. And I agree with @MF, it is actually pretty easy to re-bandage a foot as long as the wound is clean, dry and not red/infected. The biggest trick is to make sure the vet wrap (self-adhesive bandage) is not too tight so it doesn't constrict circulation. I'd probably still take him to the vet asap though...I'm paranoid that way!
I had to bandage Willow's leg a few times. The first time I got it wrong and did it too tight. Even though it seemed like it was loose enough. Her foot swelled up overnight and I was scared I'd done permanent damage. It was OK in the end, but after that, I made sure I did it very loosely - and then, it kept coming off. Very annoying, but there you go. Vet wrap is the stuff that sticks to itself but not to the dog. Talk to your emergency vet over the phone (or another emergency vet if yours doesn't offer the service), and for the future, get yourself some Hibiscrub, sterile saline, gauze and vet wrap so you can do temporary repairs as and when needed.
Had a far few paws bandaged here too, it's all so worrying but I use vet wrap too and like @snowbunny we did it too tight even though we thought it was loose, Charlie's paw swelled up off we went to the vet but thankfully all was fine. Also in the meantime you could put a cone on to stop him removing the bandage and nibbling the wound or you might have an infected paw to deal with. Hope he's OK. xx
Hey guys thanks for the help. I ended up getting him a protective boot from petsathome. I figured it'll stay on unlike another bandage. Especially if I'm attempting it ha. Seems more comfortable as well.
