Red has had her spay today. All has gone well but she is currently licking the bare patch on her leg where the IV went in. I am wondering whether I should put a bandage on it. She did have one on it when I collected her and the vet nurse said to take it off when I got her home which I did. Any advice?
I would try to distract her, but you may need to bandage it if she won't stop. When Poppy was spayed, I had her sleeping in my bed the first couple of nights, so I could distract her if she started licking too much.
I'd keep a close eye with a view to covering it again if necessary. At least there are no stitches there to worry about! Hope lovely Red is ok and makes a good recovery. I guess you could always phone your surgery for advice.
I’ve put veterinary bandage on it but will phone the vet tomorrow if I have any concerns. She is very groggy at the moment. Horrible seeing her like this - feel really bad at the moment. DH is feeling the same - we both keep going and giving her cuddles.
I know just how you feel, I was in bits for a week after Cassie's op., but it's all a distant memory now .
Thank you for this @selina27. We were trying to recall what it was like when Sky had her spay over 10 years ago and we remember very little.
I hope she recovers quickly. I think the effects of the anaesthetic had worn off by the following day with Wispa and Tuppence, replaced by the problem of keeping them calm! Neither of them licked the wound, nor the IV site, and didn’t seem to be in any discomfort. It’s just the two weeks recovery that seems to take ages!
We go back to the vets today for Red’s spay post op check. The bare patch on her leg is terrible. She just will not stop licking it and we have had to keep it bandaged. All attempts at diversion are useless. Just changed the bandage and it looks so raw. There is no way I can leave it without covering it. As far as the spay goes, all seems good. Just this licking.......feeling somewhat frustrated this morning .
I do feel for you @Atemas. When Monty had a huge abcess on his neck last year, the open cut on his neck didn't seem to bother him much. Yet the shaved patch on his leg drove him mad, he licked it so much he broke the skin, it scabbed over then he broke the scabs. From memory it was a full 10 days before he stopped licking it. My attempts at bandaging it up.... Lasted 5 minutes tops!
Do ask your vet for an ointment to put on the shaved area, it sorted my dog out, wish I could remember the name of it. I don't think bandaging it continually is going to solve the problem.
Red has been prescribed Isaderm gel as she has (as we thought) infected her skin on the shaven patch. We got a cone as well but I have taken it off! She totally shut down with it on - never experienced anything like this before - deeply upsetting seeing her literally ‘frozen’. Lure of food to make her move once we got home didn’t work! At the moment, the bandage is back on (with the ointment applied), the medi vest is drying in the sun after a wash. I am watching her although she has finally fallen asleep and as soon as the vest is dry, it will go back on. I suspect if we leave that off, she will lick her spay wound which is looking very good. I think my plan is to do a mixture of the two - medi vest and bandage, then cone and no bandage so the air can get to it. Today is tough, I hate the way she just shut down. I have given her plenty of cuddles. It’s a nightmare isn’t it @leejane. Trying to get ointment and a bandage on is so difficult. I have just reapplied the bandage whilst she had the cone on - at least that was easy while she was in shut down mode.
When I tried a soft cone with Willow when she cut her leg open, she put her head down to the ground, so the wide end of the cone was flat on the floor. It made me so sad, but I couldn't help but laugh, too. It was pretty ridiculous. The cone came off immediately.
