Dont want to insult anyones intellegence here but thought it worth a mention . When I was at the Vets on Wednesday to have Millies wound checked , we were chatting and he said that one of the biggest causes of after care failing was owner neglect . He said that having to re stitch was a fairly regular proceedure , the main reason being that having told people to stick to short lead walks for around ten days , owners then reached the eight day stage and thought that it would be fine to allow their dogs off lead to charge around like lunatics . I re read the information given to us by the nurse after Millies spay , nowhere did it mention to take care when the time came to allow freedom off lead . Most owners will I`m sure apply some common sense and restrict potentially dangerous situations like thick woodland or rivers, but sadly there are those who just dont think and I met one of these owners just this morning . Her bitch had been spayed on the same day as Millie but a different Vets , Millie was on lead but hers was running free in the woods , charging around after Sam , it terrified me to be honest , thinking what damage she could be doing . Millie had the subcutaneous stitches that disolve, but this girl had surface stitches that were not coming out until Monday next week . Maybe I am being an over protective Mum , but rather that than run the risk of another GA to repair damage ?
Re: Maybe worth mentioning We have always stuck to what adivce we have been given, never missed a step or jumped ahead. Especially with barley and him being on rest then slowly building him up to normal exercise rather than throwing him into he deep end strait away. Never had a problem with him being on lead after Op's as he is always on lead so it makes no difference
Re: Maybe worth mentioning I will definitely be following my vets advice to the letter when Harley eventually gets spayed. I don't understand how some owners can be so stupid :0
Re: Maybe worth mentioning Kate you are right,sometimes I can't understand where people are coming from with some of their ideas of ok......everyone is different I know but when it comes to health,care and safety,caution is always the better way I think.hope that little dog you saw will be ok,we KNOW Millie will be grand,she'll be whizzing around at full throttle next week for sure.lets have some Millie pics next week if you have a time to take a few x
Re: Maybe worth mentioning Will do Angela I think she might be ok for the beach sort of mid week , thats if we have any beaches left, storms forecast again for Sunday
Re: Maybe worth mentioning Kate the dog with surface stitches will have subcutaneous stitches as well, as the muscle needs to be stitched up. When I worked for the vet, a doctor took his own dog's stitches out at ten days, but the subcutaneous stitches did not hold and all the bowel fell out. My dog at the time was a blood donor for this dog, but sad to say she died. These days vets tend to use nylon stitches for the sub cut as the catgut stitches can give way for certain dogs.
Re: Maybe worth mentioning Oh thats poor dog, how sad is that , just awful :'( :'( Yes, my nursing experience told me that there would be stitches in the muscle as well as the surface ones and I guess like humans , some dogs heal more quickly than others . Honestly , I do get more paranoid about these sorts of incidents the older I get , when its our responsibility to keep them safe . I`ve even tried to stop Millie and Sam from playing too much in case he catches her wound , she is a tough little cookie but isnt in the first flush of youth , just taking a bit extra care
Re: Maybe worth mentioning People just tend to take the path of least resistance. "My dog LOOKS fine, and it's too hard to keep her restrained, and I'm sure she'd be MUCH happier if she could run around..." Sometimes it's hard to do the right thing, which is why it doesn't get done, I suspect. But I agree, I was terrified that Simba's wound wouldn't heal properly after his neuter, and that the vet would have to re-do it, HENCE why the dreaded cone as it was apparent he would not leave the stitches alone otherwise, HENCE the cone-induced near breakdown.... But it was still worth it to make sure it healed properly!
Re: Maybe worth mentioning I totally agree that people need to be more aware of the aftercare involved in something like a bitch Spey. It's a major, invasive operation. Working in kennels I've seen some pretty bad cases of what can happen when a bitch rips her stitches open or the wound gets infected. Sometimes these things are unavoidable but there are times when people become too complacent a week after the op and think things are fine.
