Stitches

hdeusi

Hi,

My dog had stiches last week on his back for a skin sample the vet had to take. He has taken half the stitch out and keeps licking the area.

The buster collar the vet gave me lasted about 10 seconds before he pulled it off! Has anyont got any advice on how to stop him? :mad:

Samantha1985_2

Buster collar! If you had fitted it correctly it would not have come off, try putting it back on a bit tighter or your vet may have given you the wrong size?

They usually connect to the collar and so as long as the collar is fitted properly it would stop the dog irritating the wound.

The stitches can be very uncomfortable for dogs, so I would advise to snip off any stitch which is hanging and if it looks like it warrants it do another trip to your vet.

Good luck
Sam

Penny_Watcher

Blimey! :eek:

Firstly (and obviously - sorry ) you'll need to take him back to the vets to sort him out.

How are you fixing the buster collar to him. It needs to be fixed to a 'belt' style collar - the type with a buckle otherwise he could pull it over his head.

My Idiot Dog has been wearing his buster for about 3 months now so he's almost used to it, but he managed to crack one into pieces by running into a wall corner.

hdeusi

It is a small cut and is not bleeding, but obviously the wound is open, I am using salt water to clean it all the time. The vet did not advise me to fix this to his collar...how do I do this?

If I go back to the vet will they need to 'put him under' to stitch him back up?

Samantha1985_2

It depends on what type of collar you have got, most have buckles which you then thread the usual collar through before putting it back on the dog.

I would really advise you give your vet a call about what would need doing to the wound they won't charge you for some quick advice over the phone. I wouldnt think they would need to put him back under to restitch perhaps some butterfly stitches or similar?

wuno

hdeusi wrote: »

Hi,

My dog had stiches last week on his back for a skin sample the vet had to take. He has taken half the stitch out and keeps licking the area.

The buster collar the vet gave me lasted about 10 seconds before he pulled it off! Has anyont got any advice on how to stop him? :mad:

Speek to your vet about the wound and what to do with it, since it could need restiching. If it was a full thickness incision, there will be multiple layers of sutures underneath the external sutures. If they do need to restitch the outer layer they will almost certaily not need to give a general anaesthetic.

Best way to stop the licking is to use an old (clean!) tee-shirt. Dog's front legs through the arm holes, head through the neck hole, and tie the excess tee-shirt around the dog's waist by making a knot in it on the dog's back.

As others have said, Elizabethan collars usually have loops that the dog's collar can be threaded through to hold them in place.

orlao

Yes, I'd give the vets a call just in case it's infected(or at risk of infection:eek: ) as dogs mouths are usually full of germs, not great for a wound!!! Mind you, depending on when the skin sample was taken the stitches may be due out soom.....usually 10 to 14 days?

My dog used to split his buster collar by catching it on things so when he had his stitches so I used a product called Nettex Sweet Itch salve on the wound which is designed for itchy horses as he didn't like the taste and it seemed to ease the irratation(sp!)......quite expensive though about £22 a tub.I had it anyway as I have a horse with sweet itch;)

Before you put anything on the wound, do check with your vet as they may have good reasons as to why it's a bad idea to use certain products.

HTH

O x

orlao

wuno wrote: »

Best way to stop the licking is to use an old (clean!) tee-shirt. Dog's front legs through the arm holes, head through the neck hole, and tie the excess tee-shirt around the dog's waist by making a knot in it on the dog's back.

.

What a fantastic idea:beer: and so simple:j

I am now sitting thinking of suitable tee shirts for various types of dogs:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: Iron maiden maybe for the "butch" type........Barbie pink only for my little JRT...... you get the drift:D

wuno

orlao wrote: »

I used a product called Nettex Sweet Itch salve on the wound which is designed for itchy horses

I have used a similar product for my horses for years. Then one day, I thought that it might also be useful for irritated areas on small animals. We use a lot of it now in the practice, but most SA vets who don't keep horses wouldn't think of using it.

Catw0man

wuno wrote: »

Best way to stop the licking is to use an old (clean!) tee-shirt. Dog's front legs through the arm holes, head through the neck hole, and tie the excess tee-shirt around the dog's waist by making a knot in it on the dog's back.

T-Shirts are definitely the best thing, my dog is very nervous and recently when he had to have stiches I put an old t-shirt on and he didn't bother about it at all, he was quite happy and I know that putting a large collar on would be an ordeal for him! T-shirts are also more suitable for certain types of dogs, such as greyhounds who have long necks - Elizabethan collars are unsuitable for them:rolleyes: