Peppersdad Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Hi all ,could any of the good folk ,here on GT give me some idea how long it takes for sutures to dissolve, You see pepper has six in a leg wound, its been seven days since the vet stitched pep up ,pep has been quite good with the dressing,no nibbling ,until today when he took the dressing off, and shredded it,The woundlooks good, but i am unsure wether to redress the wound or leave it uncovered,hoping pep does`nt nibble the sutures, we only need to go back to the vet if it becomes weepy or sore,but it looks fine,thanks for any info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliforniaGreys Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 (edited) Wayne recently had quite a few on his lip, they disolved by day 10. Hope that helps Edited January 26, 2009 by cbudshome Quote Missing my little Misty who took a huge piece of my heart with her on 5/2/09, and Ekko, on 6/28/12 For the sick, the lost, and the homeless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burpdog Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Did the vet say they would disolve? Usually outside ones get removed and inside ones disolve. Sometimes, they can take months, sometimes they just don't Quote Diane & The Senior Gang Burpdog Biscuits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onrushpam Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Sutures in greyhound legs can take a LONG time to resorb/dissolve. I've actually never seen them used externally... only for internal sutures. And, the internal ones don't always dissolve as planned. Our Donald had surgery on a toe more than a year ago. He just KEEPS having little pieces of suture "appear"... poking out from his toe. We keep taking him in to have them removed. He has one now and is licking at it. Wait maybe another week. If the sutures are still there, go have them removed (or do it yourself... it's not hard... just snip the knots off with a human nail clip and pull them out). Quote Pam GPA-Tallahassee/Southeastern Greyhound Adoption "Fate is unalterable only in the sense that given a cause, a certain result must follow, but no cause is inevitable in itself, and man can shape his world if he does not resign himself to ignorance." Pearl S. Buck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peppersdad Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 Did the vet say they would disolve? Usually outside ones get removed and inside ones disolve. Sometimes, they can take months, sometimes they just don't Yes the vet said they would dissolve,and only to take pep back if the wound was weeping or sore but it looks fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scullysmum Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Hi Peter...good to hear that Peps leg is healing, when Sadi had dissolvable stitches it did take at least a couple of weeks for them to dissolve....but there were a couple that didn't dissolve (although they should have) and I ended up removing them with tweezers when the wound was healed. If the wound is nice and clean and he's not bothering it too much then just leave it as it is....if he is bothering it you could try bathing it with boiled salted water like you did before. Quote <p>"One day I hope to be the person my dog thinks I am"Sadi's Pet Pages Sadi's Greyhound Data PageMulder1/9/95-21/3/04 Scully1/9/95-16/2/05Sadi 7/4/99 - 23/6/13 CroftviewRGT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peppersdad Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 Thanks mel, at the moment pep is not bothered by it ,but that said ,our main concern is if pep tries to remove the stitches,while we are not looking like he did this morning with the dressing ,that said i would like to think the wound has knitted together by now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peppersdad Posted January 28, 2009 Author Share Posted January 28, 2009 Hi all just an update on peps wound,its been 8 days since pep was stitched up, and on tuesday pep removed three stitches, the wound opened up a little but does`nt look to bad at the moment,we need to watch pep 24/7 so that he does`nt remove the other three and open the wound up completely.kind thoughts and prayers would be much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sighthounds4me Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 (edited) Been there on myself. Can you buy Steri Strips, and apply them yourself? The last time I needed sutures, one wound was deeper than I think the PA thought. I think it should have had a two-layer closure. Anyway, when I went back in to have them taken out, the corner of the first wound opened up a bit. So they applied steri strips for a couple of extra days, to make sure the wounds would heal right. I took them off after a couple more days, and the wounds were fine. All you'd need to do is stop by a good pharmacy, and ask the pharmacist to help you find what you need! Good luck! *ETA: I would only recommend steri strips if the clipped hair has not grown back in significantly. If it has, you'll pull hair when you remove the strips, and that'll hurt like crazy!! Edited January 28, 2009 by Sighthounds4me Quote Sarah, the human, Henley, and Armani the Borzoi boys, and Brubeck the Deerhound.Always in our hearts, Gunnar, Naples the Greyhounds, Cooper and Manero, the Borzoi, and King-kitty, at the Rainbow Bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RSD_Ranger Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Having just dealt with a totally different wound than what you are describing (we had a rear leg amputation), our vet told us that the most important thing was to keep the incision clean and dry. We found it was better to dress it to keep it clean vs the faster healing of it being in the open. We often kept it open while he was under total supervision and then dressed it when we weren't able to stop the licking immediately. Those things itch like crazy when they're healing, so I understand the wanting to get at it. We had great luck with large adhesive pads from Walgreens that sealed all the way around. The bandage adhesive was ok to get off his fur if you go slow. Best of luck to Mr Pep!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatricksMom Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I've never had dissolvable stiches even start to dissolve in me or in any animal--I've always ended up having them out after 2 weeks or so. Quote Beth, Petey (8 September 2018- ), and Faith (22 March 2019). Godspeed Patrick (28 April 1999 - 5 August 2012), Murphy (23 June 2004 - 27 July 2013), Leo (1 May 2009 - 27 January 2020), and Henry (10 August 2010 - 7 August 2020), you were loved more than you can know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliforniaGreys Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I've never had dissolvable stiches even start to dissolve in me or in any animal--I've always ended up having them out after 2 weeks or so. Wayne must have been very lucky. He had disolving stitches on his lip, inside and the outside ones. By day 10 they had disolved but maybe the location helped Quote Missing my little Misty who took a huge piece of my heart with her on 5/2/09, and Ekko, on 6/28/12 For the sick, the lost, and the homeless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubcitypam Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I've never had dissolvable stiches even start to dissolve in me or in any animal--I've always ended up having them out after 2 weeks or so. They used the purple stitches on all the neuters in Lubbock. I'd say about 70% dissolved in two weeks and after that aunt Pam used the nail clippers. The vet said body chemistry had something to do with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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