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Stitches: How Long After Injury


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I posted last week (Sunday) about Garry cutting the upper part of his rear foot/leg when running outside. took him to the vet..thought wound was superficial enough that we could try topical treatment over stitches. gave him baytril. wash with nolvasan and gave me triple antibiotic cream (which I only used a bit). He was checked Thursday and it was healing up nicely; drying out. Vet wanted me to bring him in today just to look at it. I wasn't going to do it since it looked so good. WELL, this morning..he is bleeding. looks like a small section of the "flap" of skin was disturbed. either he banged it outside or licked it (which he doesn't typically do). I washed him up and held gauze to stop the bleeding..I don't want to have to stitch it unless it is really necessary. If i do bring him in; can they stitch a wound that is 8 days old? thanks. I am hoping I can just manage this at home.

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Guest Spencers_Greyt

Well normally stitches come out in 10 to 14 days. I think you can manage the small opening. Sounds like you're on top of it. If you can't get it to stop bleeding though you will need to bring him in. Sorry for his injury!

 

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I doubt it can be stitched. It kind of sounds like the best thing might be is for the Vet to snip off the "flap" and let it heal. The Vet will decide though. Feet cuts can be a pain to heal. I went through about a month of ATB's, socks, boots, bandage changes and stitches with a toe booboo on Dylan.

Wendy and The Whole Wherd. American by birth, Southern by choice.
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If in doubt, have the vet take a look.

 

When need arises, you can stitch almost anything, no matter how old. Sometimes have to debride to do that, tho.

Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in Illinois
We miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10.

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Guest momofevie

Went through the same thing with Evie about a month ago. Her first injury since I adopted her 2.5 years ago, and I was more than a little nervous. The emergency vet took a look the night of the injury and thought it would heal fine without stitching, but after a week, I took Evie to her regular vet because I didn't like the way the wound looked. Vet cut the flap of dying skin and was able to staple shut. Sent me home with a course of antibiotics. Too bad Evie ate the staples out that very night. Called back the vet who said the cut would heal on its own but would take longer than if stapled or stitched. I kept it bandaged for about 1.5 weeks and then graduated to a pair of drawstring shorts, which concealed the un-bandaged cut and prevented Evie from licking the area. Wound is 99% healed now. No infection, no scars.

 

Hope Garry heals well. :bighug

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would soaking in epsom salt help? when Garry cut his foot between toes..I soaked it ( I think twice a day) and it healed very fast. it was a pretty deep tear...I have been rinsing him with epsom salt water and then washing with that nolvasam stuff vet gave me. I guess it couldn't hurt to soak in epsom salt...my thinking is it would help dry it out sooner than the wash he has me using. I stopped the antibiotic cream because it seemed to keep the wound even moister. thanks

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Guest momofevie

Not sure about the epsom salt, but I, too, stopped using the antibiotic cream; wound was moist enough on its own. I wasn't worried about infection because Evie was on antibiotics and cut was always covered with bandages/shorts.

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