Kasey Will Not Leave Her Stitches Alone

[shel0306]

Kasey is constantly trying to lick/mess with her Vet wrapped leg that has 20 stitches in it. I have tried muzzling her but she has such anxiety when you put it on, heavily panting and slobbering really bad. She even figures out how to get it off. It is a constant struggle and I am re wrapping a lot if I feel that the wrap is getting wet from licking. Tonight, after being gone a few hrs I came home to muzzle off(actually broke) and she had picked at the wrap, it was still on but I could tell she had picked and licked at it. Took it off to rewrap and it looks like she has a small area where she must have gotten a stitch out with all her messing with the wrap, not huge but gross nonetheless and now I am worried about that area. I don't think they could stitch this area again and it may have to close on its own, I will just keep an eye on it and see how it looks on Monday. Anyway, what can I do to get her to quit messing with it? I have tried putting a sock over it with tape and it helps but eventually she gets it down as well. I do not have an e collar but could check into purchasing that next but I have heard that Greys really hate those as well and with her anxiety she would probably really freak out, any experience or advice is appreciated as it will be a long two weeks if I have to stay home. Do they make one of those cute foo foo purse carriers for a 67 pound Greyhound

[Guest Spencers_Greyt]

Try spraying Bitter Apple on the bandages or perfume. It might keep her from licking at the bandages.

 

[Guest Giselle]

Agree with above. If she's a sensitive girl, she will probably respond to Bitter Apple or any of the bitter products, i.e. Bitter Orange, Yuk gel, etc. Now, if she were a food hound like a Lab, it may not help, but I find that greys tend to be very sensitive to these things

[Guest LindsaySF]

I would try the bitter apple too. Good luck!

 

[Guest Greensleeves]

Sometimes the e-collars are a necessary evil, and as others who've had no choice but to keep them on their stressed-out hounds will attest, dogs pretty much always calm down after a while. The first day can be stressful, but after that, almost every dog settles down with it. The problem is, most owners freak out right along with their dogs and don't ever let the dogs get used to it.

 

Other options are a soft e-collar like the Comfy Cone, or the "Bite Not of Towels" that Mangosmom posted about in another thread yesterday.

[Guest sinaminsmom]

I have no advice, only sympathy for you. We are on day 13 of stitches after a dog bite, and my 14 days of confinment ends tomorrow. Yeah! Our stitches are by her tail - tried muzzle, still could rub at the stitches. Tried the e-collar, it took just 15 minutes to get that off. Tried the soft bite not thingy, maybe the best solution, but where her stitches are, she showed me that she could still reach them. Someone has had yeyes on this dog for thirteen days - I'm just glad we could make this work, I know that not everone can. I probably do fall into the freaked out Mommy catagory - but this was the second time she was attacked by a loose dog in 4 months and I feel so bad for her.

Good luck and we hope Kasey heals quickly, Sinamin and her Mommy

 

PeeEss - My favorite for takin pills is the little squares of Laughing Cow cheese - makes the stitches almost worth it. Sinny

[RaineysMom]

I feel for you :(

 

we just got "freed" from our 14 days of imprisonment with Rainey (had bloat surgery) :( One of us had to be with her 24/7 as she couldn't do stairs and she laughs at baby gates (and would have killed herself or at least ripped herself open because she would have tried getting over them if left alone )......

 

sending prayers she leaves them alone! :hope

[Houndtime]

We have been successful with a muzzle or e-collar, but since you are not, try rubbing Ben Gay (?spelling) on the tape. They don't like the smell (neither do I). My daughter did it with her grey around a hot spot and it worked.

Edited February 22, 2009 by Houndtime

[Batmom]

Might see if you can find a soft e-collar -- there are some made of foam, some inflatable. If you go for a hard one, make sure it's clear.

 

We had an incident like that with Zema once, too. I ended up taking her to work with me when no one could watch her.

[Guest gennygrey]

I seen this article on Fast Friends Greyhound Rescue's newsletter for February. My grey is having surgery on his leg on 3/16. He hates anything around his neck & refuses to wear a muzzle. I am going try this method of putting a towel around his neck.

 

Hope this is helpful.

 

 

Hound Happenings

 

The Cone, or E-collar (short for Elizabethan Collar) has traditionally been a standard item that

veterinarians prescribe for preventing dogs from licking wounds or surgical sites. Greyhounds do not

do well with this type of collar and often panic and bump into things when the collar is put on them.

Trying to keep the collar on is often more work than trying to keep the dog from licking. If you’ve

ever had a hound that licked stitches out of a wound or a dog that you had to chase down because it’s

having a panic attack (thanks to the E-collar, you really need help and fast!

There are two alternatives that you can use to help your hound. First you can use the plastic kennel

muzzle (that you get when you adopt your hound) and put a stool cup in it (call us for one) or you can

cover it with duct tape both inside and out. This will keep the dog from licking anything unless your

dog is talented or persistent enough to work the muzzle off.

Another good idea is the make a “surgical” collar similar to those worn by humans when they have a neck injury. Here’s how: Fold

a moderately thin bath towel into thirds lengthwise. Then fold the length in half. Wrap this around the dog’s neck making sure that it

covers the neck from behind the ears all the way to the shoulders. Make sure it is snug but not too tight. Secure this with duct tape or

vet wrap. This will prevent the dog from stretching his/her neck very far to reach the wound. The down side is that it may not stop a

dog from licking its paws and legs. Since many of the worst wounds are on the body, the towel works great for some of the worst

wounds!

[Guest MorganKonaAlex]

When I use a sock cover, I pull it up higher than the bandaging. I then tape on top of the sock going around the leg. I apply it snug enough so the dog can't pull the sock off (the circumference of the taped sock is smaller than the wound bandaging) but not too tight to cut off circulation. This method has always worked for me. I hope that description is clear; it's hard to describe.

[DaisyDoodle]

Next time you change the bandage, I'd add a butterfly or steri-strip to the area where the stitch was nagged. This will help keep the area closed until/if a stitch is added back there.

 

I'd try all of the above--Bitter Apple, long sock held in place with tape/vet wrap, then I'd add a long-sleeve shirt. It's the rear leg, right? I'd just put the tail through the neck, the legs in the sleeves, and gather the shirt and knot it, or add a harness over it to keep it in place.

 

I'd also probably try some Rescue Remedy to take the edge off the anxiety.

[shel0306]

It's actually the front left leg.

[shel0306]

Kasey went to the emergency vet today, her skin was tearing away from the stitches and creating a good sized open wound, darn thin skin! Vet said some Greys heal easily and some become a real nightmare to heal. Of course we have nightmare on our hands! They had to debride the area and now we are hoping the skin will reattach and she will have good blood flow to the area otherwise they talked of worse case scenario having to do a skin graft. Here's hoping we don't have to go that route. She is now on 2 antibiotics, a pain med, an ointment for the open wound area and her favorite, the dreaded e collar! It actually is much better than the old plastic ones and seems to be tolerable, it matches her wrap so that is stylish They want to check the area every 4 days until the stitches come out in early March and see if the skin is attaching. Let's keep our fingers crossed for attachment. In the meantime can you say Cha- Ching???

[suebero]

Aww, poor baby, she is so beautiful! That is quite an e-collar - can she lay down in it?

 

After Sunny had his leg reconstruction surgery, we had trouble with the incision/stitches healing too, he thought he could not lay down with the Bite Not collar, so he stood up/walked around until he was falling asleep on his feet - here he is butt on the sofa, almost asleep. Poor guy, he did eventually heal though and all is fine 2 years later. If we ever have to do it again, I am going to make one like Mangosmom described - I think he would tolerate that much better. The BenGay is also a greyt thing to know about.

 

[shel0306]

Aww, poor baby, she is so beautiful! That is quite an e-collar - can she lay down in it?

 

Yes, she can lie down. It is made out of a pretty strong paper product. Not super comfy but she lays her head on it without too much of an issue.

[Guest kellybrown]

Trooper tore a big patch of skin off his foot Saturday. I had to run to my neighbor's house, which is also my vet, to get wrap. I did put bitter apple on it, but his wife also said to try putting Tobasco sauce on the wrap to keep him from licking it. You might can try that. Luckily he is leaving it alone.

[LisaB]

Hi! Here are a couple pics of my creation that I tried to describe to you on the phone the other day! Spicy had torn a chunk off the pad of her foot, so I was just trying to keep it clean while she was outside. I didn't leave it on her the whole time she was inside, so don't know if she would have been able to wiggle out of it or not. She didn't fuss with it at all when she went outside with it on.

 

 

 

What I did was take an old pair of socks, stitch one side of the tops together and then put a giant slit (essentially, a huge buttonhole) in the foot area of one. I put the intact sock over the injured leg and then the loop over the other, like a suspender. This only works on front legs, I think. Never tried to figure out a modification for the back ones.

 

I can make you one if you'd like--let me know!

 

Lisa