Guest bostongreys Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 Hello! Our little girl, Vixie Ann has the extra fold over her vulva and she has had a few UTIs and topical irritation. We've treated with antibiotics and creams in the past. We've had her on cranberry supplements and have been using Tucks wipes on her to help keep the area dry. Lately though she has been leaving fairly big wet spots where ever she lies and at first we thought it was just the licking. Last night we realized she has started to leak urine. :-( We are scared of surgery, but have started looking into the episioplasty and are pretty sure that is the route we are going to have to take. It seems like many others on here have had success with that. So my big questions are have any of you had the surgery done in the Massachusetts area? We're hoping to find an experienced vet who has done this before with greyhounds. Also what were the costs? Thanks for any info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Furmom Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 We are not in the Mass area but had out female Bee Gee go through the same thing for years and last year finally did the surgery. Drugs are a short term solution and it was getting more frequent. Best decision we ever made! Our regular Vet is the one who performed the surgery and my best advice is to keep her REALLY quiet and away from the area. The skin back there is so sensitive that Bee lost a few stitches just from regular movement and was coned when no one could be in the same room as her to keep her away from it. Vet had said 2 weeks healing but I would say it was more like a month before things looked really good back there. Now the little rat barely scrunches down to go pee since it can shoot so much farther!! Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rascalsmom Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 The surgery was recommended for Rascal. I wasn't keen on doing it, and asked if there wasn't something else we could try. We had already tried a medicated powder, we used wipes to keep the area clean, etc....finally they had us try Animax ointment. It made a WORLD of difference for Rascal, to the point where she no longer is obsessively licking herself! At her annual checkup, the vet was impressed with how good her "girly parts" looked. This doesn't answer your question at all, but just wanted to share what worked for us. Good luck with your girl! Quote Phoebe (Belle's Sweetpea) adopted 9/2/13. Jack (BTR Captain Jack) 9/28/05--11/2/12Always missing Buddy, Ruby, and Rascal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bostongreys Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 thank you both for sharing your experiences! I can imagine the recovery taking that long. Well, if we do end up doing it, hopefully we can do it soon b/c one of us is out of work and would be able to stay with her almost around the clock to keep her quiet and away from the area. We did use Animax in the past and I have some left over. I started it last night, so that is great to know it gave Rascal such a relief! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rascalsmom Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 How old is your dog? One of the main reasons I didn't want Rascal to have the surgery is her age: she was 11 in May. I simply didn't want to put her through that at her age...of course if she'd have needed it when she was much younger, I probably would've done it. Not to mention, when the vet recommended it, Rascal was about to undergo surgery for cancer (hemangiopericytoma), and we didn't really know at that point what the outcome of THAT would be. Luckily, Rascal is doing well more than a year later. In both respects. Quote Phoebe (Belle's Sweetpea) adopted 9/2/13. Jack (BTR Captain Jack) 9/28/05--11/2/12Always missing Buddy, Ruby, and Rascal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Furmom Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 Bee was eight when we had it done and wished someone would have suggested it sooner! Like the two of you we used all sorts of meds, powders, wipes, creams - we were nervous too, but in hindsight wish now that we would have looked into it years ago. Good luck with whatever you decide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eaglflyt Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 Ady Bea had this surgery on March 24th of this year. She kept having recurring UTIs no matter what we tried. We had her on Vitamin C, Cranberry Capsules, and probiotics. We also cleaned her every time she went to potty, and other times in between. Well, since her surgery, so far she's not had any UTIs or problems at all. I'd say the first 3 days she needed her pain medication and we did intermittent heat and cool packs when she seemed uncomfortable. By day 4, she was much better. We kept her muzzled with a stool cup since she wasn't to lick or mess with her stitches for 2 weeks. Her swelling was gone within the first week. She's been great since! Her surgery site looks great and you can barely tell anything has been done at all. Our vet referred us to a veterinary surgical specialist. The price for her surgery, including a cyctoscopy and vaginoscopy to make sure there were no internal anatomical problems, was $1,200.00. We had insurance (Embrace) and they covered wonderfully. We're very happy we made the decision to go ahead with the surgery, but we worried before and all the way through it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bostongreys Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 thank you for sharing the success stories! Vixie will be 4 in August. We don't have insurance for her, but am wondering if it would be possible to get it before going forward with this. Worth looking into! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eaglflyt Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 Pet health insurance seems to make great sense for us and I highly recommend it. However, you need to get it for your pet *before* they get sick. Once they have been diagnosed with an illness, if it is before insurance coverage is in force, that illness will not be covered (at least for a period of time, if at all). They would cover any future illnesses, but her UTI/vulvar problems wouldn't be covered in this instance ... at least not right away. Some will cover hereditary conditions, some don't. You can check out Pet Insurance Review to help you do your insurance shopping and comparisons. Best wishes for you and your girl! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Furmom Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 My DH and I put the pet insurance amount into a chequing account for the girls (no pet insurance purchased - for a rainy day account) and the surgery you are talking about only cost us about $600 CAD - from what I hear US is much cheaper... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bostongreys Posted June 14, 2010 Share Posted June 14, 2010 So we just heard back on her urinalysis and she does NOT have another UTI. The vet wants to start her on low dose estrogen to see if that will help with the incontinence. And we have to bring her in for a full blood work-up. I was hoping it was something simple as a UTI and then eventually we could do the episioplasty. Our vet said it is mostly cosmetic surgery or to help with the dermatitis, but will not help with incontinence. Did any of you have the same problems with incontinence? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyWrangler Posted June 14, 2010 Share Posted June 14, 2010 My girl Lottie had this surgery at age 4.5yrs, six years ago. She recovered very well, so well there is no scar. I do not recall how much it was. One thing we used topically before she had surgery after all the dugs failed to clear up the irritations was plain old corn starch to dry it out. Quote Nancy and Grace - Andicot 2/1/07 Solo - Flying Han Solo 3/20/11 Missing: Murphy, Shine, Kim, Sprite, Red Dog, Lottie & Harry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.