Honey Treatment?

[greyhndz]

I've been doing daily honey dressings, but I have to tell you that it's been easier said than done! I've tried every type of dressing and covering possible. Short of using cohesive tape or tegaderm (which would be a bear to remove), I've found that any variation of vetwrap, kerlix, wrapping the vetwrap around her chest, ears, through her legs (kidding about the ears) is useless. Ducky, Irene... you don't want to see what Mafi has done with your jammies. But I'm going to show you anyway

 

 

BTW - she removed the jammies herself. And shook until the vetwrap slid back, then yanked the dressing out. She's shredded every jammie, coat and t-shirt that I tried. And (don't laugh) I even tried an abdominal binder. Nope - lunch.

 

I don't want to keep a Bite-not on her all day when I'm at work, so she's timed her destruction to my working hours.

 

 

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ut the wound looked beautiful - clean, granulating in well, no drainage -- until this evening, when I noticed another section of the wound, which has not previously dehisced,

 

 

 

I remember reading about several folks who have had great success using a particular type of honey to facilitate wound healing. Could someone share details of the type of honey, where it can be purchased, and how you actually use it on a wound?

 

Mafi's large flank wound, which had been surgically repaired last week, has gradually dehisced over the past few days, and is now open, though it's started granulating in. My vet suggested just letting it granulate in by itself, and I agree. I'd like to try honey dressings and would like to hear how best to do this.

 

Also, has anyone found a successful technique for dressing a wound on the trunk? Within minutes of applying a dressing with vetwrap, it's slid down to her tuck. Especially if I'm using the honey, I want to keep a dressing intact.

 

I've been using a light coat over the wound, but she's already ripped two coats trying to get at the wound. Now, in addition to a dressing, vetwrap, and a light jammie, I've added another vetwrap just in back of the dressing. There's got to be a better way (especially with the current heatwave).

 

Suggestions are gratefully welcome!

Edited September 8, 2010 by greyhndz

[GreyWrangler]

manuka honey

 

also could try EMT gel, I used that on Sprite after her cancer surgery, with a petrolatum dressing over to keep the stuff in the right place.

[4My2Greys]

The honey your thinking about is called Manuka Honey. I used some with great success on a deep wound that Nadir had at his elbow. The one I used had an Active rating of 15+ which is indicative of it's healing strength. I did read though you do not want to go with anything higher than a rating of 18 because it can be too strong and irritating especially to an open wound. Would a Bite-Not collar help in pr eventing her from getting to the wound and messing with the dressings?

[GreyWrangler]

try using a t-shirt and taped over safety pins.

[Batmom]

If she has a good haircoat within shooting distance of the wound, you can put a couple strips of Elastikon on her to act as anchors for other bandages. Leave them on until you don't need to bandage anymore. Haven't tried the honey but FWIW, our go-to for nasties is SSD (silver sulfadiazine) ointment, nice thick layer. Best luck!

[macoduck]

Have you tried the water irrigation technique? Just let water gently flow over the area for 5 minutes a few times a day.

[DesiRayMom]

Don't know if I missed it, but did you ever figure out what the heck happened to cause that miserable wound?

My vet sometimes uses a product called "liquid skin" (I think) to help granulate open wounds. We've only had marginal sucess with honey.

[JAJ2010]

How does the honey measure up to Milk of Magnesia? I remember reading an article in Celebrating greyhounds about using MOM...

[Guest strwberrys645]

Honey is actually gaining popularity amongst human wound treatments as well. If the wound is having trouble healing you might also want to look into electrical stimulation for wound healing. We do it on people with excellent results and I know estim can be used on dogs so it might be worth a try. The reason it works is the estim promotes blood flow, circulation, and stimulates the healing process. If you want more information on it let me know. A dog physical therapist should be able to provide the treatment but might need to research treatment parameters.

[greyhndz]

Sorry to take so long to thank you all for your help (modem is biting the dust)!

 

Nancy sent me this excellent website explainingmore about manuka honey's properties. This is what I bought today. There's a compounding pharmacy near my office in Nashua (Wingate Pharmacy), and their wound specialist said that they were asked to carry it by a wound care/ostomy nurse; she's using it for particularly bad non-healing wounds. It's sterile, medicinal quality, and called "Medi-honey" or something to that effect. She got her first honey dressing with an occlusive bandage this evening. Of course that little needle nose tried to stick itself right into the wound to lick up the sweet stuff, so dressing the wound is going to be a speed process.

 

I've gone through the yard and not found anything that should have caused that wound. I can only guess that it could have been a thorny vine, or a fall, or blunt trauma if she crashed into the deck or ramp while playing with Gigi. There was no blood to be found -- I think it's going to remain the great mystery.

 

What seems to be working fairly well (and keeping her from getting to the wound) is keeping a dog t-shirt on her, which is long enough to reach her hips, and firm enough to help hold the dressing on. I spent an ungodly amount on non-adherent and regular 5 x 9 dressings, kling wrap, and believe it or not, an abdominal binder. I'll reserve the binder for when I'm home, and only if really needed, but it's 12" wide, so would likely hold a dressing in place, and keep her from getting anywhere near the wound. As of today, the wound is clean, granulating, and has contracted a bit from yesterday - all good.

 

This is a bit graphic, but here are photos of the wound. I'll take daily photos so we can monitor the progress as well as the effects of the honey. 4my2greys, your thread was what made me think immediately of the honey. I remember your photos, and how pleased you were with Nadir's healing.

 

Not for the faint of heart:

 

 

And all dressed up with no place to go (but to bed) -- honey dressing and wraps underneath t-shirt

 

[Guest Cardiffcouple]

For a minute I thought I wrote this post in my sleep! Mercy, the one whose tumor was benign, keeps ripping off her bandage. It's on her hind quarter. Our vet has tried most everything. Our greyhound experts here recommended a tie-over bandage which I thought would be the perfect solution. It lasted a whole night, a new record. She managed to pull it off today - THROUGH A MUZZLE! Given that the wound (and sutures that must stay in) is on her hind quarter it is a tricky spot to get a bandage to stay put. Any thoughts from anyone?

 

Addressing the manuka honey, I would love to try it (and the water method) but both vet and husband are not sold. I guess we would still have the issue of keeping the bandage on. These same greyhound experts gave me blow-by-blow instructions on how to apply the manuka dressing and what type of bandages to use if anyone would like me to post the instructions here. I'm a firm believer in homeopathic treatment.

 

Mercy's wound to remove the tumor is a nasty one; clear into muscle, so we have to keep the sutures intact for at least another 2 weeks. Oh yes, before the tie-over bandage the bandage was "stapled" to her flank which I would have thought would be hard to get out. Apparently not. Any suggestions welcome![/font]

[greyhndz]

Two thoughts: a bite-not collar, which for a flank or hip-area wound should work pretty well at keeping her mouth away from the sutures.

 

Also, putting a pair of men's boxers on, with her tail going out through the fly. You can get boys' sizes, which might fit better. If the waist won't stay in place, you can tie it up with vetwrap.

 

The bite-not (or one of the knock-offs), or even a homemade version using a towel and duct tape, may be the safest bet.

 

Lots of good luck on Mercy's healing, and complete recovery!

 

For a minute I thought I wrote this post in my sleep! Mercy, the one whose tumor was benign, keeps ripping off her bandage. It's on her hind quarter. Our vet has tried most everything. Our greyhound experts here recommended a tie-over bandage which I thought would be the perfect solution. It lasted a whole night, a new record. She managed to pull it off today - THROUGH A MUZZLE! Given that the wound (and sutures that must stay in) is on her hind quarter it is a tricky spot to get a bandage to stay put. Any thoughts from anyone?

 

Addressing the manuka honey, I would love to try it (and the water method) but both vet and husband are not sold. I guess we would still have the issue of keeping the bandage on. These same greyhound experts gave me blow-by-blow instructions on how to apply the manuka dressing and what type of bandages to use if anyone would like me to post the instructions here. I'm a firm believer in homeopathic treatment.

 

Mercy's wound to remove the tumor is a nasty one; clear into muscle, so we have to keep the sutures intact for at least another 2 weeks. Oh yes, before the tie-over bandage the bandage was "stapled" to her flank which I would have thought would be hard to get out. Apparently not. Any suggestions welcome![/font]

Edited September 4, 2010 by greyhndz

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

Ouch!

 

At the risk of sounding stark raving mad, I used colostrum from a very pregnant bitch to heal the cuts and bite wounds on several of my dogs after a foster bit my senior in the head, and a German Shepherd nipped one of my Greyhounds playfully and caused a tear. Worked like a charm. Obviously, that's not a substance that's easy for most people to come by, unfortunately.

[Guest cruzNhounds]

Poor sweetie, would a Elizabethan collar work? At Work we had a respite patient that used honey for a nasty heal wound, not sure what it looked like before she came to us but the wound looked great and she swore by it.

[greyhndz]

Bump with update on the Queen of Destruction.

[Houndtime]

Poor Mafi, but, oh, pity that beautiful coat I made. I hope she heals well, soon.

Edited September 8, 2010 by Houndtime

[JAJ2010]

Reporting back! I used the Manuka honey for 2.5 weeks on holes down to the bone on the top of greyhound toes. I thought I would be dealing with this for months, not 2 weeks! All holes are sealed up with nice fresh pink healthy skin. No swelling, no scar tissue, etc.

 

I just did a bandage change every day for a week and a half. The next week I did a bandage change every other day. I was reading online that as long as the bandage isn't sticking to the wound you can change it less often. It healed just in time, since a few days ago the pup figured out how to chew the boot off through her muzzle.

 

I did use regular honey for 1 day (lost the manuka honey for a bit, the cat knocked it over and rolled it under the bed) and the regular honey made the wound look irritated and worse after 1 day. The manuka honey always kept it looking very clean and healthy. This stuff is magical! you don;t have to clean the wound either with the bandage changes. Just glob more honey on with a butter knife.

[greyhndz]

That's great news! I, too, found that the honey seemed to produce healthy-looking, pink, granulation tissue that filled in quickly. Usually I expect to see some exudate in the wound that dries and crusts over and needs to be cleaned daily. That never happened this time, and I'm sure it was the honey.

 

While Mafi's wound is not far from closing, another problem developed: 2 raised flaps at one end of the wound -- like a heart on its side. The flaps are thick, and about 1cm in diameter. One of these raised areas started looking red and puffy, so I got Mafi onto keflex and it looks a bit better now.

 

My concern is that these flaps might not heal because the wound edges around and between them are not everted, as they need to be for proper healing. If this doesn't improve, I think she'll need more surgery to revise the wound. I really hope it doesn't come to that.

 

But God bless Nina's jammies and doggie t-shirts which are the other things Mafi hasn't ripped apart!

[Guest kydie]

buy a cone ---elizabethen collar,,, have one here at all times got it from the vet for about $10.00 then anything you use will stay on,,, I know they hate these collars,,, but anything is worth a try