Stan's Poor Bits

[Guest StansMom]

Stanley has been chewing at his healed neuter scars. He pulled the stitches out when it was first done at the rescue, and as soon as we think it's healed he's at it again. He even put a tooth right into the skin! Ouch!

 

Today we noticed the redness has spread and it is very warm down there. We'll be calling the vet ASAP, but I'm just wondering if anyone has any ideas on what to do in the meantime and how to stop him from chewing on himself.

 

 

Here's a picture. Does it look infected? Should we take him to an emergency vet tomorrow?

 

Thanks.

[Guest OPointyDog]

You might be able to stop the chewing by putting his muzzle on him - with some duct tape over the end to keep him from sticking his tongue through the holes. That's what we did to keep Zoe from chewing on her sutures.

 

It does look rather angry - I would definitely get it looked at. Maybe a phonecall to the e-vet to see if they think he should be brought in??

[Guest Clawsandpaws]

Muzzle with a stool guard. If you don't have a guard, but some duct tape on the front of the muzzle. (Make sure you muzzle only the front part, do not completely cover the muzzle. You can even just muzzle the front bottom half and see if he will leave it alone)

 

If it's an open wound I would be worried about putting anything but neosporin on it...

 

Did he actually puncture himself with his teeth? If it's more of a scrape type wound, I personally would wait until Monday. Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in with their 2 cents. It's hard for me to see what's going on in the picture. For what it's worth, my male has a higher temp between his thighs in that area too. It's warm down there!

[spottydog]

Spreading redness in a surgical site isn't a good thing. I would have it looked at.

[Sambuca]

I'm wondering if there's a suture that the skin grew over that's itchy. A vet visit is in order

[4My2Greys]

I'd say with redness and heat your most definitely looking at infection, which is why he keeps messing with it. He's trying to tell you something is not right and it's not just that he's missing his bits. I would get it looked at ASAP.

 

Just another thought. I haven't had personal experience with one of mine, but what about post-operative bleeding that can occur with greyhounds. I wonder if this is possibly the start of it. i'm not sure though if the area that is bleeding would feel warm. I would mark the area so you can see if and how much it spreads over time. Whether it's a bleed or an infection it would be good to know how fast it is spreading.

Edited September 22, 2013 by 4My2Greys

[Guest StansMom]

Thank you for the insight. The muzzle idea is perfect! I was trying to figure out how to keep a cone around his long neck.

He was neutered in June, well before we met him, and his chewing has been an ongoing problem. We've used neosporin and it has helped, but he just keeps going after his poor area. We had the same problem with a little scrape on his knee area after a slip down the last two steps, but that had healed up (probably because he's been focused on his groin.)

Our rescue mom suggested hydrocortisone cream on the itchy red areas for now and she how it looks tomorrow. I will definitely be calling the vet Monday morning, but I might put a call in to the E vet to see what they say too.

[Guest StansMom]

It's just so frustrating. He keeps getting SO CLOSE.

[kudzu]

Think the general rule is no hydrocortisone when there's the possibility of infection. It is best reserved for itching such as contact dermatitis. There are triple antibiotic ointments with a pain relieving ingredient, pramoxine. That would seem like a better thing to try in this case. Hope you can get to the cause. If that redness spreads you'll want to consider the e-vet.

[IansMom]

Have you tried a comfy cone http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=20605786&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo

or a "bite-not collar"? We have used both with success. There is also an inflatable donut looking protective collar but can't remember the name. If you need size info or any other info let me know and I can get it tomorrow. Good luck!

Lisa

[tbhounds]

This is too weird--My Stan did the same thing. Turns out it was the beginnings of allergies. When they are really flaring for some reason he bites it his groin-sometimes really causing trauma. He may need a short course of a corticosteroid. He may also be having a suture reaction but, it seems less likely because his surgery was back in June.

[RedHead]

No idea about the infection, but you can also put a pair of really loose pajama pants or shorts on him (you can cut a hole for the tail ). It looks hilarious, but it works really well and doesn't seem to bother the dog.

[4My2Greys]

This is too weird--My Stan did the same thing. Turns out it was the beginnings of allergies. When they are really flaring for some reason he bites it his groin-sometimes really causing trauma. He may need a short course of a corticosteroid.

I think this is interesting because this is the same thing Nadir does also. He has had the ongoing issue with not being able to hold his bladder for any extended time which I have in the past been able to resolve by eliminating certain foods from his diet.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Some people (like me) are allergic to neosporin, and I'd assume that dogs can be too.

 

Try polysporin, instead.