"normal" Bruising?

[Guest AimeeBee]

George caught a skunk in the backyard five days ago and earned himself a bunch of bites/scratches and a cut under his chin/jaw that had to be sutured. He has been taking Clavamox twice a day (has 3 days left) and was on Rimadyl (Friday morning was his last dose) twice a day as well. We were instructed to not let the stitches get wet and he has been leaving the area alone from what I can tell, so no cone of shame.

 

However, today the underside of his jaw seems pretty red/bruised -- moreso than it was all week. Should I be concerned, or is this just a normal part of healing that is more apparent on a light-skinned dog? The area feels warm, but he has no strange smells/drainage coming from it and allows me to touch his face with minimal fuss.

 

Sorry for the silly question but I've never had to handle stitches/incision care before -- trying to know when to worry and when to just go with it.

I already have a follow-up appointment scheduled with his regular vet on Tuesday to see if the stitches can come out, but if it seems like something to call about sooner then I'll do that.

[tbhounds]

Humm-may be an abscess brewing.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Mark the edges of the bruising with a Sharpie and take a photograph with your cellphone. This gives you something to compare against to see if the bruising is spreading or getting worse. (Sounds silly, but my e-vet marked bruising on one of my dogs with a Sharpie.)

 

Greyhounds can have clotting issues (their clots may break down easily). If it's getting worse, you may want the e-vet. If it's about the same in the morning, send your photo to your vet.

 

Formerly, Amicar was recommended for dogs with clotting issues. But Amicar is out of production these days. Dr Couto (greyhound experts) these days recommends this:

 

He says that Tranexamic Acid 500mg, given 3 times a day for 5 days beginning the day of the surgery, can be used as a substitute for Amicar. This is also not a medicine stocked routinely at pharmacies.

It only comes in 650mg but my local compounding pharmacy will grind and put it in gel caps to the specified dose.

 

Be sure to check GoodRx.com for your best source/prices.

If you need to cool the area, try a bag of frozen peas. It'll mold itself more comfortably to his jaw than lumpy ice cubes will.

Edited November 1, 2015 by KF_in_Georgia

[Guest AimeeBee]

I've taken a photo and will mark the edges and take another. The e-vet said she left a spot open so if it had to drain out it could.

 

I'll look into the Amicar substitute -- is it possible for a grey who has never had clotting/bleeding issues in the past to develop them?

[a_daerr]

Can you post a photo?

[macoduck]

Recently I asked Dr Couto again about Amicar and Tranexamic Acid:

 

Amicar In out study we showed that dogs >35kg were more prone to bleeding if receiving 500 mg (so I would use 750-1000)

Tranexamic Acid 650 mg is fine (This was in response to me asking again about compounding, since TA only comes in 650 mg)

Your vet can write the Rx for TA. It will be an "off label use". Here it only cost about $35. Amicar, if you can find it, will run $550-650 for the 5 day dosage.

CVS was able to locate the Amicar and when it came in I expected to be able to use my GoodRx.com coupon. I had the bad luck to need Amicar when the company had just been sold and the new manufacturer refused to sell it as a generic anymore. I then took my Rx for TA to a compounding pharmacy who promised to get it in (not a stock item) and have it ready for pickup the day of Percy's teeth extractions. They didn't so I went back to CVS and got the Amicar.

In the meantime Percy was doing poorly. He came to me in August with 8 teeth at age 12. He needed to have 6 removed. It was not known if he was a bleeder but my mommy sense was tingling. He bled and bled on the table. My vet had a small vial of Amicar that she could squirt directly into the empty tooth sockets. Then she lasered. Then they said he was fine and I could pick him up. And then he crashed and had to go back on oxygen while I held him. I brought him home an hour later regretting all that he'd had to go through. He gasped for hours before his breathing finally eased. Most likely that distress had been from the anesthesia.

I gave him the Amicar pills that evening, the next morning and noon. By then the TA compounded to a liquid was ready. I just squirted it down his throat. The TA in liquid form is only good for 7 days so I kept using that and saved the Amicar pills for the future.

The next morning he was better. By that evening he was ready to eat soggy kibble. By day 2 he was back to normal.

That's Percy in my siggy, minus the hillbilly front teeth. He's a happy boy and hasn't missed a meal.

I hope your boy feels better soon.

Edited November 2, 2015 by macoduck

[Guest AimeeBee]

 

He's been less than cooperative about letting me near his neck with the marker. The techs did the best they could de-skunking him but said there was still some staining (he had a coat on and took most of the spray to the neck/ear area) -- thinking more on it I wonder if that may account for some of what I'm seeing as well?

[a_daerr]

Looks like it's healing up pretty nicely to me. It does look bruised, but that's kind of relative. Sometimes it looks worse before it gets better.

Unless you're dealing with fluid seeping out, areas that are hot to the touch, noticeable swelling that gets bigger in a short amount of time, funky smells, pus. etc. I wouldn't worry.

[tbhounds]

It would be very unlikely that he's experiencing any bleeding 5 days out. Actually, what I'm seeing looks pretty good. You can clean that area off with a warm washcloth-just avoid rubbing the sutures. Might make him feel better to get some of the old nasties off and it will give you a better look at his skin.