So, Clarice Had A Vulvoplasty Today...need E-Collar Input

[krissn333]

Original thread here: http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/305444-clarice-needs-a-vulvoplasty-update-post-27/page-1

 

After quite some time, Clarice's issues returned, and repeatedly, in spite of antibiotics, diligent wiping, etc. So she had the vulvoplasty this morning.

 

We JUST got home, so I know she is a little loopy still from anesthesia. She's resting in an ex pen, with the E-collar on, because the first thing she did when we got in the car was go for her back end. She's just had her Deramaxx and tramadol.

 

The e-collar seems to be freaking her out a little. I am hoping she will get used to it, but, if she isn't, has anyone had good luck with something like the Bite Not collar, or the Kong cloud collar, or anything else that's more of a "neck brace" style? This e-collar is solid clear plastic, and because her head is so tiny, it is sized such that she's staring down a pretty narrow tunnel, almost like a megaphone for cheerleading or something.

 

I know that I PERSONALLY would be freaking out if I had to wear such a thing (I'm claustrophobic!). I just want her recovery to go well and for it to be as stress-free as possible for her. As it is, it's going to be very hard to keep this little active dog quiet.

 

Any tips on the e-collar situation or any other aspect of recovery are much appreciated

[Time4ANap]

How about a muzzle with a stool guard instead? We've used that when Rocket needed to leave a surgical site alone and it worked fine. He wasn't happy about it, but it was the better option than the E Collar.

[krissy]

How about a muzzle with a stool guard instead?

 

This is what I've always done with Kili, who also had a vulvoplasty done at 7 months old as part of treatment for her recurrent UTIs.

 

[greysmom]

Agreed. Muzzle with stool guard. Greyhounds are way too flexible for any sort of collar to work.

 

Lilly pretty much left hers alone so we didn't have much of a problem. Plus, someone was always with her and could monitor/redirect if needed. Pain meds are key for the first several days -as she can tolerate them.

 

Lilly has never had another problem after her surgery, so I consider it a complete success! Good luck with Clarice!

Edited April 14, 2016 by greysmom

[cleptogrey]

Felix did really well with the bitenot collar. He could not get to the 14 staples on his side. In a day or two he sorta figured out how to carry sticks,move in the crate and not be klutzy. I say go for it. It's comfortable.

Edited April 14, 2016 by cleptogrey

[krissn333]

I have seen dogs open their spay incision sites while wearing muzzles with stool cups. I don't want her beating at herself with hard plastic...

 

I am not going to be able to be here to supervise her-I have to go to work in the morning. I'm hoping she just gets used to the e-collar and will lay in her pen and rest.

[Neighsayer]

Second the bite not collar. You can make one. Wrap a folded bath towel around neck and secure with vet wrap. Dog can't turn head enough to reach back end. Several YouTube videos on making one. Good luck.

My Specky just turned three, and may have that surgery in her future.

I used a real bite not collar and a home made one for my brood sisters after their spay. They both worked well. The girls were freaked out with the cones, but we're fine with the bite not!

[krissn333]

I did take the e-collar off so she could eat dinner. She's laying quietly in her pen at the moment. When I'm able to watch her I'll let her be free.

 

I did find Carrie's old muzzle with the stool cup in it. I'll hang onto it. I just worry about her rubbing the muzzle against her incision...

 

I do have to go to the office tomorrow at least for the morning. I don't think I'll feel okay leaving her with anything except the e-collar but I also don't want her freaking out...

[Neighsayer]

I just read your originality Hal thread. Specky is a white dog! She doesn't mind the wipes. She rolls on her back and spreads her legs.

[Annette]

Miriam had a vulvoplasty two weeks ago. She just had her stitches removed today. We battled an infection for the longest time. Unfortunately trying to do anything with/to Miriam at home has her revert to her spooky ways that we have otherwise overcome so we tried antibiotics and a muzzle with stool guard. Her infection improved but never completely went a way. We originally tried an e-collar, but she completely freaked out, wouldn't eat, drink, or settle down for most of the day so that is why we used a muzzle before surgery. At the vet clinic, after surgery, the staff put her in an e-collar because they did not want to take a chance of her getting sick while wearing the collar with stool guard. She freaked out for them also. One of the vet techs stayed with her in her run while she recovered. After surgery at home, I did put her in an e-collar so she couldn't damage the stitches and incision. She stressed and freaked out a bit, but not like she originally did. Actually putting her in her crate helped her calm down. She eventually did ok wearing the collar. Her meals were more of a dog food soup because I know she wasn't drinking enough water because of the collar. The vet said that her back end healed nicely. I am hoping she is just itchy from the healing process and from the stitches coming out because she is still too interested in her back end, so she is currently in a muzzle with stool guard. I guess it will be day-to-day with her till she begins to leave her back end alone.

[krissn333]

Thank you for sharing your experience. Other than tomorrow I can be home with her all weekend and I'm hoping that she will behave while I have to be gone tomorrow.

[cleptogrey]

Second the bite not collar. You can make one. Wrap a folded bath towel around neck and secure with vet wrap. Dog can't turn head enough to reach back end. Several YouTube videos on making one. Good luck.

My Specky just turned three, and may have that surgery in her future.

I used a real bite not collar and a home made one for my brood sisters after their spay. They both worked well. The girls were freaked out with the cones, but we're fine with the bite not!

I managed to borrow a bitenot collar when felix had 14 staples on his side. He was most comfortable,clumsy and entertaining. Correguated card board,handtowel and duct tape did the trick when he had additional staples a couple of months later. Go for it if you can.

[Moonsmom]

Kimmie had her's done last summer. We'd tried the wipes and that..oh, I forget the name; that powder that sorta puffs on. But she was miserable; especially as the weather got warmer.

She came home after surgery with the cone on but really didn't seem to mind it the first night. It was the next day that she got frustrated with it; not because was trying to lick but she couldn't drink with it on. So I spend most of that day hanging right with her; also so I could take her out to potty. THAT was what really made me feel bad for her...she let it be known it HURT! I didn't want to use the muzzle to keep her from licking; I was concerned the friction of it would just irritate the area more. So I tried one of those blow up ring collars which didn't do much. Then my neighbor brought over hers and we tied them together with bandanas and that gave enough bulk so the effort seemed too much for Kimmie to bother trying to lick. Though I imagine the drugs were making her pretty dopey anyway.

What our big issue was... it was 4th of July weekend and Kimmie hates fireworks...and she won't eat or drink when she gets stressed. And the $%#@# neighbors started early with them and kept on going. She wouldn't eat... drink.. couldn't get her meds into her; if I got her outside to potty; she try then freak 'cause of the fireworks...but wasn't drinking enough. I got her over to my Vet early the next morning and after getting fluids and shots for pain she had a good recovery.

And since then.....Not one single issue.. no more licking...no more scooting along the grass; no more peeing at random! All is good!

[krissn333]

Clarice's case has been very difficult. No licking, no scooting. But she would drink and pee. UA would sometimes show something, so we would treat. Sometimes UA would be negative but she was drinking and peeing. Always resolved immediately with antibiotics. She had some discharge a few times along with UTI. We couldn't nail down if vaginal issue was causing UTI or if UTI was causing vaginal issue, until this last time. She'd been on cephalexin and was fine. A week after finishing, right back to peeing and drinking again. UA was negative but we had discharge again, full of bacteria.

 

Prior to this she had an ultrasound of her bladder, kidneys, etc just to rule out an anatomical issue, all normal.

 

I am hopeful that doing this procedure will keep the ickies away and we'll be free to be active in our greyhound community again (she is cranky when she's got the ickies, so we tend to not go out much) and live our lives and be more active

[Moonsmom]

Clarice's case has been very difficult. No licking, no scooting. But she would drink and pee. UA would sometimes show something, so we would treat. Sometimes UA would be negative but she was drinking and peeing. Always resolved immediately with antibiotics. She had some discharge a few times along with UTI. We couldn't nail down if vaginal issue was causing UTI or if UTI was causing vaginal issue, until this last time. She'd been on cephalexin and was fine. A week after finishing, right back to peeing and drinking again. UA was negative but we had discharge again, full of bacteria.

 

Prior to this she had an ultrasound of her bladder, kidneys, etc just to rule out an anatomical issue, all normal.

 

I am hopeful that doing this procedure will keep the ickies away and we'll be free to be active in our greyhound community again (she is cranky when she's got the ickies, so we tend to not go out much) and live our lives and be more active

I think you and Clarice will both see a difference! The first year or so after I adopted Kimmie she had the UTI's but not always was a urine test run; and as I recall she initially wasn;t licking so much at first...though she was scooting a lot on the grass and always seemed to be trying to squeeze out more urine. My vet that I was using at that time didn't seem overly concerned ad didn't recommend anything like ultrasounds. But... hope came to us in a chance consult with Dr. Couto. As I began to describe her scooting, the discomfort she exhibited.. etc'; he took her off for an exam. When he returned he showed me diagrams and explained the "malformation" and about the surgery. He said that my vet at home should be able to do it and told me their office could contact him. He even emailed me several times later to see how things worked out.

BUT..my then vet at home apparently didn't agree. So... I went back to the vet which I'd used previously and had just opened a new practice of his own. The surgery was done there but by a visiting surgeon with my new vet observing. We just chatted again about last week as it's not one they've seen often there. And he also had mentioned that Kimmie still had a piece of the hymen remaining that the surgeon had removed that he felt might have been also irritating to her.

I know how you feel...she had gotten quite grumpy sometimes; and, well, when it got near the time of the surgery and we realized the wipes weren't working her privates were making me wince with pain when they'd swell up. I didn't want to take her out to expose her anything!

I also vaguely remember... I had to do cool compresses on her the first few days.

[Patsy]

Clarice, I iust want to send scritches and say I tend to get cranky when I get the ickies, too!

[krissn333]

She had a restful night and did okay today with the cone, but, I decided to try the towel-as-neck-brace tactic. So far so good. She can't bend adequately. She looks ridiculous but at least she is more comfortable and able to rest better, and can easily drink water now.

[Moonsmom]

She had a restful night and did okay today with the cone, but, I decided to try the towel-as-neck-brace tactic. So far so good. She can't bend adequately. She looks ridiculous but at least she is more comfortable and able to rest better, and can easily drink water now.

I'm glad she had a good rest and I hope you got the same rest! I think the first five days were the worst; poor Kimmie so swollen that I'd wince every time she'd slowly turn and walk away from me. But it'll all be so worth it in the end...no more constant discomfort. Keep us posted.

[krissn333]

Clarice doesn't seem to have any real discomfort. She is a little bit bruised, but, everything seems normal. I am wiping her after she pees or poops just to try to keep everything as clean as possible back there for her since she can't reach to do it herself. I forgot this morning and there she was, trying to get to it. Wiped her and she happily returned to her bed and plopped down.

 

I think now we just need to keep the suture line safe until she heals and has her stitches removed and then she's all set I will need to change her towel brace later. Over time the fabric gets smushed down and is easier to bend.

[greysmom]

My Lilly seems to have had an unusually easy time after her surgery! She had no swelling, and very little pain, and was peeing and pooping just fine shortly after she got home. She also had disolvable sutures with no need for removal later. She was pretty young - about a year old - when she had it. Maybe that made a difference.

 

Glad Clarice is doing well!!

[krissn333]

Well, I spoke too soon. She was fine this morning, I took Sage to the vet for bloodwork, and when I got home she was frantically whining and pacing around. Took a look at her incision and the lower right part of the "rainbow" shape had lost a stitch and she had a small open area. Texted a pic to the vet and she said bring her in. They put staples at both ends of the "rainbow" and we put her on cephalexin and they gave me trazodone for her. She's been resting comfortably since then.

[Moonsmom]

Sounds like she's doing very well... despite the lost stitch and having to get the staple. But no big swelling afterward? Poor Kimmie looked like had a golf ball size swelling the first couple of days... which did get smaller each day; but..she'd yelp when she'd move position. And no dissolving sutures; while our vet, (female) was taking them out, (we stopped counting at 25), the tech and I who were holding Kimmie all felt like we had sympathy pains! Is she peeing okay?

[krissn333]

No problems peeing and no insane swelling. All in all, I'm thankful. But overnight she pulled a staple she got yesterday and we had a gaping spot again. We went to the ER. They fixed her up and got us a different cone of shame that she is now wearing WITH her towel. She is perfectly comfortable even though she looks hilariously ridiculous. I'll upload a pic later. Hopefully this is our last setback.

[Moonsmom]

Another "cone of shame" along with her towel? Are they color coordinated, at least? I trust that she hasn't lost any more staples?

[krissn333]

https://flic.kr/p/GnDAQB

 

Sorry, can't embed from my phone.

Edited April 19, 2016 by krissn333