Seems like a stitch or two popped...(pics inside)

Travis · 10-04-2008, 11:45 AM

I'm taking Athena to get the stitches out of her ears and tail on Monday.

There is a spot on the base of her left ear that looks like a stitch has popped out. It's easy to tell because her right ear looks fine, but on the left ear there is a little more of a "gap" at the base and there is more scabbing in that area. It's around a 1-2mm wide scab at the base.

Also, the vet fixed an issue with her tail and she has stitches there as well. It looks like she was able to get at it and she popped the outermost stitch. The tail looks fine except for a 1-2mm wide scab where the stitch popped.

It looks like this happened in the past couple of days, so there has been SOME healing going on, but is this something that even needs to be worried about or is it not really a huge deal?

I've attached a couple of pics below.

I know the ears look nasty, but we're doing the best we can in cleaning them daily with a warm, wet washcloth and applying polysporin twice a day.

**ReDobie4xtina2** · 10-04-2008, 01:36 PM

I'm not an expert nor a vet, but I would call the vet ASAP.

Has she been chewing on her tail or scratching at her ears?

Travis · 10-04-2008, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReDobie4xtina2

I'm not an expert nor a vet, but I would call the vet ASAP.

Has she been chewing on her tail or scratching at her ears?

As of late, not at all. There have been a couple of times where we catch her and we tell her no, but we can't really control it at night when she's sleeping.

The vets around here are closed and the only ones that are open are the 24 hour emergency vets...I'm not too sure if I should do that since I'm already scheduled to take her on Monday.

KieferstahlDobermann · 10-04-2008, 02:40 PM

I had few stitches pop on Silence's ears and took him to the vet for it, she said it was fine and that just clean it with Witch Hazel tonic and keep an eye on it. It healed just fine with no disfiguring.

Travis · 10-04-2008, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KieferstahlDobermann

I had few stitches pop on Silence's ears and took him to the vet for it, she said it was fine and that just clean it with Witch Hazel tonic and keep an eye on it. It healed just fine with no disfiguring.

Thanks, I'm worried about scarring the most. Hell, the whole reason we fixed her tail was because of the really bad scarring...wouldn't want it to happen again.

OldDrumDobes · 10-04-2008, 03:29 PM

Wouldn't worry it's normal, just try to keep her attention away from it, stitches come out. On the tail you could put a little vet wrap so the stitches are covered, you can get this at a farm store, they normally sell it for horses. You can put Hemroid ointment on the stitches to stop the itching on the ears. You can also give benadryl for itching. Did the vet give you any antibiotics to give her? Also I would take a q-tip with a little ear cleaner/or hydrogen peroxide and wipe down in the base of the ear.

Travis · 10-04-2008, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldDrumDobes

Wouldn't worry it's normal, just try to keep her attention away from it, stitches come out. On the tail you could put a little vet wrap so the stitches are covered, you can get this at a farm store, they normally sell it for horses. You can put Hemroid ointment on the stitches to stop the itching on the ears. You can also give benadryl for itching. Did the vet give you any antibiotics to give her? Also I would take a q-tip with a little ear cleaner/or hydrogen peroxide and wipe down in the base of the ear.

The vet gave us Cephalexin and some doggy neosporin. The tail was wrapped but the vet said we could take it off after 5 days. We've been wanting to clean down deep in her ears, but with the stitches in there we don't really want to mess anything up. We'll definitely do it on Monday after the stitches come out though!

gatehouse · 10-04-2008, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travis

The vet gave us Cephalexin and some doggy neosporin. The tail was wrapped but the vet said we could take it off after 5 days. We've been wanting to clean down deep in her ears, but with the stitches in there we don't really want to mess anything up. We'll definitely do it on Monday after the stitches come out though!

Doggy neosporin? LOL what's that, neosporin but you pay 10 bucks more a tube? LOLOL sorry!!!
You could still clean her ears, follow OldDrums advice...it's ditto to what I'd say too. don't worry about the stitches. Have to say, I've never seen a tail that close up before in pictures anyway!!!

OldDrumDobes · 10-04-2008, 04:03 PM

When I have a whole litter here that has been cropped each day they get their ears cleaned twice with q-tips and peroxide, cephalexin twice a day, Hemroid cream on the edges, and sometimes a little vit E oil to soften and moisturize the edges and remove any scabs. It works wonders! As far as the tail if you want to leave it unwrapped that works, if she is chewing it I would definetly wrap it.

Travis · 10-04-2008, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gatehouse

Doggy neosporin? LOL what's that, neosporin but you pay 10 bucks more a tube? LOLOL sorry!!!

LOL, exactly! But they gave it to me as it was already included in the price of the crop, so it's no biggie.