Chinchilla ripping out stitches

[lrdst64]

Hello everyone- I am new here and posed this question on Yahoo and was directed here. I will try to be more specific here. My daughter's chinchilla, Ebony took a horrible fall from the stairs in our house and broke her back leg. After reading about options we decided to amputate two weeks ago. She has since ripped out her stitches twice. She had on an ecollar but she is one heck of an escape artist. After the second time the doctor said to try let it heal on its own ( the second set of stitches cost $200 on top of the $550 amputation fee), but the wound is still pretty large. Someone had mentioned maybe the bone is protruding ( the amp was at the hip) and that sounds like a plausible idea because I cannot believe it hasn't healed by now. She doesn't seem to be in any pain-we only gave pain meds the first few days, now she is just on antibiotics. Yesterday when we took her to have the remaining stitches removed they gave us a blue solution in which to keep the wound clean and told us to spray the area only with the sprayer in the kitchen sink, giving her a sort of hydrotherapy. She seems to tolerate it well but I was wondering if any of you have gone through this, and how long I can expect it to fully heal? Also, is there ANY way possible to give her a dust bath with an open wound? Her skin is getting oily because she hasn't had a dust bath in two weeks. Her bedding at the moment is just clean towels at the bottom of her cage. Of course we hold her ALOT and she loves it.

Anyway, just wanted to add that our whole family has fallen in love with this chinchilla and we want to give her the best care possible. looking forward to any advice- Thanks!

 

[tunes]

First, welcome to CnH. I directed you here in the hopes that someone else might have had something similar happen and could shed some light. I already answered you on Yahoo, so I'll let that stand.

As far as the dust bath, you'll probably get two opinions. With some wounds, a dust bath actually helps. It helps to dry up the wound and get it to start healing. With a large, gaping wound, however, I would be leery of trying it for a couple reasons. First, would it hurt physically? An open wound after an amputation filled with dust is most likely going to be miserably uncomfortable. Second, it might mask some things you need to keep an eye on - drainage, redness, etc. Third, should she be thrashing around, rolling in dust, when she still has an open, nonhealing wound? I would think probably not.

On the upside, you said she likes to be held. That makes the next part easy. Just because she can't roll, doesn't mean you can't dust her. Sprinkle dust on her, and rub it in, starting from the head and working your way back, avoiding the injured leg. Do under her chin and her belly (if she'll let you) by cupping the dust and massaging upward. The rest of her you can just pour it on and work it down in with your fingers. She'll probably feel a whole lot better with a good dusting, especially after having a major operation.

 

[Lynn & The Chins]

GREAT idea, Peggy!!! :thumbsup:

That's what I did with Little Two Paws when I first got him. Since he was a ranch chinnnie, he wasn't used to having a dust house in which to bathe, so he was leery of getting in an enclosed container. It worked very well and he adjusted very quickly.

I haven't had experience with an amputation, but as you know, Two Paws has only 2 legs, both on the right side and only a nubbin for the left rear. (For a visual reference, it looks like the bottom of a chicken drumstick.)

It has never really completely healed and grown fur. It is pink skin and very sensitive. I have him living in the lap of fleece lined luxury, but when he skitters about too much, it gets a little raw and tender. Dr. Fitzgerald recommended putting some Bag Balm on it to keep it soft.

I would think that you should keep the wound clean and dry until it heals. After it has healed, then some Bag Balm would probably be very soothing. Good luck with your baby...

 

[lrdst64]

thank you tunes for directing me here. I actually have tried to give her a hand dust bath by just putting my hand in the dust and rubbing her with it, so I will continue doing that. I almost want to try to give her the full dust bath because i also read somewhere that it might help with the itching. We have to leave that e collar on at all times unless we are holding her or she will go right for it. I have to say though that in the last couple of days it has dried up considerably with this Novalsan flush the vet gave us. No more oozing- it looks like it is scabbing up a bit.

And thank God she loves those antibiotics. If anyone has to have their chin on them, I highly recommend tutti fruity flavor, lol.