Non Healing Wounds

[lrdst64]

Everyone here has been a great help to me so I hope you don't mind a few more questions. I'll try to be brief with the backstory so you don't have to look up my other posts.

Ebony had her leg amputated a couple of months ago, lost a lot of weight, and had trouble with her wound healing. She has been on antibiotics ever since. I have changed her pellets to Mazuri, added dyne to her diet, and she has been getting better in that respect ( she's up to 375 gr from 350). the problem is, she just finished another course of antibiotics and she still "pusses out" as my daughter calls it, daily. The pus comes from just above the wound or just under it, where her nub is. She was amputated at the hip. The wound itself has healed pretty well but.....

The doctor found a stitch sticking out yesterday and think that might be the problem so she has to go in for surgery again on Tuesday to open her up and see if the stitches did not dissolve. I actually think that is probably the problem too, but I am scared for her.

Has anyone gone through this before? What can I expect? he said my other option would be to keep her on antibiotics but i just think she will probably get immune to them if she hasn't already.

Any advice?

 

[Stephanie]

um i never gone through that but um i wish her luck!

 

[saphire]

sorry all of you have to go thru this... I wish I can give you advice but I don't know.

sending you positive thoughts.

 

[nicky]

Well, I'd say that she should probably have the surgery if the suspected problem is related to stitches being left unabsorbed. She will only get repeat infections that will never really resolve completely and the bacteria will become resistive to antibiotics after a while. this would lead to a massive nfection and probably death. Don't mean to be too upfront, but that's probably what I'd think would happen if it doesn't get taken care of. I'm not a vet or anything, but as a nurse i'd say that's probably what would happen. My chin just had a toe amputated, but thank god has had no further problems. I'd risk the surgery. Good luck. I hope eveything goes ok for your little baby.

 

[Snickers]

I had a chin's back leg amputated and he pulled through it ok. I never had that problem with his leg. I would go with the surgery. Good luck in your decision.

 

[warmice]

It must have been painful. Wish I could have been some help. Best of luck for her.

 

[Riven]

I would tell them they should do he surgery for free or at least reduced. Obviously something didn't happen that the stub didn't heal properly, that is not your fault.

Even if stitches do not dissolve, and the only reason they wouldn't is if they didn't use dissolving stitches, they should have been sterile and not cause problems unless they used way too heavy of suture.

I would suspect something more along the lines of something not properly removed, maybe part of something still there causing problems.

Good luck!

 

[Claire D]

Some animals and humans are allergic to various suture materials and can have develop a foreign response to them - basically the body thinks there is something "unnatural" in it and so tries to push whatever it is out -the result can be swelling and pus from the area. Think of it in the same way as a deep splinter will work it's way out of your finger over time; usually accompanied by some fluid or pus. The wound will not fully heal until the foreign body is removed and it will keep appearing as "infected" (i.e. there is pus or fluid present).
It is not necessarily infection per-se but needs treating in a similar manner. Once the foreign body is removed (in this case, the suture material) then the wound will heal fairly quickly. Having said that, this kind of problem can be accompanied by true infection as well.
Sometimes in a healed wound a small red spot will appear, then it goes a bit inflamed and a yellow spot appears. This eventually pops open and a stitch knot will be seen just below the surface of the skin - it can be from a dissolvable suture material and the knot has caused a foreign body reaction - again, once the suture knot is removed the wound completely closes again.


I would have the surgery and make sure they clean the wound out well before trying to suture or glue it together on the surface.
:crossfingers: Good luck

 

[lrdst64]

Thanks everyone. I actually did complain to the vet that I shouldn't have to pay for the whole thing. We agreed I would pay for anesthesia. Hopefully this is the problem and this will be the last of it. The poor thing- she is such a trooper.

 

[ChilliPepper]

I am going to agree with a problem with the suture material. I had a surgery on my knee. He used supposedly soluble material. Several weeks after surgery, the incision was still all pussy and swollen. After about a month, the doc numbed it up in the office and re-opened the incision. He plucked the suture out and just closed it with a steri- strip and it healed up fast after that. I could see the suture peek out and go back under the skin. It was really gross, and we knew that was why it would not heal. It does happen.

 

[lrdst64]

Update

Ebony had surgery again today. So far, so good. I waited a week to have it done to see if it would get better on it's own but it didn't- she was still pussing out above and below her wound site. When they did the surgery, they found that yes, it was the stitch knots from her prior surgery causing the problem. They didn't think it was infected but they are sending a culture out to make sure.

Thanks for all your help- hopefully this will be the last of her problems, the little trooper. She got a Certificate Of Bravery from the vet, :laughitup:

I have some dyne left so I will continue to give that to her, she eats so well now, but she is still at 375 gr.