Hi all

Tigger was castrated 4 weeks ago this Friday (hopefully that makes sense. lol) and Im a little concerned about his stitches but knowing not an awful lot about what the process is supposed to be, dont know whether Im over reacting or not.
Basically I was told they were dissolvable ones but they seem to be still there. Plus about a week ago the scar looked to be quite neat but now looks a little ragged and there are what look like scabs in a couple of places along it. Could this be the stitches working themselves out or is the wound not healing? He has this HORRIBLE plastic lampshade thing still on him, which has battered the hell out of the back of my legs as he runs past etc. LOL.
My OH took him for an offlead walk for the first time last week and he jumped in the river. Could this have something to do with it or is it more likely that he has managed to lick/bite the stitches whilst on his way back from that walk.
Y'see I have been taking the lampshade off for almost 4 weeks now ONLY when he eats (and im there) and when he goes for a walk locally on his lead, so the only time frame he has had to lick at the stitches is approx half an hour on that one return journey.

If I take the lampshade off he immediately tries to lick at it but the vet said it would be itchy and he was not allowed to lick.
He also said these op's are routine but Im starting to wish we hadnt bothered getting him done as he must be so miserable with that thing on his head all the time and his poor bits must be driving him mad!
Any ideas?

(Oh forgot to say I asked the vet on the post check up appt about it healing and he gave me some cream to rub in - its called Dermisol - it seemed to work at first but as I say now it looks a bit raised up and scabby. ) I hate it when he's ill.
Even better has anyone got any pics of how it should look? I know that sounds strange LOL

Gonna have to return to vets on Monday as I feel almost 4 weeks should be enough to heal surely.

Can't give any advice,but will be watching this thread very closely because we are thinking of having Indie's bits done in a few months!!!

Give him a srcratch from us (sorry cuddle)

Tracey x 2

If he has disposable stitches they can take approx three months to totally dissolve. It there are any visible stiches on the outside you can quite safely cut them now so there are no protruding bits, after 4 weeks I would imagine the wound is actually healed but there can still be scabbing that needs to loosen.

If you can post a pic of how he looks at the moment then we can advise better if things are going normally. My 4.5 boys are all entire at the moment but I did have surgery myself 3 months ago and I know for a fact my wound (with dissolvable sutures) did not look good at one month but it was sound. As on a previous post I used to be a nurse with an interest in wound healing so would feel confident enough to give you advise or recommend you go back to a vet if I can see an up-to-date pic.

OK I will get a pic on here as quick as I can but it wont be til tomorrow as I (shamefully) dont know how to upload the pics, well I can do the comp bit but cant find the camera connection and hubby is on night shift.
Im glad actually to hear I am possibly expecting his wound to look better than it does, but as for the stitches I cant actually *see* any, only the scabs. Im not being very clear am I, so prob best if I get a pic on as soon as poss.
He is currently lying next to me on sofa having a belly rub. Need to take him out now for his nightly 'empty'. LOL
Thanks.

I will be back tomorrow afternoon hopefully with an impressive pic.

I only use a lampshade for a few days - if that. If the wound is closed, I doubt if he can do any real harm - just keep an eye on him and if he is licking excessively - then distract him.

Maybe the itch is just the hair growing back.

He could also be havin a little reaction to the stiches....one of my boys did and needed a little extra cream

after four weeks he is going to be well healed on the inside... i'd ditch the lampshade - if you are worried that he pays the site too much attention (though a bit of licking won't do any harm) and at first he's bound to want to closely inspect it! maybe some of that bitter apple spray in the area will distract him - if you can see any bits of stitch, get tweezers and remove them, as they are very irritating in your bits (speaking from personal experience here ladies! )

4 weeks with lampshade on OMG poor dog !!! definitely take it off he should be fine by now.

I totally agree with Penel and the others.
He should not need a lampshade by now. Normal stitches are removed after 10 or so days anyway so should be healed.

The other thing is, he will not have been able to "clean" himself as dogs normally would, so he may just be feeling a bit dirty, so as soon as you take the lampshade off, he goes about cleaning himself up.

We are thinking of having Harry 'done' as he is starting to pay my mums dog a lot of attention, but is it normal to have to keep them inside for 4 weeks - I dont think I could manage that long!

no, not usually - we managed to keep Rufus quiet for about a day and half, before we took him out for a lead walk, then he after his four day check he went out as normal - he didn't need a lampshade either - he only paid his stitches momentary attention

Right as promised here are the pics. I realise you all think I should have taken the lampshade off by now but I probably haven't explained fully. (totally my fault, should give the whole story) Tigger had a fight with a deerhound (obv no sense of which dogs are likely to overpower him! ) and sustained a nasty and deep puncture wound to his shoulder. I bathed it etc but he was not happy with it so went to vet who advised us to have him put under so he could have the wound flushed etc and stitched if need be. We then decided to have him castrated while he was under to save unnecessary anaesthetic (sp?).
So of course he had to leave this shoulder injury alone too and as it was so deep its about a week since the scab actually went. Thankfully he will now leave his shoulder alone (vet told us he wasnt to touch this as licking is not cleaning, so he said anyway?)

Anyway I suppose Ive over- explained now. and I hope you dont all think Im a cruel owner as believe me I will probably stamp all over this stupid lampshade when I can take it off safely as I hate it.












To me this still looks quite scabby and red in parts. The vet said it was one long stitch or something so suppose I am wondering if it is not as tight as it should be, hence the puckering.
Whats everyones verdict on the pics?

Ok, that does look a bit pink still in places but it should in 4 weeks have healed and the pinker areas could well be actually almost overhealing. I would let him clean it himself and see what happens. You may find he lifts the odd scab and makes it weep a teeny bit but that is fine and nothing to worry about.

If he were mine I would relax and just let him have his freedom.

Thanks Sue
I will try letting him lick it for a bit then. What seems strange is that until he went swimming the whole area had no scabs and looked quite pale, etc so now that it looks like this I cant help thinking that he disrupted it on the way home in the crate without the lampshade, and thats why Ive tried to keep him off it since.