absorbable sutures

[JMM]

Mikey's surgery was done the beginning of November. His "zipper" of the disolvable sutures has slowly worked its way closer to the skin. You can tell they are just below the skin now. I'm not too suprised as his 3 disolvable sutures from his neuter came to the surface of his skin and we removed them (cut out one small piece of suture) and just put some bactoderm on the spot for a few days. If these don't break through the skin because of where they are, how long would you leave them or would you not even think about taking them out? I know he'll need a cystotomy one day if he continues to do well. I don't want the left over sutures to make that more difficult.

[Traci]

They shouldn't be breaking through the skin at all (if you mean protruding from the inside, outward) After this amount of time, I'm surprised they are still visible/noticeable......you might want to call your vet about that.

Removable sutures on the other hand, are generally removed anywhere from 7-10 days post-op.

Guess this is par for the course for Mickey? Such a slow recovery!

[JMM]

If it is odd and can happen, it will happen to my dogs LOL

You can faintly see the scar line on his belly. His incision is all healed up. It really is like his body has not disolved the sutures and they are working their way out like a splinter would. You can't miss them if you rub his belly.

We'll run it by the vet again next Sat when I'm at work. Back to classes this week. Thanks.

His endurance is noticably improving over the last week. I really think the physical therapy is helping. I also cheated yesterday and gave him a few pieces of Purina HA. Well he likes it! I've mixed it in with his last 3 meals and he ate all 3 quite well. Nice normal stool still. Other than urinary accidents, everything continues to improve slowly.

[Traci]

I'm assuming what you can see of those sutures, they are probably brittle, so you could probably even take a scissor and clip them off where they meet the skin. As long as the skin has closed and gathered, no openenings to drain, those sutures shouldn't be a problem, just strange you can still see them.

I'm glad to hear he liked the HA, lol, wonder if this might be the one? (food sensitivity)

[JMM]

Dr. Ken said we'd just do the same as last time and no worries so long as he doesn't seem to have any spots of suture reaction (redness, inflammation, bigger bump that's not just suture). He thinks they'll probably work their way up so that we can pull some out in another month or so. He thought by the time Mikey needs his cystotomy, they'll be long gone. You were right not to worry.

He also said to go ahead and feed just the HA if that's what Mikey wants. The boys are pleased. What is extra nice is that it is all soy/veggie protein which is a plus for their livers.

[JMM]

I thought I'd post a little Mikey update.

It took about a week on the lower dose of steroids for him to stop having accidents. He is still PU/PD, but he can make it to his wee wee pads. I can also leave him home for a few hours and he only drains one entire dish of water. He's had 2 episodes of blood in his urine. We're just ignoring it and continuing routine urinalysis checks unless the blood is consistent.

He is still eating very well with just the HA. He was wanting to nibble so I started free feeding him again. Eating smaller amounts more frequently is better for him anyways.

He needs reglan about once every week or two. I just keep a vial of it in the cupboard. He had one nasty vomiting morning last week but was fine after it.

I'm so pleased that he is continuing to feel like a normal dog. He is still more tired than usual, but his endurance is slowly coming back. We may try some acupuncture for his rear leg. His sutures are still in there LOL His coat is growing!!!

[Traci]

Well, he sure looks better!!! (he's soooo precious)

Thanks for the update, hope he continues to improve...

[davet]

and it sure looks like he has his scuba diving shirt on...