So it’s been 29 days since my female was spayed. 2 days post-op she ripped her first set of stitches out, a day later she ripped her second set out, and a day after THAT she ripped a set of staples out. These were all the exterior sets, and none of the muscle tissue stitches were bothered.
Unsatisfied with the vet we were seeing, who discouraged the use of an e-collar, and then went on to tell us there really wasn’t anything else we could do – i sought ought advice from another vet. She internally stitched the incision back up with disolvables, and then used tissue glue to bond the area. Finally, we put an inflatable collar around her neck, which gave her access to her cecals, water, lettuce and hay, but prevented her from bending over enough to get to her incision.
Because we own a business, my girlfriend and I were able to take turns sleeping, working and watching her for the first week providing around-the-clock surveillance to make sure she didn’t pop her collar off by falling over backwards (which she managed once,) and then we let her be by herself with the collar on for the second week.
SO – 21 days post spay surgery, and 17 days after she was externally stitched up for the final time, we took her in for a follow up visit with the vet. Her incision appeard to be completely sealed, and two small internal stitches were poking through her skin. The first was removed that day, and the second was removed just this afternoon after it had come through enough to be snipped.
Today, our vet told us that the incision was completely closed (which it is) and that no more stitches were showing through (which there aren’t.) However, within 10 minutes of taking her inflatable collar off at home, and watching her, she started to go to town on the surgery area. Because I can’t be paranoid FOREVER about what she’s doing down there, I let her go at it (thinking she was just grooming or getting the glue remnants off), and then lifted her up after about 8 minutes. Unfortunately, she appears to have chewed a very tiny hole into the area where she was spayed. She’s not bleeding, but it’s definitely red, and looks bothered.
This is driving my girlfriend and I absolutely crazy – it feels like she’ll NEVER stop bothering her incision area, and we’re scared to death that she’ll just tear her skin open because something’s bothering her, which will result in more stitches, and then we’re back at square one. We’ve put forth so much effort this past month into taking care of her, and making sure she heals, that I’ve now got the collar back on her, and am trying to figure out what the problem is…
Could there be more internal stitches that are irritating her, and making her feel like she needs to chew her skin to get to them?
I can’t fathom thinking this is something that’s become a habit for her, and she feels like she has to do for the rest of her life…
We’re just at a total loss, and any ideas anybody may have as to why this is happening, and how it could possibly be prevented (without the use of a collar, which has been on her for nearly a month) would be so greatly appreciated.
Thank you, guys!