Oh no! I think it’s best that you have a vet check him out if you suspect it’s infected… Sigh… you’ve been through so much recently, I feel for you :/

Healing vibes to you and Penny!

I’m going to alert the other forum leaders-they may know what you can do in the meantime.

I would assume it’s OK to put polysporin/neosporin on the sutures (just not the kind with ‘pain relief’ as that’s an irritant).

Ah!! Thoughts!

Call your vet, and tell them since they cannot see him until Saturday you need to know what to do in the meantime-they may have some ideas, as well see if they have an emergency vet # that you can have in case he does start to fall ill/stop eating etc. Then if things get scary before saturday your set-but if not you can see the vet saturday as planned!

As long as Penny is continuing to eat, drink and act normally it should be fine to be seen on Saturday.

It is possible that Penny’s body having a reaction to the suture material used internally.  It is common for pets to have a suture reaction- and there is no way to tell which pet might be sensitive to which suture before hand.

Just continue to keep an eye on it to make sure that he is not bothering the incision area too much- and that it does not get worse.  You can put a light layer of Neosporin on it (without pain killer) and then try to keep him from licking it off right away by giving him his salad or treats.  The longer the ointment sits the better affect it can have.

Sounds good ! Keep us posted {{VIBES}}

ahh!! max’s neuter worried me too, the skin was a little red. that was actually what brought me to this site! it went away the next day, though, so Pen may just be scaring you. But definitely good for the appt- keep us informed.

Hi Amanda,
Funny enough I also went through the infection thing with the bunny that I had to force feed after his neuter.
He came home from the vets w/ a cone on because he had already been at his stitches there.
He had a larger than normal insicion because a sac had slipped back inside so the vet had to go after it.
If he does have an infection & they give you a cone, please don’t feel sorry for him & take it off, even for a few minutes.
I did take it off him to eat etc but watched him closely. His infection wasn’t bad but would not go away quickly.
After 30 days they pulled the stiches anyway & explained that the stitches could be what is causing the problem.
Sure enough, the infection went away.

This reminds me of what I just went through with my 12 year old dog, he got swollen after his neuter and I had to bring him back to the vet for a recheck. Poor guy was a little sore too.
My doc told me that sometimes they get what’s called a hematoma (blood clot) at the site of the sutures, or that the sutures will react oddly to the skin (or vice versa) and cause swelling. He could also have an infection and if so, they’ll treat it with antibiotics I’d guess. It should go away rather quickly after that.
I am by no means an expert, but I’d agree that watching for other signs of illness would be good and you seem to be having luck with the neosporin. I’ll add my healing vibes and hope that Penny recovers soon! ((((((((((((((penny)))))))))))))
How’s the babies, btw? ^_^

wow, 6 weeks already. Must be time for new pics >.>

Ivy had to go back about 10 days after his neuter to get his stitches taken out. In order to do that they had to peel off a scab that had formed over the stitches. After they did that his incision looked horribly red and ouchy for a few days. It looks great now though. Maybe Penny’s site looks really red because he just picked off a part of the scab that formed over the incision?? Glad to hear that its looking better after some neosporin. Hopefully he doesnt have an infection and it was just sore.

Good luck at the vet tomorrow. Sounds like Penny is ok…maybe just a skin reaction to the sutures. If you live near a pet store, I think they sell those E-coller for dogs in different sizes….just a thought? Keep us posted!