FAO Lankeela, Jules or "experienced" dog people

[RATTER15]

Our young wolfie bitch has split her pad its fairly deep, we have cleaned and sprayed septicleanse on it and but an inodine patch over, it has been well dressed and covered with an elastic self adhesive horse bandage.

My query is: can a pad be stitched or glued? If it can be stitched we will get it stitched if needed on Monday.

we don't want to run up a huge vets bill unnecessarily and we wouldn't put our dog at risk. We are confident that we can keep it dressed sterile ourselves if that is all the vet is going to do and charge us £150 for the pleasure.



We will take her to the vet on monday if needed

[divegirl]

Hi Ratter, bless her, sounds ouchy!
A pad can be either glued or stitched but to be honest unless we can see it it's hard to say. Obviously because of where it is it can and will keep re-opening which makes healing hard so sometimes it is best to have 'surgery' on it. I'd suggest leaving it now [sounds like you've done all you can] and look at again on Monday unless she looks really distressed about it.

Lisa x

[woofgang]

My girl ran over glass about 15 years ago and the vet stitched the pad. She was bandaged for 10 days and then the stitches came out and she made an excellent recovery. BUT that was 10 years ago and while pads can be stitched, I am not sure whether that is now considered the best treatment, also whether they would only stitch at the time of injury as we took her straight to the vet and she was being treated within an hour of the injury.

[Ratty2E]

I probably would get the vet to check it out if it was a really big cut though as he might suggest anti B incase of infection. Being a foot it'll be difficult to keep sterile. I don't think a pad can be stitched but then your Wolfies do have very large pads. Can you not phone the vet to get some advice first?

[rsvp]

agree that it's difficult to judge without seeing the injury - would just add that if you do bandage, don't forget to put padding between the toes. hope it works out okay.

[divegirl]

Eewww forget cheesy toe syndrome! My Dane was in a splint for 12 weeks following a cut across the back of his heel [severed all tendons] and it smelled rank even with thrice weekly dressings at the vets...should be okay for a day or two though if it hasn't been done, especially in this cooler weather, less sweating going on.

Lisa x

[jules77]

Ouch, poor little girl. Depends on how much discomfort she appears to be in. If it is deep, I would take her to the vet today, as it will probably be very sore. The vets will stitch it and I think they use a type of splint so that the cut doesnt open up each time she puts her paw to the ground. Good luck, keep us informed.

[lankeela]

I always use something called Cut-Heal, which you can spray right into the wound and it helps them to heal from the inside out, leaving no scarring. This not only heals it but keeps it clean too, and stops infections setting in and you don't need to bandage, in fact leaving it open helps the healing process. You can get it at most tack shops or country suppliers. It also comes in a 'dabber' that you can dab onto the wound if its a small one or the animal doesn't like aerosols. I would think by Monday it would have started to knit together anyway, so I'd play it by ear and see how it is.

[lankeela]

http://www.cut-heal.com/canine.htm

[RATTER15]

Thanks ladies, I think we have it under control now, I will certainly get some Cut-Heal, Carakeel found some on the net yesterday but I dont trust these things without a qualified recommendation. I dont think she is an too much discomfort with it, we are going to splint it today, as long as we can keep it clean (we are using Hydrogen Peroxide on it now) and keep her off it I think we will have it cracked. If we have any doubts whatsoever she will be taken to the vets. She is a very precious little girl for us and our foundation bitch. Puppies next year hopefully :)

[RATTER15]

Well we checked the wound today, it looked worse, we took her straight up to the vets and she has been put on a course of antibiotics and will be going in on Wednesday to have it stitched under sedation.

its a bit scary actually, Irish Wolfhounds are known not to do well under general anaesthetic. :(

[LoftyLottie]

Pad wounds can be very difficult. I know from experience.

Keep us posted Ratter. Poor 'little' dog!! x

[islasmum]

Poor dog - let us know how she gets on Ratter.

[Carakeel]

Just an update on our young Irish Wolfhound, Keeva. To be on the safe side we took her to the vet this morning and as we were not happy with how she was healing. As we had feared, she does need her pad stitched up under general anaesthetic. We were really hoping this would not be the case as Wolfhounds are not good with general anaesthetics, so they will have to be very careful and follow the research papers and guidelines on the subject re. this particular breed. She doesn't seem to be in much pain, just discomfort and the wound has been treated and bandaged. We also got her a booty, which she finds easier to walk with outside. But we only take her onto our back patio to relieve herself. She needs to stay off the foot as much as possible. She is now on anti-inflammatories and antibiotics and on Wednesday they will stitch the wound. Hopefully it will all heal well, but this might take some time. She really is an accident / disaster prone little girl, our Keeva! Our two wolfie boys very rarely have had any problems, but she is still very young and full of herself, so charges around like a mad thing when off lead. All it takes is one sharp stone somewhere on the road or in the garden and she will find it! Grrrrr!

[Euphemia]

Sounds as if she is indeed accident prone. I do hope the paw heels up nice and quickly.

[LoftyLottie]

Let us know how she goes Cara. Poor Keva. But more poor you and Ratter than Keva. She at least won't be worryig about the op and anaesthesia. She'll be OK, the vets are taking every precaution. x

[Carakeel]

Thank you Lottie! x Keeva is doing fine at the moment, doesn't seem too bothered by her poorly paw. The problems with the anaesthetic are worrying, but we are making sure they don't use any barbiturates with her, as this is what the main concern is. Wolfies do not tollerate this type of anaesthetic and the other problem is that you cannot go simply by their weight when administering it, as they have an exceptionally high bone ratio and so less anaesthetic is needed. There have been two wolfie deaths in the past few weeks due to vets giving the wrong anaesthesia. We just want to make sure she will be safe, so are taking in documentation of what is required / not recommended for them to the vets today.

[LoftyLottie]

It is horrible when a loved pet is in trouble, isn't it! After all they are more than just pets, they are our family.

Big Hugs to you all x

[RATTER15]

This is what one Wolfie lady had to say on the subject:

"I have always insisted on being present when my hounds have to be given anaesthetics, which was just as well in at least one instance. One bitch had to have an x-ray on her hips to find out why she was so lame and it was being done by a young vet new to the practice. He asked her weight, made some calculations, and filled up three syringes with anaesthetic. I watched, appalled, and then asked whether he was just going to pour all that lot into her, to which he said of course, it was the correct amount for a dog of her size. I insisted that he just trickle it in slowly and, since I made a fuss and was obviously willing to just walk out with her if I did not get my way, he did as I asked. She was completely out before she had two-thirds of the first syringe! He went white and was horrified at what might have happened had he done as he intended. I was just glad I had insisted on staying!"

Its a bit scary to be honest, coincidentally tomorrow is my day off so I will be around sweating it out with my lovely Carakeel.

Maybe take the other furkids for a run on the beach while all this is going on. :(

[pastafreak]

Last year, when I just gotten Sally-my whippet/greyhound lurcher-I read on a sighthound forum about the dangers of administering anaesthesia to sighthounds due how they differ so much from other breeds in their makeup. It has stuck with me, as many of the posts described the need to be informed,as vets often weren't.

Good luck with Keeva-will be thinking of you tomorrow.

[RATTER15]

A recent photo of "keeva" the one with the poorly paw, she is on the right with the red collar she has grown a bit since this pic was taken but still a baby, she is just 18 months old now.