Day 12 - March 7, 2018
Last night I looked at Greta's incision and it looked like she'd popped a stitch or two; the top of her incision was gaping - a length of about 3/8", perhaps. By the time I'd noticed it, it was too late to call the vet. This morning I looked at it as soon as we got up - it looked to me like it might have had some pus in it. Of course, what starts going through my head is that I had semi-elective surgery done on my 14 month old dog (in an attempt to make her life pain-free and to not have to do the surgery when she was older and might have a harder recovery) and then she was going to contract a horrible infection and have to have her leg amputated. Overly dramatic, yes. And I really didn't think this, but it did sit in the back of my head.
Promptly at 8:00 a.m., I called the vet. I had a day packed with meetings, so I scheduled a 4:00 p.m. appointment.
Greta started out the morning paying attention to her hip, which she really hasn't done. The boys were sniffing at it as well. This had me worried too.
I took off her protective t-shirt and removed the pad I'd sewn on to keep any minor licking away from the incision. The pad had a bloody tinge to it. I sewed a clean pad in and taped a sterile gauze pad on top, so at least she was starting with a sterile item next to her skin. And it's something I can swap out. Greta quickly licked her t-shirt cover so much that I was worried she was going to soak through the pad. So, she had to wear the e-collar for the day.
She slept through most of it. All of these little things were making me fret, just a bit. Happily for me, the day was terribly busy, so four o'clock came around before I knew it.
The vet didn't think that the incision looked infected, but she did decide to give Greta a 7-day course of antibiotics, just in case. She also put in three staples to close up the little gaping bit. Greta doesn't seem to care, though when she was brought out of the treatment room, behind the reception desk, she tried to pull the vet to the door. Once I called her, and she noticed me, she came to me, dragging the vet behind her (even with only three functioning legs).
I asked the vet if Greta's 1980s workout gear was OK. The vet liked it, thought it was a nice solution to keeping Greta, and the boys, from paying attention to the incision.
Greta will need to have the staples removed in about 10 days. I have my fingers crossed that this is the last hiccup we have - no more slipping on Greta's part, no licking, no chewing; just getting better.
Promptly at 8:00 a.m., I called the vet. I had a day packed with meetings, so I scheduled a 4:00 p.m. appointment.
Greta started out the morning paying attention to her hip, which she really hasn't done. The boys were sniffing at it as well. This had me worried too.
I took off her protective t-shirt and removed the pad I'd sewn on to keep any minor licking away from the incision. The pad had a bloody tinge to it. I sewed a clean pad in and taped a sterile gauze pad on top, so at least she was starting with a sterile item next to her skin. And it's something I can swap out. Greta quickly licked her t-shirt cover so much that I was worried she was going to soak through the pad. So, she had to wear the e-collar for the day.
She slept through most of it. All of these little things were making me fret, just a bit. Happily for me, the day was terribly busy, so four o'clock came around before I knew it.
The vet didn't think that the incision looked infected, but she did decide to give Greta a 7-day course of antibiotics, just in case. She also put in three staples to close up the little gaping bit. Greta doesn't seem to care, though when she was brought out of the treatment room, behind the reception desk, she tried to pull the vet to the door. Once I called her, and she noticed me, she came to me, dragging the vet behind her (even with only three functioning legs).
I asked the vet if Greta's 1980s workout gear was OK. The vet liked it, thought it was a nice solution to keeping Greta, and the boys, from paying attention to the incision.
Greta will need to have the staples removed in about 10 days. I have my fingers crossed that this is the last hiccup we have - no more slipping on Greta's part, no licking, no chewing; just getting better.
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| Three staples in Greta's hip |
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