Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hey Everyone! I just had a quick question. Yesterday we had 1/2 of Sunny's stitches removed at the 10 day mark since our vet felt it would be ok. Today we noticed the skin once again looks rather bruised. Did anyone else noticed anything like this when their dogs stitches were removed? The bruised area is once again under the actual incision where any fluid would likely drain due to the way he lays. His actual incision looks really good still and there is no smell, reaction to us touching the area gently or anything that would cause me to think he needs immediate veterinary care. I guess I should also note that this is in the area that was most bruised after surgery and where the bruising had not fully gone away yet. I suspect it is probably nothing serious, but I would be interested to hear what other people have experienced.
Tom
His avatar pocture just melts my heart everytime!
Okay, I'm zero help because I don't recall!
Of course, not a vet, but it would make sense based on Sunny's predisposition to bruising. It just sounds like Sunny is "thin skinned" and doesn't sound.like.anything at all that needs immediate.attention. No swelling, no srink,.no.ooze, no tenderness...just keep an eye for any changes. Again, not a vet!
Guessing others will chime.in who DID experience some bruising.
Post a.picture??
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
No bruising, but Otis also did not have horrible bruising to begin with. Everything else sounds good, and it makes sense that there could be bruising after suture removal. Maybe keep an eye on it and if it does not improve like normal bruising would, call your vet?
Otis - 106 pound lab/Dane mix, lost his right front leg to osteosarcoma on Febuary 9, 2016. Four rounds of carboplatin completed in April, 2016. Lung mets August 25, 2016. Said goodbye too soon on September 4, 2016. Lost his adopted sister, Tess, suddenly on October 9, 2016. likely due to hemangiosarcoma.
Wherever they are, they are together.
The photo below gives you a pretty good idea. You can also see their was an area that bleed a little below his incision so we are not sure if maybe a scab came off when she removed a suture or maybe she nicked him with the scissors on accident. She was working upside down so I could see how it would have happened. You may also be correct that he just has thin skin especially given his age. As of right now we are just trying not to mess with anything too much which is why I didn't even try to clean the other blood off. My plan is to watch it and if doesn't start looking better tomorrow I'll probably run him into the vet since I need more tramadol anyway. His other bruising got dark like this, but then started to heal rather quickly. It would just be interesting to know if others saw something similar. I also can't rule out at this point that we are obsessing over every little thing. 
That is pretty intense looking. I think your plan is a good one!
Otis - 106 pound lab/Dane mix, lost his right front leg to osteosarcoma on Febuary 9, 2016. Four rounds of carboplatin completed in April, 2016. Lung mets August 25, 2016. Said goodbye too soon on September 4, 2016. Lost his adopted sister, Tess, suddenly on October 9, 2016. likely due to hemangiosarcoma.
Wherever they are, they are together.
otisandtess said
That is pretty intense looking. I think your plan is a good one!
Believe or not that is nothing from when he came home! This photo is from day 2 and I applied a filter to that photo so it wouldn't look so bad. That said, as you can see from the other photo a lot of that healed very quickly except for where it is the worse below.
Poor guy. He is very fair skinned too, so that might be why it looks so bad.
Otis - 106 pound lab/Dane mix, lost his right front leg to osteosarcoma on Febuary 9, 2016. Four rounds of carboplatin completed in April, 2016. Lung mets August 25, 2016. Said goodbye too soon on September 4, 2016. Lost his adopted sister, Tess, suddenly on October 9, 2016. likely due to hemangiosarcoma.
Wherever they are, they are together.
Hello. The bruises depend a lot on the dog. Perhaps the vet can prescribe some gel to help absorb.
These first three weeks are not easy, but there is light at the end of this tunnel.
Daniela & Johnnie
Our awesome Golden Boy was diagnosed for OSA in April 2014 in the proximal humerus, front-leg amp on 05/20/2014. Finished chemo (Carbo6) on 07/10/2014. Ongoing treatment: acupuncture + K-9 Immunity Plus ( 3chews) and home-cooked no-grain diet. Stopped Apocaps because of liver issues. Liver issues: controlling altered enzymes with SAM-e and Milk Thistle. October 17: started having seizures. Taking fenobarbital for seizures. April 18: started prednisone.
Murphy had staples and didn't have any trouble like that. But Sunny does seem to bruise awfully easily. Have they checked any blood work lately? A CBC would tell his platelet count, which is one of the factors for bleeding/bruising. Or a PT/PTT checks bleeding time. Just to make sure everything is ok.
Donna
Donna, Glenn & Murphy
Murphy had his right front leg amputated due to histiocytic sarcoma at 7 years old. He survived 4 years, 2 months & 1 week, only to be taken by hemangiosarcoma at 11 1/2 years 6/12/17
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs
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