Hi,

This is my first time posting. My dog Charlie was attacked by a pit bull two weeks ago and ever since it's been extremely rough and scary. His back leg was shredded, his knee had to be reconstructed and his muscle had to be reattached to his bone. He has constantly been in and out of the vet and nearly lost his leg twice (I hope it's okay that I'm posting here even though they ended up saving his leg, this site and community seem amazing and I didn't know where else to go). 

A week after his first surgery he had tremendous pain, swelling, redness and drainage coming through his stitches. His leg swelled to three times the normal size and he constantly cried, shifted around and had labored breathing. Each time we took him to the vet they just kept him for a night and gave him stronger pain medicine. As soon as the stronger meds wore off, he was back to crying and in tremendous pain.

Then a week ago in a matter of hours the stitches tore completely open and it seemed like we were right back where we started. He was rushed back to the vet to get the stitches redone and while they were cleaning his wound he began to have internal bleeding. He nearly lost his leg again and coded on the operating table, but the surgeon miraculously saved his life and his leg again. They weren't able to locate or repair the site of the bleed, but thankfully it stopped. Now it's been about a week since that surgery, he's been home recovering and seems to be doing a lot better. His pain has decreased substantially and the incision site no longer looks red and infected. Four days ago they removed his Jackson Pratt drain and ever since he has had quite a bit of fluid building up along the bottom of the stitches. There is a fluid pocket on the inner part of his leg about the size of a large marble and then on the back of his leg along his butt there is another much larger fluid pocket. When he moves around the fluid gushes out of his stitches.

We've been doing a lot of hot compresses, keeping him very still and blotting the stitches carefully to keep them dry. Now we are extremely worried that the swelling and constant moisture will cause his stitches to tear open again. I wasn't sure if the fluid pockets are normal swelling or seromas and what I can do to help decrease his swelling, ensure that the stitches remain in place and encourage his healing. I've been in constant contact with the vet (who is extremely busy and not the best at answering my questions), but after speaking with them and sending photos they said he looks okay, to monitor the area and bring him in if it looks infected or if the swelling increases. Sorry for such a long post, my family and I are so exhausted and don't know what to do. Charlie means the world to us, we can't lose him. 

If anyone has had a similar experience or knows what we can do to help Charlie heal we would appreciate it so much. Thank you!

All the best,

Avery