Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Thank you everyone! Yeah I thought it looked bloody also,I sent all those same photos to the vet and we went in person after. Vet said it looks like seroma , she tried to aspirate with needle to look for infection but nothing came out. She said this happens and is normal to just let it leak and put a shirt on her :/
but the photo below is now where the leakage has moved since wearing her thunder shirt with pressure not at the bottom... it seems the exuberant is excessively leaking but still the same bright red and watery color as when we went it the vet. It’s in a very inconvenient spot by her neck so literally every time she moves it separates and starts leaking, if she stays still and NoT laying on her wound it slows down but then she looks uncomfortable.
the wound is just staying so wet, I know staying moist is okay but it just doesn’t stop enough to dry in between even with me blotting it holding a bandage; we’re going back for recheck of stitches tomorrow because they are not open on the weekend.
Sorry if this is long I thought it might be helpful for other uses to see some photos of this type of hurdle. Two of my aunts, one had a amputee and one just a large dog fight and both leaked like this for a long time this color but I definitely keep getting mixed answers! I guess I’ll wait to see the vet and update! Haha. As long as no one thinks she’s in danger.
No worries, you did the right thing having it looked at. It's going to stay moist for a while, and keeping her still is really important right now.
Eating, sleeping, eliminating, medicating. Repeat over and over and try to keep her resting and quiet. That will help the seroma to heal. A seroma is not uncommon, it does seem to happen more frequently in larger more active dogs. Keeping her quiet is really important. Quick potty breaks and then rest. She can walk, play, and get up on furniture later after she's recovered and sutures are out. This will be hard but you can do it.
Hugs,
Jackie and Huckster ❤️
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry 
Oh... And if you can get some puppy pads or incontinence pads to lay on her bedding, that will probably help you to keep things cleaner and save you on laundry. Let her lay whatever way she is comfy. Some lay on the incision, some don't. As long as she's not hurting and she's able to rest that's important. In a couple more days things might get a little tough as the hospital meds leave her system. Make sure she's getting her meds on a regular schedule and be prepared to speak with the doctor if they need to be tweaked.
Hope this helps
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry
mariahfoley said
it seems the exuberant is excessively leaking but still the same bright red...the wound is just staying so wet...it just doesn’t stop enough to dry in between even with me blotting it...
What you describe sounds and looks like bleeding, not any typical seroma seepage we tend to see here. We are not vets, however, based only on the numerous photos shared by members over the years, it appears to indicate interior sutures may have come undone.
It's better to be safe than sorry, you definitely do not want the area to become necrotic. That skin is already looking pretty black. Is there any foul odor?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Man that moisture makes me so nervous because soggy skin. Yes before she was moving to much but now we upped the tramsdol and she goes potty, eats, pees, and then back to bed. That’s a good idea I should get some pads to get her blanket and stuff clean. Hopefully the vet can advise us how to taper off the meds , we are definitely being adherent to her meds. Yes this does help!
yeah I agree with it looking like blood. when I did some research it says the inflammation stage will have leaky blood vessels and the body sleeps out immune cells to the wound outside, or because of infection near the surface :(. And the leaking fluid from inflammation is a mixture of blood and serum (clear stuff like seroma ).
Yes the tissue is making me nervous but it’s so frustrating because that is exactly what the wound looked like when we saw the to vet Friday (two days ago). Nothing has really changed or gotten worse with the black skin & the bottom one got better. I’m assuming they will HAVE to do something else for it tomorrow this just isn’t looking great.
and also no smell! Just blood smell from the leaky stuff but it doesn’t smell like death or anything.
I have also been taking her heart rate and breathing rate and checking her gums just in case (paranoid mom), but like you said better safe than sorry. I just emailed my vet clinic that we will be there when they open because I don’t wanna wait till the end of the day to get this checked again.
Good idea to be at the vets, and smart to keep an eye on the gums. You are all over it. That dark area is hard to tell for me on picture. Reminds me of dried blood but may look different up close and personal. Good that there is no odor. Also wonder if it is a bruise but you will know for sure once your vet gets to look at it and give her a good once over.
Working today but will be able to check email. Good luck and hang in there. I know this is a scary roller coaster ride but you are all over this and if she needs something you know her doctor will attend to that this morning.
Hugs,
Jackie and Huck 
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry
Okay guys! So this morning I took off bandage and there was little yellow oily looking (tiniest dots ever, almost couldn’t see it). Vet looked under microscope and she said there was some bacteria present and probably why th drainage was increasing in amount. So she gave us another antibiotic (we have her on two now), and we’re told to clean it twice a day with chlorhexidine, then wipe off with water and let air for a second and bandage it with high absorbing bandages and wrap a bandage around that for pressure.
do you guys have any recommendations for compression bandaging? I was thinking of getting the vetrap, or just self adhering elastic bandage for Humans.
At least we caught it early and she thinks it should clear up and then recheck the black skin again since it hasn’t gotten any larger since 3 days ago or any darker. She is glad we are checking and paying attention so much she said because sometimes people hesitate and it gets bad.
I'm glad you took her to the vet and it's good that the skin hasn't changed. But did the vet do a test for MRSA ? If not, please ask them to run a culture. You really want to be sure it's not MRSA that you are dealing with so that the antibiotics being thrown at it are actually working.
Your vet should have explained how to bandage the area. I would ask for a tutorial, because this can be tricky. Don't be shy. This is why you paid them to take care of your sweet pup.
Good job advocating for her! You two will get through this stronger than ever. Hang in there and keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I know it might sound crazy, but Rene is right. MRSA is becoming more popular in dogs these days. We have seen it several times in here. Your vet should show you (and give you proper supplies) on how they want to pressure wrap it. The problem with vet wrap is that you have to be careful about technique. I am not a vet, however I was a vet tech for a long time. Vet wrap tends to get tighter as they wear it, so if they give you vet wrap be gentle putting it on and don't try to put it on too tight... it will tighten up all on its own. Only other thing I can think of is getting a tshirt that isn't too tight, but fits her and put that over her after you put the bandage on her.
If they culture a sample of that seepage you speak of they will be able to make sure she is on proper antibiotics that are the strongest to get rid of the bacteria. I don't know if they can test it for MRSA without culture (my guess is no). Even if it is not MRSA , a culture shows what antibiotics the bacteria is most and least resistant to, and that can make a big difference in her healing process.
Hang in there!
Jackie and Huck
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry
mariahfoley said
Okay guys! So this morning I took off bandage and there was little yellow oily looking (tiniest dots ever, almost couldn’t see it). Vet looked under microscope and she said there was some bacteria present and probably why th drainage was increasing in amount. So she gave us another antibiotic (we have her on two now), and we’re told to clean it twice a day with chlorhexidine, then wipe off with water and let air for a second and bandage it with high absorbing bandages and wrap a bandage around that for pressure.do you guys have any recommendations for compression bandaging? I was thinking of getting the vetrap, or just self adhering elastic bandage for Humans.
At least we caught it early and she thinks it should clear up and then recheck the black skin again since it hasn’t gotten any larger since 3 days ago or any darker. She is glad we are checking and paying attention so much she said because sometimes people hesitate and it gets bad.
mariahfoley said
Okay guys! So this morning I took off bandage and there was little yellow oily looking (tiniest dots ever, almost couldn’t see it). Vet looked under microscope and she said there was some bacteria present and probably why th drainage was increasing in amount. So she gave us another antibiotic (we have her on two now), and we’re told to clean it twice a day with chlorhexidine, then wipe off with water and let air for a second and bandage it with high absorbing bandages and wrap a bandage around that for pressure.do you guys have any recommendations for compression bandaging? I was thinking of getting the vetrap, or just self adhering elastic bandage for Humans.
At least we caught it early and she thinks it should clear up and then recheck the black skin again since it hasn’t gotten any larger since 3 days ago or any darker. She is glad we are checking and paying attention so much she said because sometimes people hesitate and it gets bad.
When Smiley had issues with her biopsy wound, I was changing her bandage alot. I went to the store and bought the white quilting material and made sure it was 100% cotton and had them roll it out to make sure I was getting a clean roll. I used this and wrapped vet wrap over it. It gave her more comfort than just a gauze or other absorbing pads. It was less expensive for me than buying all the other pads because I had to change it so often. Made sure not to remove quickly in case it stuck to her skin and fur, but never had a problem with it.
Uggg - We went thru the exact same thing last year with Maddie. Her seroma became infected and the incision pretty much burst open. What a mess. Turned out she did have MRSA and we had to get specific antibiotics. The first few days after the seroma broke I was taking her back and forth to the ER vet twice a day for pressure bandage changes. They were adamant that the pressure bandage should only be done by a vet. Unfortunately by the time we'd get home she'd have it loose again so I eventually gave up and started using feminine napkins and they worked great. Maddie's regular vet told us the pressure bandage wasn't helping (in her case), so she had me clean and massage the area a couple times a day to help get the fluid out then cover with the sanitary pad and loosely wrap around her with gauze. We had to change it a lot but at least it wasn't dripping all over and the napkins didn't stick to the wound. We'd put a tshirt over the bandage/gauze combo and it worked pretty well. It took a couple weeks for it to clear up and stop leaking completely though. It was at least a few days on the correct antibiotic before we saw real improvement.
Bobbi & Maddie a/k/a ManiacMads
Front leg amputation 10/17/17 due to Osteosarcoma
She's Madeline, She's Madeline
Aaaah, that totally makes sense about MRSA it is an opportunistic pathogen but I totally didn’t even think of that for a dog! My vet did look at the discharge under the microscope and Staphylococcus is very obvious; that could be why she added on “Baytril” a non-Cillin antibiotic. I will ask when she calls to check on irie again though to make sure and I also want to know.
I will keep that in mind for the vetrap because I didn’t know it did that, I want it right but not to tight to cut off her circulation lol. The wound is in such a weird spot it’s so hard to wrap it well. My vet is also far away from us, we have to travel over the bay bridge to Oakland to see her so that might be why she said just wrap it around her body at home and keep my updated.
oh man what a clever idea with the cotton sheets. I might have to try that also because bandages are getting expensive & are just messy. Thank you for that idea!
Omg manicmads that sounds so stressful back and forth to the ER, I would have gave up too. I might try feminine napkins too then besides these regular medical bandages maybe they will work better and they have stickiness to stick to gauze and stay put haha!
Thank you again you all have been so helpful and always make me feel better !
Hello! Irie is feeling much better and even woke ME up this morning to let her outside to potty versus us forcing her out of bed. I think her new antibiotics are working, discharge is less dark and goes between a dark shade and light pink and sometimes more on her bandage when we change it or less.
Also less redness and less black skin! I emailed this photo to the vet because the one stitch appears to have torn a little but overall it is MUCH better.
Online
So glad to hear things are star to settle down and get bettet!
Good job of being s grear "Nurse" for Irie!
Hugd
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
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!
Oh wow, that looks a lot better than before, woo hoo! And her energy level is up, dragging mama out to potty.. all pawsitive things!! I am so glad you are caring for her the way you are, makes all the difference in the world. I see that little hole, hopefully will heal from the inside out. See what your vet says, are you still putting compresses on it?
Awesome job, so glad you posted!
Jackie and Huck
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry
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