Desperate Measures

yosemite · Jul 7, 2009

Houdini, er Bijou, managed to get completely out of the baby sleepers yesterday so by the time we got home all the stitches had been pulled out and the wound was gaping but not bleeding thank heavens. The sleepers were just laying on the bed all neat and tidy. I have no idea how he managed to do it so neatly.

Bijou is back at the vet this morning for new stitches and a new e-collar.

Jennifer is off today so we dropped him off at her place last night and she is taking him to the vet for us today. She lives about 10 minutes or less from the vet. I'm just waiting to hear from her right now. They should be out of there by now or soon.

gemlady · Jul 7, 2009

BIJOU!!!!

yosemite · Jul 7, 2009

Jennifer called to say he is at home now with new stitches. The vet put his sleepers back on and thought they were cute.

He has a larger cone and must be so frustrated but after another $55 for the new stitches (for the third time) and a new cone, enough is enough.

I asked about a soft cone but apparently nobody in Canada has ever heard of such a thing - go figure!

sarahp · Jul 7, 2009

Urgh how frustrating! And we were all saying what a good boy he was! I hope these ones last

snake_lady · Jul 7, 2009

Originally Posted by Yosemite

Jennifer called to say he is at home now with new stitches. The vet put his sleepers back on and thought they were cute.

He has a larger cone and must be so frustrated but after another $55 for the new stitches (for the third time) and a new cone, enough is enough.

I asked about a soft cone but apparently nobody in Canada has ever heard of such a thing - go figure!

aw Linda, what a stubborn Bijou.... You tried was you could, I hope this larger cone works even though he may not be happy.

So frustrating

alleygirl · Jul 7, 2009

Naughty, naughty Bijou!

He will just have to suffer with his cone since he wouldn't leave his sleepers on.

pami · Jul 7, 2009

How far along is he in his healing?
I went through this exact same thing with Laura with her spay. Twice she pulled out her stitches, so they used staples, she pulled those out, too. She would throw herself all over the floor when I put a tube sock, then an ace bandage around her. She finally had to to stay at the vet while she healed

If this doesnt work Linda, you can ask your vet about internal dissolvable stitches. Sending lots of calming vibes that way for Bijou

rapunzel47 · Jul 7, 2009

Good Lord! Can you say "determined"?

I sure hope this takes care of it long enough for enough healing to happen that Houdini can be released from his torment.

Bijou? Got a tip for you...the dumb ol' humans aren't as dumb as they seem...let them have their way for a few days, OK?

xocats · Jul 7, 2009

If only Bijou could understand that the stitches are for his benefit and if he would leave them alone, he would heal faster.

Calm down sweet boy...
this will pass.
Bijou

pookie-poo · Jul 7, 2009

I know it's too late now, as the incision is fairly healed (there's probably already some granulation tissue.) If Bijou ever needs to have surgery again, you should ask your vet to do subcuticular stitches (buried, absorbable sutures) and a skin glue such as Dermabond or Vetbond, to seal the incision. If they had used subcuticular stitches, there wouldn't have been any stitches that he could get hold of, and pull out.

Here's a drawing of what a subcuticular stitch looks like.

I sure hope your clever little boy behaves himself, and lets his incision heal!!!

ldg · Jul 7, 2009

Man does Bijou NOT like those stitches or what??????????????????

this cone does the trick.

Bijou - you NEED those stitches to help you heal!

Laurie

clpeters23 · Jul 7, 2009

Bijou, what a pistol you are!! Lucy started pulling her spay stiches out near the end, so the vet just took them all out.

yosemite · Jul 8, 2009

Originally Posted by Pookie-poo

I know it's too late now, as the incision is fairly healed (there's probably already some granulation tissue.) If Bijou ever needs to have surgery again, you should ask your vet to do subcuticular stitches (buried, absorbable sutures) and a skin glue such as Dermabond or Vetbond, to seal the incision. If they had used subcuticular stitches, there wouldn't have been any stitches that he could get hold of, and pull out.

Here's a drawing of what a subcuticular stitch looks like.

I sure hope your clever little boy behaves himself, and lets his incision heal!!!

I did ask (the second time they had to replace a stitch) if they could use the medical form of crazy glue - the vet tech said, "I could ask". They didn't use it. I don't know about the subcuticular stitches - it's just a smallish opening (3 stitches and about 1 inch. When he pulled the stitches out, it opened and just looks smooth white and firm like a muscle.

He slept with me as usual last night in his baby sleepers and stayed with me all night but this morning he had his front paws out of the sleepers.

John is at home today so is going to watch him to ensure he doesn't get his sleepers off. He has a new cone, but if we can keep the sleepers on him, then we can give him a break from the cone. I bought him 2 more pairs of sleepers in a larger size which zipper up instead of snaps. If he learns how to pull down the zipper I'm entering him in the Ripley's Believe It or Not pages.

pookie-poo · Jul 8, 2009

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I did ask (the second time they had to replace a stitch) if they could use the medical form of crazy glue - the vet tech said, "I could ask". They didn't use it. I don't know about the subcuticular stitches - it's just a smallish opening (3 stitches and about 1 inch. When he pulled the stitches out, it opened and just looks smooth white and firm like a muscle.

I close laparoscopic gall bladder incisions (5mm long) with subcuticular stitches, so it can be done. It just takes practice. I don't know if vets bother to learn the subcuticular stitch technique, because we aren't worried about cosmetic appearances in our pets....usually the scars are covered with fur in no time!

Bijou is a clever little monkey!!! Does Ripley's have a category for 'most determined?'

littleraven7726 · Jul 8, 2009

I hope he leaves them alone this time. Nabu is wearing an e-collar until Friday night when he gets his stitches out. He won't leave his toe stitches alone if we take the collar off. Nabu's belly is the kind of stitches that don't need to come out. I guess it's a common technique for ferals, and and they did Lola's spay stitches the same. You can't see anything but the line where they went in for the laparotomy. He is healing really well.

Stimpy is a big guy like Bijou, and we had to get him a small dog e-collar from Petco when he had his lumpectamy a few years ago. The cat one didn't stop him from tearing out his stitches.

jennyr · Jul 8, 2009

Oh Linda. I do hope it works this time. My vet uses subcutaneous stitches for feral spays. But I don't know why they don't use them all the time - there must be a reason.

laureen227 · Jul 8, 2009

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I asked about a soft cone but apparently nobody in Canada has ever heard of such a thing - go figure!

here's a few ideas that you can order online:
foam ecollar
soft ecollar

yosemite · Jul 9, 2009

Originally Posted by jennyranson

Oh Linda. I do hope it works this time. My vet uses subcutaneous stitches for feral spays. But I don't know why they don't use them all the time - there must be a reason.

Yes, it probably takes a bit longer so they can't be bothered.

Besides, they've charged me an extra $65 so far for the additional visits and replacement stitches.

Originally Posted by laureen227

here's a few ideas that you can order online:
foam ecollar
soft ecollar

Thank you for the links - I'll check them out.

sarahp · Jul 9, 2009

Weird they wouldn't just use tissue glue like they do for kitty spays. How's he doing today?

yosemite · Jul 9, 2009

Originally Posted by sarahp

Weird they wouldn't just use tissue glue like they do for kitty spays. How's he doing today?

He's doing OK. He sleeps with me all night and this morning I noticed he managed to get one front paw out of the sleepers during the night but no harm done. The neck area of the sleepers is a bit large for him but he's doing OK. My hubby got a new camcorder at the Panasonic employee sale and yesterday when I got home, he had taken some fabulous video of Bijou in his sleepers at his food dish eating. I asked him if he can do a still picture from the video and he said he can. As soon as he gets it ready I'll post it - it is just too cute to ignore. All you can see really is his back end with his little "drawers" on.

Desperate Measures

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Darksome Duo!

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