My dog has a wound that won't heal. I took her to the vet in January 2011 to have a cyst that has ruptured removed. After the stitches were taken out it healed and two weeks later it the scar swelled up (not the cyst returning) and it split open again. I took her back to the vet, they opened it up again removed more tissue and used a K-laser on it and after two months of the K-laser it seemed to heal but it again blistered up and ruptured again. I took her to another vet were they took some tissue out and within another month split open again. I took her to a third vet the went in the wound and put antibiotic gel in it. All three vets gave me antibiotic pills each time. Now as of 6 November 2011 it has split open again and I don't know what to do. Two of the vets have also done airobic and anairobic bacteria smears and come back negative (after three or four weeks of not taking antibiotic). What can it be? Three Vets were at a loss and I sure don't know what to do. HELP

Is the wound an area where she can lick at it, keeping it moist ?

Yes it is. I am unemployed and currently spend all day with her and she does not seem to lick it. Its on her side close to her belly. At night I put a shirt on her to keep it covered and prenting ouzing onto the furniture she sleeps on. Also what's weird is the wound does heal completely after about 45 days, only scar tissue can be seen and its smooth and hair growing around it. But after about two weeks of it looking like its over the scar gets what looks like pus in it and splits open again. It doesn't smell or even seem to bother her.

Can you squeeze it like a pimple and get pus? Or does it drain on its own?

Have you tried flushing it? You can use distilled water with some iodine (make it look like tea) and try flushing it.. Get a syringe and stick it up in there and flush out the wound. There may be something in it if it continues to open and ooze. The body is amazing, it will try to extract foreign objects out. It can take awhile if there is no medical help.

I'm surprised that this hasn't been thought of...

Try flushing it with the iodine solution. Instead of antibiotic ointment, try just applying good 'ol KY Jelly... Antibiotics actually slow down healing and the body can grow immune to its effects.

That's what I would try. If all else fails, I would try and find a specialist in Internal Medicine and see why this is happening.

It is perfectly true about the antibiotics and an excellent suggestion re irrigating the wound site.

I have several questions that may help answer your problem.

1. Has she been spayed?

2. How long ago, if yes.

3. At this clinic?

Paleophlatus,
yes my dog has been spayed. She is two years old and I spayed her very close to her first heat about 1.5 years ago. The original problem, about 6-9 months after spaying, came from what looked like a pie plate size and thickness swelling on her (side)ribs. It soon developed into a golf ball size cyst and split open. Then would heal after operations, and split open again. She was spayed, has had the area X-rayed (so no PIT id tags inserted) and much of the work done all at the same Vet.

Thank you for your response. I am a retired small animal veterinarian and while I have not been in practice for a number of years, old memories die hard. I immediately recalled several cases like this that I have handled, coming from frustrated pet owners, as you and your practice are.

There is a quite popular (because of it's price and suture quality) veterinary surgical suture material, called 'Vetafil', or 'Braunamid' or 'Supramid', probably nearly 50 years 'old'. It is non absorbable, meaning it never dissolves, very strong and yet flexible, material consisting of many very fine strands of continuous nylon fiber gathered together within a plastic coating. It comes in various delivery systems, all of which have been sterilized by an acceptable method.

Sounds great, and is EXCEPT when it is used for procedures within the body cavity... such as ligating the uterine stump in a spay procedure. It has one of those precautions that usually escapes scrupulous attention, probably for one very good reason: it is sterilized when the vets receive it. However, turned out that there is( or was at that time) something about the material that benefits from steam sterilization. Industrial processes of a different but still effective sterilization were probably done on the material.

Unless it is steam sterilized before use, the material runs the chance of causing a 'foreign body reaction' at the surgical site and necessitates actual removal of the old material before the effect is 'cured'.

What is the effect? An open, abscess like draining wound, usually on the side of the body close to the uterine/ovarian end of the operation, but it can occur anywhere I suspect. I have only seen it a few times, located high on the side of the dogs involved. Seems the sterile abscess, which is how the reaction manifests, seeks the easiest way out of the body, and will progress until it is able to escape through the areas between muscles until it reaches the skin. There the skin eventually gives way to the digestive nature of blood cells that break down and release the enzymatic material; and you have a draining abscess. Antibiotics are not effective for the simplest of reasons... there are no bacteria involved, which also explains where there is never anything on a culture medium.

I have used several brands of the product without problem (as far as I know), but I always sterilized each factory sterilized container. I also used 'bulk' product, unsterilized on a roll, but always steam sterilized small, single use amounts, and it caused no problems. My suggestion is to query your vets about this possibility and see if they may have used the product during her surgery. It should be noted on her surgical record.

Even if not noted, it still may have gotten used if they had the 'factory sterilized' material on hand and experienced a shortage of the other material during surgery... maybe it became unsterile(dropped on the floor... I always hated it when that happened), or was used up, or was forgotten to get put into the surgical kit before sterilization... whatever.. if it was in the clinic, it could have gotten used... maybe.

Or, it is something else. This is just a suggestion I'll add since you're all at the end of your ropes.
Best of luck.

Paleophlatus,
It makes sense. All the vets seem to have thought it is a foreign body but they couldn't find it. I'll be talking to the vet later this week, who has done most of the work on her and ask if they used any of those suture types. I'll keep you informed if that works. Thanks for the suggestion. At this point anything helps.

HI! This happened to my malamute/shepard cross not long after she was spayed(she was pregnant when we had her spayed but didn't know) We tried all of the antibiotics, the vet did a second surgery as the sutures did not dissolve and removed what he could. She is now 9.5 years old and has been erupting since she was about 1 year old. It seems to deal with itself. It heals, blows up drains on it's own and doesn't seem to adversely effect her. Good Luck, it is trying and gross but you get used to it after a while.

Nugget, what are explaining is not right. I can't imagine how that is for her, can you please start a new post as you have done so that you get some feedback. Right now you are piggybacking on an old post from November but I think you have issues here that everyone could benefit from. Thank you so much for posting under this thread.

Tick

Hi! I have a dog, 1 year old. & months ago he broke his back foot. The surgeon put in titanium with 8 bolts and closed up. After some weeks fluid gathered up around the stiches, mainly because he was to active after surgery I was told. But after awhile he bite the "ball" on his leg and it became a open wound. Now its been 5 months, and it don't heal! The only thing my vet says is to wait and see, but it can't be normal? Could this be what you are talking about?


Please help a guy in need!

Stefan

Hi Toddgeorgel,

I was just wondering if you ever got an answer or resolved the problem with your dog?
We have almost identical issue with or dog. Although she was spayed about 5 years ago so not sure if there is a "staute of limitations" (so to speak) on the advice you received from the retired small animal specialist? (i.e. your issue happen about 5 months after dog was spayed)

Thanks

Steven