Caring For Your Canine Friend After Surgery? 4 Steps To Take When Caring For Sutures Blog If your dog has had abdominal surgery, it's important that you care for the sutures while the wound is healing. You may find this difficult since your dog will want to investigate the foreign objects in its skin. It may even try to bite and scratch at them. Unfortunately, that can lead to serious complications including infections and torn stitches. Here are four steps you should take to care for your dog's sutures, and prevent complications. Keep the Area Clean While your dog is recovering from surgery, the most important thing you can do is keep the wound clean. You won't be able to bathe your dog until the sutures are removed, but you can still keep the area clean. Saturate several pieces of sterile medical gauze with saline solution, such as contact lens cleaner. Squeeze the solution onto the wound and then carefully blot the area with dry piece of medical gauze. Repeat the application at least twice a day. Apply Heat After surgery, you may notice a bit of swelling around the incision. Minor swelling is normal after a surgery. You can help speed up the healing process by applying heat several times a day. Fill a bowl with very hot water, as hot as you can stand it. Place a clean cloth in the water and allow it to soak up some of the water. Wring it out well and carefully place the cloth directly over sutures. Leave it in place for about five minutes and then remove it for another five minutes. Continue the process until the cloth cools down. Repeat this several times a day. Cover it Up If your dog refuses to leave the sutures alone, you'll need to cover it up. If your dog is small, cut the leg section off a pair of panty hose – be sure the piece is about the same length as your dog's mid-section. First, place a small piece of non-stick gauze over the sutures. This will prevent the sutures from snagging on the protective covering. Next, carefully pull the panty hose tube up over your dog until it covers the mid-section. If you have a large-breed dog, you can use an old t-shirt as a cover-up. Place the t-shirt on your dog and then wrap a strip of medical gauze around the mid-section. The gauze will hold the t-shirt in place so that it doesn't trip your dog while it's walking. See the Vet While your dog is recovering from surgery, you'll need to watch for signs of infection. Some signs you should watch for include fever, severe swelling, or foul odors or greenish pus coming from the wound. If you notice any of those signs, you need to take your dog to the vet immediately. Contact a clinic like Gwynedd Veterinary Hospital for more info. Share 24 February 2017 About Me My sweet, shy mother-in-law absolutely adores her dogs and cats. She takes excellent care of them. Whenever one of her beloved cats or dogs shows symptoms of pain, she immediately takes him or her to a nearby veterinarian. Has your pet experienced difficulties walking lately? Because difficulty walking is a symptom of arthritic joints, consider scheduling an appointment with a veterinarian in your area sooner rather than later. An experienced veterinarian can recommend prescription medicines for your pet’s arthritic joints. On this blog, I hope you will discover how veterinarians can help pets recover from the painful symptoms of arthritis. Archive 2015 2016 2017 Tags Latest Posts Piggyback Pests: The Two Unwanted Invaders Fleas Can Bring With Them 28 February 2017 Four Common Care Mistakes That May Sabotage Your Hamster's Health 28 February 2017 Caring For Your Canine Friend After Surgery? 4 Steps To Take When Caring For Sutures 24 February 2017 Bring Home The Right Puppy 24 February 2017 5 Benefits Of Neutering Your Dog 23 February 2017 ©2018 | Help for Painful Joints