Whether your companion has had life-saving oncologic surgery or a routine TPLO, surgery rehab for dogs usually includes pain management and incision care. While administering medication can be straightforward, watching your companion’s wounds heal can be a much more unpredictable (and sometimes unsettling) process. What does a normal wound look like? How should you care for staples or skin glue? In this blog, we discuss some basic facts about incision care during surgery rehab for dogs.
Proper Incision Care is Vital During Surgery Rehab for Dogs
Caring for your canine’s stitches or staples can be a daunting prospect, which is why your veterinary care team will take care to spell things out for you. One of the best things you can do to foster your companion’s recovery is to follow your veterinarian’s incision care instructions to the letter. Typically, these instructions include keeping the area dry, preventing your companion from licking or chewing at the incision, and keeping a close eye on things as your canine recovers. As difficult as it can be to do things like keep your companion in their Elizabethan collar, following your care team’s directions is vital for a safe, simple recovery.
Typical Incision Traits During Surgery Rehab for Dogs
If you’ve ever had an operation (or even a skinned knee), you know that healing isn’t always pretty. Even when things are healing well, sutures, scabs, and other wound changes. Even healthy incisions can leak a small amount of clear or pink fluid in the first day or so. You may notice some slight bruising and pink skin near your companion’s incision, which is also typical.
Warning Signs of Infection or Other Incision Problems
Being a diligent guardian is vital during surgery rehab for dogs; infection is a very real concern after any operation, and your companion’s incision may display a few key signs that something is amiss. Excessive swelling, foul-smelling discharge, and persistent drainage can indicate that the incision isn’t healing properly. If you notice these symptoms, gaping edges along your canine’s incision, or things like behavioral changes or discomfort, contact your veterinary care team. Infections associated with surgical incisions can cause trouble down the road, too. Implants, like the ones typcally used for a TPLO or a fracture repair do not respond to antibiotics the way skin does. Insicion infections could result in colonization of the surgical implants, requiring long term antibiotics and then removal of the plate/screws once the pet is healed. The safest way to ensure proper healing for your pet is to follow discharge instructions, keep those elizabethan collars on, and notify of anything abnormal as soon as possible!.
Trust Maryland Veterinary Surgical Services With Your Companion’s Health
Your companion’s health is important, and the team at MVSS is ready to provide the best care possible for your furry family. We are dedicated to combining comprehensive exams and assessments with informative and honest discussions of your companion’s care. Once we have worked with you to decide on the best course of action for your dog, our professionals will use their surgical expertise to work towards the goal of giving your companion an active and pain-free life. We are proud to serve loyal companions in Catonsville and Baltimore. To learn more about our services, give us a call at 410-788-4088 or visit us online. For more information and tips for pet health, follow us on Facebook and Pinterest.