Collect Questions

Apologies for the not so pleasant pic but im really worried about Riley

He was castrated on Friday and obviously had to be stitched up, but im really not happy with the job the vet did he looks like he's been hacked open then sewn up REALLY badly!!! The only time any of our dogs have had stitches is when Chloe had her Caesarian and cruciate op. Both times the stitches were very neat and didn't cause any problems. The casarian was done by the same vet that did Riley.

Am i over reacting or does this look really bad? Im worried its starting to get infected too. Im thinking of taking him back tomorrow, what does anyone else think i should do??






It looks swollen around the stitches to me, if you are worried, go back to the vets tomorrow.
Teagans spay scar got swollen when she had stitches, and they tok them out early.




Jessica it is difficult to comment on a picture , if you are the slightest bit concerned see the vet to check things out ...
The wound doesn't look particularly inflamed..does it smell ok ? Is Riley well and eating, not feeling hot..can you touch the wound or is it painful..




We often see wounds just like this, there is a bit of infection around the stitches it looks like, has he been licking at the wound? Male dogs are often worse than bitches for licking, it would be worthwhile popping a buster collar on him. Often the skin that has been shaved up for the op can cause irritation, or he may be having a little reaction to the type of stitches used. I would pop him back to the Vets, they will probably give you some antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory injection. Poor boy.




Thank you for the replies

He is eating and drinking fine, and is as active as usual, though as theres three of them i would imagine he would be as he'd hate to be left behind He let me touch it earlier when i was having a look but i think it was sore as he kept trying to see what i was doing and to roll back over. Poor Riley!

He's not actually licking it much at all, he's been really good. He just sits and whimpers though




If he is rushing around, he may welll have pulled the wound a little bit and made it sore, he really needs to stay as calm as possible until the stitches come out..but i know from my own experience that that is easier said than done!




Awww poor Riley looks a bit sore,maybe a trip to the vet if you are worried.
Hope it gets better soon.




A certain amount of swelling is to be expected, did the vet give him antibiotics as the stitches do look a bit infected, but the person to really tell you is the vet so pop him back if you are worried, there should be no charge.

There does seem to be a fair bit of bruising still on and around the scrotum, which is normal, and it could be that you were expecting the operation to be smaller than it actually is.

EDIT, bit suprised he has not been shaved, is this now normal practice as one of mine was done in December and he was shaved around the scrotum, the inside of the leg at the top and the belly.




As well as what others have said about possible infection, it does look like he's pulled them (no vet, but quite good at human op sites - can't be that different ).
If he's been running around that will be why. You need to be really careful, the problem is with wounds, if he pulls them and they come loose, you will get a certain amount of wound breakdown and possible over granulation (extra tissue growing over). Once a wound has started healing, you can't put more stitches in it as it isn't deep enough so you need to be careful that he doesn't pull these out (if it gets desperate he'd have to be cut and stitched again if the vet was happy to do this and he will be much more sore).

But I can't really tell from the picture, if you are concerned at all, get him to the vet and put your mind at rest!




It is normal for the vet to stich well away from the actual incision, sort of pulling the good skin together so the actual cut surface does not have any stress put on it, the stitching looks ok as long as there is no infection and the dog is not licking it. However it is important that the stitches are not pulled through the skin so activity and swelling should be kept to the minimum