QuestionQUESTION: Hi Marie, our 3yr old female pitbull, Mika, had acl surgery 10days ago and that is healing fine. A couple days after surgery we noticed a little "hole" in her side on the other side of surgery site. We thought this may have had something to do with surgery but vet said no. The little hole has gotten bigger and is an area of about 6 inches, open, raw, oozing and there is another spot about two inches from that same thing. Is this cellulitis, the cause and what do we do. She is on antibiotics, 2 types, and pain pills. Help??
ANSWER: Hi Deb - The site you are talking about was not a drain during surgery? Just wondered if they entered that area for a needle aspiration ( remove fluids) or a drain which does the same thing.???
Sounds very odd? A cellulitis is hot red and take some time to open. If it is a cellulitis you would need a certain antibiotic to deal with that. Not all antibiotics will work for everything.
I have worked with many dogs that have had surgery and have never seen anything like you have described.
If you want to send me some photos . ... I can take a look and tell you what I think.
This is hard for me without being able to see the site.
my e-mail : mtnmom@gci.net
Make sure you are giving some Salmon Oil with her am food. Give 1 teaspoon per day. This will help her skin and coat. Also, good for the joints too. http://www.yummychummies.com
Also, Ask the VET about some vitamin E , would give 150 IU daily.
This helps with the inflammation.
NuVET Plus would be a great addition to her diet, too.
http://www.nuvet.com/81098
One wafer per day costs about .50 cents.
A great Immune Buster!
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Marie, in answer to your question the vet said he did not know how she got this and her meds are toridol for pain, 500 mgs cephalexin for surgery 3xdaily and for this new one, ciproflaxin 250 mgs, 2 pills 2x daily. I don't see any improvement and actually seems to be spreading out and getting worse. I tried warm compresses with a little peroxide but it seemed painful to her and I also used dry and moist heat. The area is very wet and now the hair all around open wounds is hardening too.
AnswerThe only way to know if it is a fungus or ??? is to scrape it and have them place the cells under a microscope. The Vet can also do a culture of the wound and grow it for 2 days. That way you will know if you are treating her with the correct antibiotic..
You can do yogurt every day ... Get the active culture kind like
" Activia " brand. give her 1/2 cup per day. This will protect her from an OVERGROWTH of yeast in her belly. It may also help her to heal. Make sure it has active cultures.
Don't do peroxide, it will just dry the area out too much. See if you can find this in your local pet store. This stuff works great!
EMT gel
http://emtgel.com/
Good Luck
Marie of NuVET Plus
The BEST Doggie Vitamins in the USA
