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Rabbit pulled Stitches out

22 10:04:00

Question
Hi, I spayed my rabbit on December 22, 2009 and took her back home on Dec 23. Vet gave us a collar but since she doesn't like it when went out and got a little jacket that cover up the stitches. The appointment to take the stitches out is on Jan 2, 2009. Today she somehow got out of the jacket while no one was home, and I found she probably pulled her stitches out as the area is red.

There isn't any bleeding and since the vet I usually go to isn't open 24/7, I called another branch and the technician said it should be fine since its been around 9 days. They also said there isn't any technician available for rabbits until Jan. 2nd.

I applied a very thin coat of antibiotic ointment on the stitches and put the jacket back on.

I'm wondering if there are anything else I should do and if this is serious. Thank you very much and happy new year.

Answer
Dear Wei,

After nine days, there should be good tissue healing, and I very much doubt that the wound would open after this long.  Gently wash the incision site with dilute povidone iodine, and keep it dry and clean.  Keep an eye on it to be sure she doesn't worry at it any more, but the sutures were probably itchy, and now that they're gone she'll probably leave it alone.

If you see the lips of the wound actually opening, and really cannot get to a vet, then you can apply a very small amount of super glue (gel style works best, and apply with the tip of a toothpick, so you don't get any inside the wound) to the *very edges* of the wound and press them together.  This will hold things together until you can get her to an emergency vet.

But I really doubt you will see any problems this long after her surgery.

Happy New Year!

Dana