# Bad reaction to internal stitches



## clfike (Mar 20, 2009)

Timber had to have emergency surgery at the beginning of May (he had testicular torsion and was a cryptorchid). All these weeks later, he's having a bad reaction to the internal stitches that were supposed to dissolve. His abdominal incision is infected. They gave us the option of antibiotics or another surgery to open him up and remove the internal stitches. We decided to try the antibiotics first.

I was just wondering if anyone else has had this happen and how you treated it. Apparently, it's not very common. As if the rare testicular torsion wasn't enough.

He hasn't even bothered to get a job to pay for all of this.


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## natalie559 (Feb 4, 2005)

> Originally Posted By: CindyFHe hasn't even bothered to get a job to pay for all of this.


No advice, just good thoughts and a thanks for the smile. Wishing Timber well.


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## Tbarrios333 (May 31, 2009)

No advice, sorry! Good luck to you and Timber. I'll keep you in my thoughts and hope for a speedy recovery


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## amjrchamberlain (Mar 8, 2005)

No advice here, either. But I'm wishing you all, all the best!


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## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

We had this happen to a rescue dog after spay. Her incision healed nicely and she was adopted into a good home. Maybe two weeks after the adoption one end of the incision reopened (after it healed on the outside) and there were signs of infection. The vet put the dog under and pulled a long thread out through the incision. Luckily the internal stitches were made with a single thread so it was easy to get it out. After this the dog was treated with antibiotics. I was told that human grade material was used for the stitches, that this is rare but it can happen. There is no way to know that the dog will respond like this ahead of time.


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## Tina & Dave (Apr 19, 2004)

I havent had this happen with a dog but it happened to me when I had my gall baldder out. I went on antibotics and three weeks later the incision started to heal. But it looked really awful for a while.. little holes all along the incision with pieces of the stitches sticking out.


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

Max had trouble with his stitches from his bloat. Now 4 years later, they are still there. yeah, dissolvable, right....


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## JakesDogs (Jun 4, 2008)

Well, that's not fair. The healing process can be uncomfortable and itchy enough without this. Hope he's not trying to do his own 'suture removal' by the old-fashioned canine method - rip those so and so's outta there!







ID


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## LJsMom (Jan 6, 2008)

I had one of those dissolvable stitches pop out several years after my last c-section. It was gross.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

one of my females also had this happen,,a "bad batch of gut stitch" I was told,,,she also wasn't the only one at the time..

Anyhow,,Sami's incision would just not heal, it was oozy, swollen, and I opted to re-open which they did at no charge..she was perfectly fine afterwards.. Hope your boy gets some relief poor guy!


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## well_armed (Mar 20, 2007)

As I type this Bruno is at the vet having some of his internal "dissolvable" stitches surgically removed. 

Bruno was neutered back in March and I have been dealing with the internal stitches causing infections since then. He has been on and off of different antibiotics for 3 months now.


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## clfike (Mar 20, 2009)

I hope Bruno did well in surgery. We're only a few days into the antibiotic with Timber. I looked last night, and it does "look" better, but who knows. I'll guess we'll wait and see.

Please keep me posted on Bruno's recovery.


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## Alto (Nov 18, 2008)

Went through this a few weeks ago with a rescue pup - tried antibiotics, saw some improvement, then the whole thing went south over a 24h period - back into surgery, stitches out, much better


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## well_armed (Mar 20, 2007)

Bruno's procedure went well, the vet expects that to be the last of the internal stitches. He came home a little groggy, still feeling the effects of the anesthesia. The vet wrote him a 'script for Cephlexan 2x a day for the next 14 days.
Since Thursday evening I have noticed that he isn't bothered by the spot on his belly at all where the infection was.


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## clfike (Mar 20, 2009)

That's good to hear. Timber is on Cephalexin right now too, hoping that will do the trick. However, it's giving him some serious diarrhea.


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## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

If you haven't added so probiotics you might give that a try for the bad poops


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## clfike (Mar 20, 2009)

Thanks Barb. I'll try that!


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## clfike (Mar 20, 2009)

Talked to the vet. We're going to pick up those probiotics tonight. Thanks again for the tip!


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## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

Cindy - Hope it helps!!!!


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## Spiritsmam (Nov 10, 2007)

I went something similar this in February. Eli was bilaterally cryptorchid, was neutered (full length abdominal incision) and then developed a suture reaction to both internal and subQ sutures - you can clearly see where the sutures were. He ended up having to go back to surgery, have everything resected and a different suture placed. He did great after the second surgery.


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## clfike (Mar 20, 2009)

Poor thing. Yep, that's about what Timber looked like too, though his incision was a bit smaller.


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## clfike (Mar 20, 2009)

Timber's incision site looks great now, but the "soft serve" stools have not gotten better, even after Fortiflora. The vet has suggested a million different tests we can try, but I decided to go with the food route first. We're going to start on a prescription kibble for digestive issues first and go from there. Ugh...


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

Make sure that you find out the name of the sutures, and ensure that they won't be used for any future surgeries.

Cephalexin completely trashes my dogs' digestive system. I would never use it for digestive issues.

You might try some l-glutamine, powder mixed with something like apple juice.


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## clfike (Mar 20, 2009)

I'll try that. We picked up an Iams prescription food from the vet yesterday for digestive issues and we'll see if it makes a difference. From reading on this board, it sounds like digestive issues are pretty common in GSDs. I've had them for many years and I guess I've been pretty lucky so far that I haven't had this happen. If it's going to happen, it would be to Timber. He's already my problem child medically.

Thanks Lisa!


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

Yea, GSDs seem to have more than their fair share of these issues!

I hope that the iams works for you - usually not a great food. Goos luck!


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