# 13 yr old GSD recovering from Tumor operation



## arman&babe (Jun 21, 2013)

Hi All, 

I am hoping that someone will be able to help me here. Babe is my 13 year old germanshepherd. I have had her since she was 7-8 weeks old. 

Babe recently underwent tumor operation. Its in her belly. She got 5 tumors but we only operated on the one that had grown too big and was bothering her the most. Now she is restricted to my bedroom. 

We are now facing the following issues:
1. She is extremely intelligent & has figured out ways of getting out of all kinds of restrictions that we put on her to stop her from licking her surgery site. I have ran out of ideas. We take turns watching her and she usually won't fight the cone if we are watching her but she doesn't like it. The licking is slowing down the recovery as she keeps taking out stitches. 

2. The first time she took out the stitches, the vet opened up a small portion, cleaned the inside and stitched her up again. The surrounding skin was in relatively good condition. But now we can't do that, the skin is soft and won't stitch well. 

3. The gap keeps exuding sticky (not really bloody) liquid that sticks to wherever she is laying down. 

She is currently on nightly shots of antibiotics. We try and keep the wound unbandaged so it has a chance to dry out fast. Most of the stitch has healed very nicely but its this small site (3-4 stitches) that is now causing problem. I clean her with antiseptic and sprinkle the site liberally with antibiotic powder 6-8 times daily. She is also getting a pill and liquid med to help the site heal fast. I have kept her on a home cooked diet of meat and give her plenty of glucose water to drink through the day. Its really hot here, 43 degrees at times and I know that makes her dry out fast too. 

If there is any advice, ANY way that I can make this site heal faster. PLEASE please share. 

The rest of the stitches has healed soooooo well it is incredible. Even the vet is very pleased with her progress. But I am frankly just extremely worried with this one spot. She's my baby and I want her to get better asap. 

Forgot to mention, she is restricted to my bedroom and bathroom since her surgery to limit her movement. We noticed that the more she moves, the more she has this liquid oozing. Pls help!


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

Welcome to the forum - Babe sounds well loved. 

Glucose water? I wonder if that inhibits healing? I don't know exactly what it is. 

I would also make sure, using someone like Monica Segal, that the meals she is getting are balanced to help her heal. 

What does the vet say? 

I had an older dog who had a large opening in her skin and we did compresses - not sure if that's good on stitches and would ask the vet, but also gave her probiotics mid-day and DMG liquid from Vetriscience in her meals. I have no idea if that DMG helped but the hole went from small fist size to a pinky finger sized in a month and when we went to the dermatologist he couldn't believe, given her immune system, that it had done that! 

Good luck!


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## arman&babe (Jun 21, 2013)

JeanKBBMMMAAN said:


> I would also make sure, using someone like Monica Segal, that the meals she is getting are balanced to help her heal.
> 
> What does the vet say?
> 
> ...


Hi,

Thanks for the advice. What is DMG? I live in Bangladesh, if its a medicine, maybe it goes by another name here? Glucose water is basically to give her energy and keep her hydrated since she isn't eating so much now. 

Thanks again,
Arman.


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

This is it: Vetri-DMG&#153; Liquid for Dogs and Cats I am not sure if you will be able to find/get it there, but that should get you started. 

DIMETHYLGLYCINE: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions and Warnings - WebMD

It was used in Russian cosmonauts first, then the Eastern Bloc Olympians, then horse people started to pick up on it - that's my understanding anyway and there is probably much more to it. Hope that helps.


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

arman&babe said:


> ...
> We take turns watching her and she usually won't fight the cone if we are watching her but she doesn't like it.
> ...


Sorry, I'm kind of confused! Are you keeping the cone on her? Or have you stopped using it? Or is she licking the surgical site despite the cone?


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