Momo's post surgery situation

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Mandon

Mandon

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
344
Location
British Columbia, Canada
Hi, me again. Momo had her surgery and it went well. Problems are now arising though.

First of all - they gave me 4 days worth of metacam and some baytril for the recovery. Problem is, Momo's been very fussy at her surgical staples so as a last ditch effort to keep the sutures closed, they put her in this sort of sock thing and a brace made of bandage/tape around her neck area so she can't fuss at them. It's horrible. She has no balance and can't eat on her own. I want nothing more than to just take all this stuff off but then she'd just open up her stitches.

I don't know if it's a matter of her not being on enough megacam or not but they gave me 4 syringes, each with 0.3ml, and she's had some today.. But this happened last time too, and the last time they tried a cone, which didn't work so I removed it and her sutures healed fine.

I just hate watching her like this. She's absolutely miserable but I don't want her to open the wound and have to go back to the vet and let them know I disobeyed their instructions. For reference, this is what Momo has on her right now.

3Y4BwIL.jpg
 
OMG, what is the concentration and what is her weight? I'm assuming you mean the syringe is 0.03ml dose? If she is messing with them her pain is not being properly managed and you may need a higher dose or add tramadol too twice a day.
 
0.3 ml is probably a good dose for her, so its just her. Rats are like cats and when you wrap them up over the middle they cannot walk and will fall over.
Poor Momo and you. I HATE this dilemma. How bad was she last time? And for how long?
 
lilspaz68 said:
0.3 ml is probably a good dose for her, so its just her. Rats are like cats and when you wrap them up over the middle they cannot walk and will fall over.
Poor Momo and you. I HATE this dilemma. How bad was she last time? And for how long?
Click to expand...

I took her out of the wrap.... I thought it was inhibiting her breathing, because she was making a slight wheezing noise.

Last time was a very similar situation. They used a cone, I took it off - and she healed up just fine. As for right now - she doesn't seem to be fussing at it that much.

This is very disappointing. The Pitter Patter rat rescue recommended these vets so I thought I finally found what I was looking for.

Not sure what the dosage is but it says 5cc's per dose on the package.
 
UPDATE:

She's doing fine so far just like last time. I don't know what the vet was talking about when he said she was messing with her sutures but if she truly wanted to pull them out she would have done so already.
 
I'm glad she is doing better. They heal up so fast she should be fine soon.. Healing vibes from all of us. Its so hard to find a vet you can rely on - I think we've all been through it.
 
Momo is such a strong girl! I'm so proud of her! Sending lots of warm healing vibes to that precious girl of yours :)
 
Great news!! I thought she might have opened up incisions before hence the rat packaging,but if she licked and tugged on some sutures that would be normal. Glad she's doing better.
 
lilspaz68 said:
Great news!! I thought she might have opened up incisions before hence the rat packaging,but if she licked and tugged on some sutures that would be normal. Glad she's doing better.
Click to expand...

She opened it. Just discovered it this morning.. she's kind of limping a bit but it doesn't seem to be bothering her, and it's not bleeding. Should I leave it be or take her in to get it resutured?

EDIT: Taking her to the vet to get it closed. I'm gonna push for a glue/staple combination.. that should stay closed, even if she removes the staples
 
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I find if pain is managed then even if stiches are removed, the glue is good enough

Hope she is soon doing better .... that wrap looks horrible!
If metacam isn't enough to control her pain, lilspaz68 can give you info re meds and dosage
 
SQ said:
I find if pain is managed then even if stiches are removed, the glue is good enough

Hope she is soon doing better .... that wrap looks horrible!
If metacam isn't enough to control her pain, lilspaz68 can give you info re meds and dosage
Click to expand...

It was very horrible. I had to really press the vet for some glue in case I wanted to take his latest wrap off after he resealed the incision. This one's considerably less horrible than the last one, in that she isn't flopping around like a fish anymore and actually has some movement capabilities. I think just to be safe I'm going to leave it on for the day and feed her mushed lab blocks on a spoon. It seems to work to keep her fed. It's not ideal but she isn't suffering with this one and the vet's on vacation for the weekend so I need it to stay closed
 
Does anyone know how long it takes for a wound to close? I really want to get her out of this thing as soon as possible so I can monitor it for infections.. and because she absolutely hates it. but I'm worried about it re-opening
 
lilspaz68 said:
Keep her in it for 2 days by then the worst should be over
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Two days starting now or two days from when she had it put on?

She's really depressed with it on her.. that's the problem. She won't drink when I put her water bottle up to her mouth and when I try feeding her the mush I made from crushed oxbow and water, she won't eat it

edit: fed her some scrambled eggs because they're high in iron and I heard that's good for healing sutures. She loved them - easy to eat even with the wrap on and she wolfed them down. Is that okay? Or is too much protein bad?
 
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I ended up taking it off yesterday and she didn't fuss at her suture at all. It's still closed and clean, and I expect she'll heal faster now that she's back with her sisters in her cage.
 

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