Open incision after spay

[Luci&Skittles]

Hello,
Skittles was spayed yesterday and I checked the wound tonight and Imit looks like it’s opened. No pus or redness. My vet does t have an emergency care but refer us to a sister emergency hospital. I called and they said nothing helpful “keep and eye on it and call the vet in the morning”... so here are a couple pics, what do I do until the morning?!?

 

[JBun]

Until getting into the vet is possible, keeping that wound as clean as possible and from opening up more I see as the most essential thing. I would be really careful about trying to keep it clean. If you have some sort of tube sock or puppy shirt that you could rig to fit over the wound to protect it, that may be helpful. But if she is still trying to mess with it then either a homemade e collar to prevent her chewing at it, or monitoring her all night will be necessary.

If steri strips or butterfly bandage was available, I might even try and close the wound as much as possible with it until I could get to the vet, provided I could keep bun from ripping the bandage off.

And make sure tomorrow that the vet puts your bun on the proper rabbit safe antibiotic(plus pain meds which you should already have). Also, if your bun isn't eating pretty normally by now, you will also need to start syringe feeding, which food and instructions your vet should provide. A rabbit shouldn't go more than 24 hours without eating an adequate amount.

 

[Luci&Skittles]

Until getting into the vet is possible, keeping that wound as clean as possible and from opening up more I see as the most essential thing. I would be really careful about trying to keep it clean. If you have some sort of tube sock or puppy shirt that you could rig to fit over the wound to protect it, that may be helpful. But if she is still trying to mess with it then either a homemade e collar to prevent her chewing at it, or monitoring her all night will be necessary.

If steri strips or butterfly bandage was available, I might even try and close the wound as much as possible with it until I could get to the vet, provided I could keep bun from ripping the bandage off.

And make sure tomorrow that the vet puts your bun on the proper rabbit safe antibiotic(plus pain meds which you should already have). Also, if your bun isn't eating pretty normally by now, you will also need to start syringe feeding, which food and instructions your vet should provide. A rabbit shouldn't go more than 24 hours without eating an adequate amount.

Yes she has been on pain meds and antibiotics since I took her home. She’s eating great, it was just the incision. I took her to the vet this morning and they put 2 staples in. I will keep a watchful eye on her, thank you!

 

[Luci&Skittles]

Ok so she has already pulling out a staple! I had no choice but to make a makeshift recovery suit for her. It’s not too tight, I can fit more than 2 fingers in between her fur (not her skin) and the knots. After I put it on her she looked around and then later down. I check again to make sure nothing in constricting when she lays down and it’s not, just snug. Anyway, is this ok? I don’t know what else to do and the vet doesn’t open until Monday.

 

[JBun]

As long as she can't chew it off or get a foot caught. Something that might work better is a preemie onsie, small dog shirt, or even using a large tube sock and cutting the appropriate holes in it to make a shirt. It's ok to be a little snug(but not constrictive) if it's stretchy material. In fact for stretchy material, it's better not to be saggy so that a foot might get caught in it. Though with these you would need to make sure your bun doesn't keep trying to chew at it and possible ingest any loose strings from the fabric.


There are also other possibilities like homemade donut collars or soft e collar, that may work better.

 

[Luci&Skittles]

Thank you. I will go get a premie onesie tomorrow. I tried the tube sock and it felt more contracting so I took it off. She has much better range of motion with the pink one so I will keep her in this for the night. Thank you!

 

[Luci&Skittles]

Edit: constricting*

 

[nicolekline97]

Not the same but similar I had a c-section and my skin pulled like that. A sterile rinse was applied daily. There was a first aid item used for wound care. It needed changed daily twice and covered for about 10-14 days. The vet might apply glue to it to keep it together. She will likely need covering.

 

[Luci&Skittles]

Not the same but similar I had a c-section and my skin pulled like that. A sterile rinse was applied daily. There was a first aid item used for wound care. It needed changed daily twice and covered for about 10-14 days. The vet might apply glue to it to keep it together. She will likely need covering.

thank you! Yes she wound up getting staples and I put a shirt on her after she ripped one staple out.