Need advice about Maggie.

Maggie is still having problems with her foot and was wondering if anyone here has been in a similar situation.

The situation: Maggie had surgery on her foot about a month ago, she ripped open her stitches a few times and now she has a large open wound on her foot. There isn't enough skin to cover it. It is about the size of a golf ball, round and red and bumpy and raw. The vet said that is granulation tissue. But she has been at the vet's office now for a few weeks - they are keeping her there so they can clean her foot every day - they soak it in betadine and clean it. she has had the bandage off for about 1 1/2 weeks now which is good. I think it is looking better but...yesterday the vet said it wasn't healing like she wanted. She said it may eventually just stop healing and she'll be left with the open wound. She talked to a surgeon about doing a skin graft, which by the way costs around $1k, but the surgeon said that it may not work. So then the vet was saying she hopes it will shrink down enough until she can restitch it up.

So now the vet has me worried. I don't want to backtrack. The past has shown that Maggie doesn't do well with stitches and I don't want to make it worse. Same thing with a skin graft - I don't have a clue what's involved but it seems like it would make it worse.

Does skin really just quit healing? What if we just left it alone? It seems to me it would just scab over or something. Of course, I don't know what I'm talking about but?

The vet said we would give it another week or so. she sort of caught me off guard. She told me this and I was like OK then I went home and started thinking and thinkning about it and s he wasn't at the office today for me to ask more questions. I'll see her next week so I'll talk to her again then.

Anyone have any experiences with large open wounds?

Is there anything I could do to help her skin grow back?

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our last dog harpua was run over by a snowboard and after being stiched up she ate her stiches out. I made sure she wore the plastic head piece and wraped the wound with horse tape its very strechy. it took a long time but it healed.

 

I had something happen to me a few years ago where I lost all the skin on the bottom of my feet, but I had to go to the dr everyday to get my feet cleaned, it was really difficult getting around. I couldn't drive...
anyway, but somedays i would just let the wounds air out and that seemed to help it heal up and scab over better than keeping the bandages on all day, so maybe if there is a way to let them air out and she can't lick her feet or get to them. Also, something called porters linament helped a lot. Some old lady told me about it and it has always been the miracle cure for cuts scrapes rashes. Good luck with everything!

 

You can try Calendula cream on the wound, if the vet is amenable. Getting a homeopathic preparation of Calendula and also taking it internally may help as well. If you want to do that, let me know and I will give you instructions. The instructions on the bottle are not correct!

Here's a little blurb about what Calendula is useful for:

 

I posted on my homeopathy forum and they recommend Calendula in potency both externally on the wound and internally as well. PM me and I will explain to you where to get it and how to prepare it. if she is still at the vet's, they may not be willing to try it because they are scared of things they don't know. But everyone on the board was also in agreement that the constant washing of the foot is probably hurting more than it is helping. They say:

Here is a page that shows a wound sustained by a cat. It should have been stitched but the cat is mostly feral and the vet wasn't an option. The caregiver used Calendula washes and internal doses. You can see how well the wound healed in just 5 days with no stitching at all: http://www.juliehood.1to1.org/frodo.htm


And here's yet another testimonial:

 

Thanks for the replies.

E-collars don't stand a chance with Maggie - she's been through about 6 or 7. Now she has a bucket on her head - like an e-collar but harder. So far it seems to work with Maggie.

Since she has had the bucket on they have taken her bandage off so it has been off for about a week. That is good with it getting air.

I havent' been able to talk with the vet yet but hopefully will soon.

 

good idea aoub the bucket since it is so strong, I think the air relaly helps wounds to heal.