# Stopping a dog from scratching stitches ...



## Cygnet (Sep 13, 2004)

Recap: Cassidy tangled with something several days ago and ended up with a four inch long incision on the inside of her "elbow." 

This dog HATES stitches -- she's a rough and tumble farm dog and this isn't the first time I've had to have her stitched up for something. She's also a typical herding type dog (heeler x aussie) -- high energy, high intelligence, and a total drama queen. She's funny about injuries, too -- I've seen her act like she barely registers a serious injury (broken shoulder blade, stick impaled through back leg, etc) but then chew herself raw over a cactus spine in her foot, after the cactus spine was out. I've seen her scratch her nose against the ground until it bled because of a bee sting. She just has ISSUES with anything that itches, I think.

She hates stitches. With a passion. And it's worse this time because until the cut is healed, I have to restrict her activity -- she's confined to a small bathroom with just enough room to get up and turn around. (And the incision is oozing everywhere. It's not infected, just serum and small amounts of blood oozing.)

I've got an e-collar on her, so she can't chew the stitches out, but she's scratching at them with her back feet. She's ripped the stitches up once -- vet put staples back in. I've taped up her back feet (surgical tape over vet wrap) so she can't claw at them (and the vet cut her claws way, way back, farther than I would have dared). She's still rubbing at them with her feet, though. She's also straddling the edge of the tub and scratching her chest against it. 

I'm using quadritop ointment on it -- it contains antibiotics, an antifungal, and a steroid -- to help keep the itch down. I'm also giving her benadryl, both to help with any itching and to encourage her to sleep. I'm washing the cut twice daily with betadine and epsom salts to get the crusties off. She's getting benadryl a couple of times a day too to help with itching.

I can't put any sort of clothing on this dog, so a vest to protect the stitches it out -- she goes nuts and I've had her get a back foot hung up in a doggy t-shirt before. She's also shredded a doggy life preserver in the past by scratching at it. (She's also less than thrilled about the e-collar, but tough noogies.)

Ideas ...? 

It is slowly healing. I am just really worried it's going to get badly infected. It's in a bad spot to begin with, and I really don't want to deal with a large infected wound there.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

I would crate her in a crate that is just her size, with little extra room to turn and scratch. Take her out to potty on a leash several times a day, but crate her to give her body time to heal.
Think about how big of a den she would dig for herself in the wild. That would be the size of crate you needed. Not a huge one, just one big enough for her to lie in and be safe.


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## farmmom (Jan 4, 2009)

You could try a t-shirt, put it on "normal" and tie it snug behind the ribs to try to keep it from sliding forward. I've also heard of putting the e-collar on backwards around the waist.


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## frankva (May 21, 2009)

I fooled a dog once by bandaging the uninjured opposite leg.

Course, that dog had half a screw loose to begin with.

Topical anesthetic to cool the itch?

Good luck.


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## Cygnet (Sep 13, 2004)

Farmmom, good idea on the e-collar. 

Frankva, that might actually work on this dog, LOL. 

At the moment, the itching and oozing seems to have subsided. The vet had replaced the stitches with steel staples, plus the Quadritop contains a steroid. I wonder if she's allergic to the stitches?


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## farmmom (Jan 4, 2009)

It's possible for her to be allergic to them. I've seen that happen before. Some of the absorbables especially can cause that type of reaction.


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