AchillesMom

As most of you know, Achilles has had a MCT removed. The first surgery was successful in the removal, but the skin was too tight to close, and he ended up with two, large open wounds.

A week ago yesterday, he had his second surgery to add a skin flap to the open areas. He stayed at the vets for 5 days, only coming home on Monday (Christmas Eve). We were given sedatives to give him at home, along with more antibiotics. He had quite the zigzag of stitches, but NO open wounds! It looked amazing!

This morning, we noticed that some of the stitches have pulled and there are now sections of the site OPEN again!

We've kept him"quiet", keeping him leashed when we take him outside so he won't run. We've kept him off stairs, and he wears the good old Elizabethian collar all the time to prevent him picking at it. I don't know what more we could have done, besides keeping him in a cage until it healed.

I'm loosing faith that this will ever heal. Achilles wants to be a dog. He wants to play in the snow with the kids and run and sniff. It's been a long 2.5 weeks trying to keep him quiet and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight.

We are currently snowed in....but as soon as our road is clear, I'm going to have to take him back to the vet.

I am so disappointed at this whole process. The vet keeps explaining that because of how muscular the boxer's leg is and his sheer strength, it is a very difficult spot to close with stitches.

So it has now been 8 days with these stitches, and they clearly haven't held the skin together.

I wish there was a way to spray on new skin!

Sascha

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jessmke

Aspen had a small lump removed from her leg last year and she has an enormous scar because the stitches kept ripping out even though I kept her quiet. It'll heal eventually, just try to be patient! If you are able to get your hands on any good quality essential oils you can get a blend called Melrose (I get it from Young Living). You can put a couple drops directly on the wound (it does not sting) and it'll help it heal faster.

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Jess
Mom to Aspen

AchillesMom

Thank you for the Melrose suggestion! I will start looking for that blend now.

I ended up feeling worried enough about the wound opening up that as soon as my driveway was cleared, I took Achilles to the vet. She said it looked great and that the areas that opened up did so because the skin died and therefore had no blood supply. She sedated him and re-stitched, and stapled his leg. He's now a giant paper weight on the floor....completely knocked out. Poor fellow!

Some parts of his leg were healed so he got stitched removed too!

I'm relieved that the vet was so pleased with his recovery thus far. She thinks he'll be back to normal in a couple of weeks.

Sascha

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AchillesMom

So sleepy since visiting the vets today.


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Jen B

Aww poor guy! I hope everything heals up and he's back to normal soon. Im sure its killing him not being able to play.

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JEN ~ MOM TO JAXON AND BELAH!

NikkiL

It looks sore... Poor baby... I'm sure it's worse on you than him... I hope it heals soon


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af_wx_wife

Aww...hope he is all healed up soon.

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Gypsiemouse

Speedy healing vibes

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Lynne- Owned by and Slave to Maggie and Mongo

boxerlove84

So sorry you guys are going through this.

Has the vet tried staples? Gabby had staples because of the location of her first MCTs removed. The one on her leg bent tremendously when she pooped and the staples held it together wonderfully.




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Mom to Gabby, Maggie, and Benjamin.

boxerlove84

Oops. Sorry I didn't see your more recent post. The phone app is ordering strangely. I'm glad the vet stapled it!


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Mom to Gabby, Maggie, and Benjamin.