The old boo-boo's got a boo-boo...
Crystal here.
So, it's been five months since Jaida's surgery.
And she's STILL having problems with her incisions!!!!!
She's been licking/nipping at her chest in one spot for quite some time, months for sure...I never could see or feel anything there, and after talking with other moms/dads of three-leggers I wrote it off as nerve "zaps" and regrowth or phantom pains. Well, about two or three weeks ago I found a brownish scab there. I soaked it off, put on a little antiseptic, did the ol' "wait and see"...well last night my comfort level with "waiting and seeing" was GONE, the scab was there but rather oozy-looking, and it felt puffy underneath, plus there was this weird hard "tube".
So, off to the vet this morning. Today we saw Dr. Kitchen at Dundas Veterinary Services, who was the first vet to see Jaida when we first got her...and therefore also contributed to the removal of the layers off poo and pee from her fur. (Dr. Kitchen exclaimed today that Jaida was much bigger and considerably "less tangy" than the first time she met her...)
Well, after some shaving, local anaesthetic, forceps, big ol' squirty syringes of saline, and a VERY well-behaved and tolerant Jaida...we discovered that she had some proper skin growing under the scar, complete with 1.5" hairs (hence the "tube"). We THINK it might heal properly now that the hairs have been pulled out and the vet took a stab at pulling the skin out, but there's about a 50-50 chance we may have to excise some skin and reposition/suture it properly so this doesn't happen again.
To top it all off, Dr. Kitchen found a second lump at the top of her scar (we hadn't noticed that one before), which she drained, and a quick stain showed bacteria growing in the smelly fluid she pulled out. We're hopping that the poking there will induce an immune response and she'll fight it off on her own, but if not, it may need some surgical or medicinal intervention too.
SIIIIIGGGGHHHH.
Oh well, could be worse. She's otherwise lovely. And she is the world's best little patient, the techs kept marvelling over how tolerant and calm and sweet she was despite everything. (That's our girl).
