# Chewing stitches



## zowie (Apr 3, 2011)

My friend had her rabbit spayed last Tuesday. She was picking at her bandage a bit over a couple of days but didn't cause any damage to the actual stitches. But then she got home from work Saturday night and she had totally opened up the wound,also chewing the internal stitches. She rushed her off to the vets who kept her in over night,knocked her out and stitched her back up,put her on baytrill and gave her extra bandages to keep covering it up. Then yesterday,she'd got the bandage off and opened up the wound again,so they went off to the vets again,who kept her in,knocked her out,stitched her back up,put extra bandages on it to find her opened up again this morning. They have now knocked her out again,stitched,glued and stapledconfusedit and put loads of bandages round her. They have said she can be collected later on but surely this is only going to happen again. They are reluctant to put a cone on her and have said she just needs constant watching. What can be done to stop her chewing? My friend only has to turn her back and shes in there like a shot. And surely having this many GA's in such a short period of time can't be any good for her,I know she's only under quickly so they can stitch her up but it can't be doing her body any good. Any help would be much appreciated.


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## jo-pop (May 27, 2011)

Hi, my Honey did this a few weeks ago but not to this extent. She ended up with a cone from the vets but i took it off and dressed her in a baby vest which she was unable to get off so this may be a good idea. I was told the cones are not a good idea for bunnies.

May sound an obvious question but I have to ask ..... are they continung to give her enough pain killer at home? If she is in a bit of pain she is more likely to mess with her stitches. Poor bunny. Such a worry arent they


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

she should have really been stapled and glued to start with  or at the very least when they needed to redo it the first time!

i would second popping a baby vest on over her bandages for a bit of extra protection 

i would also keep her topped up on metacam for about 5 more days, as not only is it a pain killer, but it is an anti inflammatory, and it will help with the swelling and bruising from all those blummin stitches!!


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## jo-pop (May 27, 2011)

Poor girl must be sooooo sore.
Let us know how she gets on.

The vest advice was from B3rnie, I cannot take credit


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

heh its one im sure any one with a lot of fluffs has used at one point :lol:


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## zowie (Apr 3, 2011)

She was only on baytrill from when she was first brought home so I don't know what they have been giving her while she's been back. 
They are too much of a worry. I had my two girls done with no problems,so this is all new to me!
My friend is on her way to the vets now so iv told her to ask for metacam. So the vests just go on like they would on a baby? What about wee and poo?do you have to make a little nappy type thing for them? 
I can't imagine the pain she's in,poor thing. And I feel sorry for my friend as she's so worried and she doesn't drive and the vets we use is two train rides away,it would have been cheaper for her to move into the vets the way it's going!!! 
Thank you for the help,il let you know what happens. X


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

just leave the little bum flaps undone, and it should be fine, however if he is a reall little hudini, then cut holes where her bum is, and fasten the flaps, that way it wont restrict her toileting


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## jo-pop (May 27, 2011)

Lil Miss said:


> just leave the little bum flaps undone, and it should be fine, however if he is a reall little hudini, then cut holes where her bum is, and fasten the flaps, that way it wont restrict her toileting


I love that were talking bum flaps lol


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## zowie (Apr 3, 2011)

Well,she's home. They had taken the bandage off completely to see if that stops her chewing,I doubt it very much though. They wouldn't give metacam because they said she's been on baytril and mixing the two can cause horrible side affects.I don't know if that's true or not. My friend asked what happens if she does it again and they said they'l just keep stitching her up but that can't be right,surely. My friend says she just looks ill,so its obviously all taking its toll now. Poor bunny.


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

What a horrible ordeal to go through, I hope your friends not paying for all those readmitted stays completely unnecessary if they'd stitched her up properly the first time. 

A friend of mine used to loose a lot of guinea pigs after castration and being stitched up with catgut she now has a much better susses rate with synthetic thread. I wonder if her body has reacted badly with the stitches and there super itchy


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

zowie said:


> Well,she's home. They had taken the bandage off completely to see if that stops her chewing,I doubt it very much though. They wouldn't give metacam because they said she's been on baytril and mixing the two can cause horrible side affects.I don't know if that's true or not. My friend asked what happens if she does it again and they said they'l just keep stitching her up but that can't be right,surely. My friend says she just looks ill,so its obviously all taking its toll now. Poor bunny.


thats a load of nonsense, the 2 drugs mix together perfectly fine

i would actually suggest you both find a better vets in all honesty, they dont sound very rabbit savvy at all to me


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## zowie (Apr 3, 2011)

The reason we use that vets is because a rescue that we are friends with has always used them and recommends them and she has had a good couple of hundred rabbits neutered there as well as all their other ailments over the last couple of years,she's never had any problems. Iv never had any problems and my friend had her other 3 rabbits neutered at the same time and they are fine,it's just this one that is naughty and keeps chewing.


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

the fact they wont give a rabbit that is probably in pain painkillers, because they "dont mix" when they are perfectly fine to use together screams out to me that they are not as savvy as you would like to think 
external sutures are also not used in rabbits as standard, for the very reasons you have found, it should be internal sutures, and external glue and/or staples

i would be very reluctant to take the rabbit home without pain relief


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## MrRustyRead (Mar 14, 2011)

I'm so glad my bobz wasnt like that. I don't even remember him going back to have stitches out. Prob coz it was so long ago that I don't remember it or that I was so glad for them to be gone so he would calm down that I don't remember ha


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## zowie (Apr 3, 2011)

I totally agree with what your sayin. I did look about for a rabbit savvy vet a bit closer to home but other than horror stories that I'd heard,none of them were prepared to tell me what percentage of rabbits survive operations with them and it just put me right off,so I used where the rescue uses and touch wood,they've only been in for neuters,so iv not had much dealing with them.


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## jo-pop (May 27, 2011)

Lil Miss said:


> the fact they wont give a rabbit that is probably in pain painkillers, because they "dont mix" when they are perfectly fine to use together screams out to me that they are not as savvy as you would like to think
> external sutures are also not used in rabbits as standard, for the very reasons you have found, it should be internal sutures, and external glue and/or staples
> 
> i would be very reluctant to take the rabbit home without pain relief


I have to agree. Honey was sent home from her op with external sutures which she picked open, then I took her back in they said they'd glue and staple but they just sutured again as before with a different type of "thread". She was given Painkiller to take home for a week plus antibiotics (for her peritonitis) and recovery food BUT I no longer feel confident with this vet. I have found another who is rabbit savvy thankfully


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## Guest (Oct 5, 2011)

I can't really add to what has already been said, but I would strongly urge you find another vet, to send a doe home without top up pain relief the first time was bad enough, but now the poor girl has been opened up twice more and they expect her to cope 
I would get your friend to phone around and find a vet that will prescribe some oral metacam, she really does need it, without it she is at great risk of going into stasis


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## zowie (Apr 3, 2011)

Today's update. My friend said she's just not well or herself at all,so I told her to ring around and get some metacam. No vets will give it until she can get a prescription from the vets the rabbit is already registered with. So she rang our vets up and explained that she just isn't well and she's not prepared to take her up there as she doesn't want to take her on the trains again so could she go and collect some metacam and they said that metacam isn't licensed for rabbits!! In between times,she had picked the staples out and chewed the glue so it's open again  she's ringing round vets closer to home but they seem reluctant to take the job on,as I said before not many vets know much about rabbits round here,the only one who take take her up was companion care,they said they will knock her out quickly,staple it up and sent her straight home,but that doesnt sound right. What now???


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## Guest (Oct 5, 2011)

Get her to Companion Care, tbh they aren't that bad a vet they are the only one I trust to spay my does so they are rabbit savvy (well mine is).
She *needs* pain relief, once she is sorted and on the mend again I would right a letter of complaint to the Royal veterinary collage (governing body of all vets) about this vets, I am disgusted at how they are treating this poor girl and she isn't even mine :confused1:


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## zowie (Apr 3, 2011)

B3rnie said:


> Get her to Companion Care, tbh they aren't that bad a vet they are the only one I trust to spay my does so they are rabbit savvy (well mine is).
> She *needs* pain relief, once she is sorted and on the mend again I would right a letter of complaint to the Royal veterinary collage (governing body of all vets) about this vets, I am disgusted at how they are treating this poor girl and she isn't even mine :confused1:


Our companion care doesn't have a good reputation at all. I don't know what she's going to do. She says she's worth every penny and will do anything to make sure she's ok but she can't keep paying them every other day for something that keeps happening again,she had to pay £70 over the weekend when she went in and £20 yesterday. Il speak to her and see what she says. That's a good idea about the letter,i hadn't thought of that. They were point blank refusing any pain relief saying that baytril is enough.


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## Guest (Oct 5, 2011)

zowie said:


> Our companion care doesn't have a good reputation at all. I don't know what she's going to do. She says she's worth every penny and will do anything to make sure she's ok but she can't keep paying them every other day for something that keeps happening again,she had to pay £70 over the weekend when she went in and £20 yesterday. Il speak to her and see what she says. That's a good idea about the letter,i hadn't thought of that. They were point blank refusing any pain relief saying that baytril is enough.


Do you have an other rescues in your area that you can phone to ask what vets they use?


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## xshelly_stanliex (May 4, 2010)

Ive just been through this with my girl rose. 

i noticed she had scabbing over her stitches when the vet checked they said it was fine but abut2 days later it had opened up and at 11 oclock at night had too take her too the vets for stitches, tok her back a few days later and they said its healing fine and i brought some cream too help it heal, few days later it reopened very very badly and this time she had too go in and have it restitched, she was only meant too be in one day and was nearly 2 weeks when she finally came home.

All is healed now. i didnt have too keep paying all i payed was the spay charge anf then around the same for her t be stitched up nothing else. 

I hope yur friend gets it sorted, really the vets dhoulf keep her in too keep an eye on her, the buster collars arnt really any good for buns rose had one and hated it and lily chewed it...


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