Anybody stitch their animals?

I keep passing this thread, and wondering if the animals would swallow the staples.

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If you have any anbesol gel or any other tooth numbing agent, that can be applied to the wound and allowed to to sit for a few minutes to numb the area a bit and then wiped off. Anything that has benzocaine will work a bit. I had to stitch a pretty good gash on one of my dogs head one night, but I had benzocaine and suture material (handy to have around)forceps, etc. I've had to stitch up lots of livestock for various reasons. Seems like horses especially are born trying to kill themselves.

Dianne

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Jezebel, Mommie to the Boogie-man 11/07 Blogging at www.14acresplusorminus.blogspot.com
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'Solarcaine' spray [with aloe vera] works good too.

It is a lidocaine topical anesthetic.

It was an emergency and I didn't know what to do, couldn't afford a vet bill and it was Sunday morning at 6:00 anyway. So for the artery, I just kept it pinched while someone ran to get cotton thread. I tied it off with a good knot and tucked it away under the skin as I stitched. After reflection, I probably should have used the same dental floss that I used for the stitching......both thread and floss was soaked in alcohol before use.

The goat thought she was bigger than she was and tried to take the feed away from one of the cows........not quite the mafia.

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Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Nubians & Lamanchas
www.ozarkjewels.net

"Remember, no man is a failure, who has friends" -Clarence

i don;t know what others have ued, but i have put staples in humans with a stpaler made especially for that job.

btw, it only takes two hands if you pinched the edges together with one hand and staple with the other.

actually, the thread was better because it would eventually dissolve. floos probably wouldn;t do that.

That was my thinking at the time.....trying to weigh the virtues of that over the fact that cotton thread would probably hold more bacteria than the waxed floss.....Just don't know. But it worked anyway.

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Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Nubians & Lamanchas
www.ozarkjewels.net

"Remember, no man is a failure, who has friends" -Clarence

I keep sutures with an attached needle on hand for my dogs, the non-dissolving kind. I've had a couple of dogs that had reactions to the dissolving sutures. I only put in enough stitches to help the wound heal faster by keeping it mostly closed, and leave the lowest point open for drainage. I do not any petroleum based salves on the wound, it tends to trap moisture and impede healing. Creams are okay. I keep chlorhexidine for cleaning wounds; peroxide should be diluted so that it doesn't burn the healthy tissue. Saline solution, either home made, or store bought, will also do. A squeeze bottle is good for flushing dirt out.

I have had vets use staples a couple of times. The dogs hate them and will work very hard to remove them. My dogs generally will leave sutures alone, especially if I spray Bitter Apple on them. Staples seem to really bother them, and they will fuss a lot with the wound even if it's been sprayed.

I sprayed Bactine on the last couple of lacerations, it has a numbing agent in it and it does seem to work, they didn't even flinch. It does make the wound bleed more, though.

Jess

ive stitched up goat teets and dogs. i clean the wound with iodine, just because ive had to have my fingers sewn up and thats the procedures they used on me, clean wound with iodine solution, make sure there isno trash in there and sew up. i soaked clean cotton thread in the iodine solution, use a clean cloth to thouroughly soak the wound and clean around it good and wash my hands in the solution , remove any debree and sew it up. i ahd the vet do one of my goats teets, she cut all the way to her milk glands, milk leaking out everywhere, so my 75 dollar goat is now worth 211 dollars. i got to watch, then the next time she cut herself open like that i did it with the cotton thread, her wound actually healed better, with no hard spots with the cotton thread. the disolving sutures the vet used disolved too fast and she had some scare tissue off in there making a hard spot. from mine and other folks i know experience, a lot of folks dont react well to desolving sutures and they disolve too darn fast. most animals will heal fine with clean handling and cotton thread.thats been our experience anyway.

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www.kritterwoodcreations.etsy.com
just an ol nannagoat.

I've stitched up dogs sometimes a cat or two. Stitched myself up twice.

A medical stapler would be great. I need to pick one up. I've taken out my own staples before but never really thought about getting one for emergency use.

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Respect The Cactus!