My dog got a foxtail in his ear several months ago.  It ballooned up like a watermelon.  I drained it several times and gave him antibiotics but it didn't heal so I took him to our vet.  The vet did major reconstructive surgery on his ear [cut the living hell out of it] and sewed it up.  He had over 100 stitches in his ear.  My vet told me that the stitches he used were self absorbing and to not to worry about them.  It was healing nicely and I checked on him every so often and all seemed fine.  Well the stitches turned out not to be self absorbing and he got sores from them.  Around ever knot he got little cysts and they were sore and swollen.  I had to tranquilize my dog and dig the stitches out of his ear.  I lanced all the cysts and cleaned them well and started him on antibiotics and his ear has been healing pretty well now with the exception of two spots.  About the size of a dime.  Little cysts will form and they will leak and get matted in his hair and cause a sore.  I've been draining them and cleaning them and I've shaved back all his hair.  A couple of days ago I held the poor little guy down and dug around in both of them to make sure I hadn't missed a stitch but found nothing.

Any suggestions?  My dog is an 8 year old Shetland Sheep Dog.  Otherwise pretty healthy.

Patty

btt

The sutures are most likely self absorbing.  They dont absorb if they dry out.  So if you saw them they were exposed to the air and did not dissolve.  

Vicryl takes upto 21 days to dissolve so the vet was telling you the truth.

You need to take the pup to the vet.

Quoted: My dog got a foxtail in his ear several months ago.   Patty

You seem to have bad luck with your doggies! I pity your poor little fella, a dog's ears are his livlihood. Hope he gets better soon!

pics?

Quoted: The sutures are most likely self absorbing.  They dont absorb if they dry out.  So if you saw them they were exposed to the air and did not dissolve.   Vicryl takes upto 21 days to dissolve so the vet was telling you the truth. You need to take the pup to the vet.

+1

Vicryl is reactive as heck and stitch reactions/abscesses are not uncommon.  I never use vicryl anymore. Plus,it itches like crazy and spits.

Thanks for the advice docs.  I don't think these are self absorbing stitches.  They look like fishing twine.  But I could be wrong.  A trip to the vet is pretty much out of the question for the next couple of weeks.  They aren't bothering him, they just aren't healing as nicely as I would like to see.

I can't say I've had bad luck [knock on wood] with my dogs.  My dogs are pretty active and things happen.

Patty

If its like fishing line it could be prolene.  Which will still dissolve just very slowly.  Like weeks and months.

I guess vets use the same stuff we do for absorbable suture--vicryl and chromic gut.  Gut will not last as long as vicryl.

Let the vet handle it.

Quoted: If its like fishing line it could be prolene.  Which will still dissolve just very slowly.  Like weeks and months.

Well that can be.  He had his surgery back in May.  I finally just took the dern things out about 2 weeks ago [crud, it might have only been a week ago, I can't remember].  Patty

My dog got foxtails in both ears and front paws.

The vet didn't have to do surgery on his ears, just used forceps.

He did have to dig aways into hi paws. Poor guy.

foxtails can be very nasty.  My dogs get them in their ear canal and I have to bring them in to be cleaned by our vet [sometimes I can do it myself but I don't like to dig too deep in their ears].  This was actually in the floppy side of the ear itself, not the canal and it was swollen up like a watermellon.  The vet had to lance his ear and dig for the foxtail.  It was horrible [I assisted].

Patty

First, Find a new vet.  

Second, WTF is Foxtail.  I thought maybe your dog had an unfortunate encounter with a fox, and the fox shoved his tail into your dogs ear.  But I'm fairly certain that is not what happened.  

Quoted: First, Find a new vet.   Second, WTF is Foxtail.  I thought maybe your dog had an unfortunate encounter with a fox, and the fox shoved his tail into your dogs ear.  But I'm fairly certain that is not what happened.

You city folk are funny!  Naw, I'll wait until something major happens before I take him in for a vet.  We live out in the sticks and its not too practical unless he really needs it.

A foxtail is a weed.