>Last night I had to rush Tazy back to Dr Blair's office due to him
>pulling out several of his stitches this is the second time this has
>happened since yesterday!!!! When I went to pick him up to come home,
>right before I got their he had done the same thing!!!!!! Now Dr Blair
>is stumped as he can't figure out what to do to prevent this from
>happening again!!!!!
 
Dawn,
 
For the last couple years, my vets have used surgical glue instead of
sutures for the skin closure after abdominal surgery.  I believe it's a
medical version of super glue, and if you've ever accidently glued your
fingers together with that stuff, you know how good it works on skin.  It's
scary to look at a large abdominal incision that appears to have nothing
holding it together, but it does work great!  Not only are there no sutures
that the ferret can bother, there's nothing that has to be removed as the
incision heals.  Keep in mind that there ARE sutures or staples beneath
the skin so it's not as fragile as it looks.
 
I don't know if at this point, your vet can go back and redo the closure
with surgical adhesive, but it's something to think about.  If he has any
questions about the stuff, call South Kendall Animal Clinic at 305-238-2030
and talk to any of the vets there.  I believe they all use it.  Dr. Sanchez
and Dr. Chavez have both used it on my ferrets.  Most recently on Penny
after her adrenal surgery about a month ago.
 
Mike
[Posted in FML issue 3234]