Bad experience

lilmissmoo

Hi, Sorry this may be a little long.

Recently my dog fell in the ice and sliced her leg open. I brought her straight to the vet and luckily it wasn't as bad as it had looked. The vet stitched her up, bandaged her and then put a cone on her head to stop her from licking the bandages.

2 days later she went back to the vets to have the wound redressed and a general check over. The vet told me that all was healing well and that there was nothing to worry about.

But that night my dog stank, it was the most disgusting smell. I examined her for a while and eventually took off her cone to find that all of her neck, where the cone had been, was basically rotting away. The sight of it actually reduced me to tears.

I brought her into the vet the next day and she had to be sedated again, she was shaved and washed and given 6 more antibiotics. The vet said that she had a bacterial infection and if I hadn't found it she could have caught a very serious disease from it.

So its 2 weeks on now and it seems to be nearly healed but I'm just wondering has anybody ever heard of this before? Is this common and is it something that the vet should be warning every owner about before putting a cone on their dog?

Thanks

seamus

That sounds very odd indeed.

The only thing I can think that would cause this is simply the buster collar (cone) being too small for the dog. It's not something that would/should occur through normal buster collar use - especially within two days.

If it was just a part of the dog's neck, I would be inclined to say that the dog was lying/sleeping funny on it and it cut into her. But the whole way around her neck after two days? Has to be a poorly-sized collar.

We have a collar at home from when we first got Darcey - the cone slides over her head when closed, and then it's "attached" using a length of cloth or by looping her collar through it. I wouldn't dream of attaching a buster collar which couldn't slide on/off over her head, it would be too tight.

lilmissmoo

Hi Seamus,

Thanks, I thought it was odd too, have never heard of it before. The cone was very loose, could easily slide on and off her head and like yours, was then attached to her own collar.

Apologies if I've been confusing, it wasn't the whole way around her neck, it was the whole area underneath her chin.

Because she's a st. bernard, the vet thought that her loose skin might have gotten caught in it, but after shaving her there were no signs of rubbing or cuts!

andreac

If the collar was loose theres no way that would have done that damage in 2 days.
There must have been a cut or wound there already and it was getting infected or irriated by the cone possibly?
Or it could be that the cone has nothing to do with it at all, as id be very surprised if it did cause it.

lilmissmoo

Hi Andreac,

I know it does sound strange but there weren't any cuts there at all, even the vet confirmed this.

I think the most probable cause is wat Seamus suggested, she must have slept in it funny and that combined with her drool or something possibly caused the bacteria but I'm still baffled.

I was taking the cone of 3 times a day to wash it and dry it and I was very careful when she was eating to make sure that nothing had gotten stuck and this huge infection and ulcers came up so quickly.

andreac

I honestly cant see how it would do that much damage in 2 days though esp when you were taking it off.
When you say the skin was rotting, was it open and bleeding and did it have puss etc coming from the wound? Just sounds very extreme to happen in 2 days.
Hope shes on the mend now.

seamus

My guess then would be that there was a pre-existing injury, even just a little scratch which got irritated and infected by the cone.

I remember how dirty the cone got when the dog is eating and drinking (food and water debris falls into the bottom of the collar and down towards the throat), so I could easily see a small cut, combined with the rubbing and food debris, becoming infected. Even if you're washing the collar, the damage is already done 30 seconds after the dog has taken a drink of water.

Antibiotics to a certain degree also lower the body's natural immune resistance, so that could explain how the infection took hold so quickly.

lilmissmoo

Thanks Andreac, she's on the mend now.

She had huge ulcers which were oozing puss and bleeding! It was really awful to be honest and the vet was even shocked by it.

portgirl123

my god that does sound very strange, i really coulnt see a loose cone only on for 2 days do that much damage. prob never going to know. ah well least he is on the mend, i suppose thats what matters.

by the way any pics, i love st bernards, hopefully one day will own one

RubyGirl

Just a thought but what kind of dog was wearing it before your dog? Would it have carried an infection that your dog picked up? Was it cleaned in between uses and your's may have had some sort of small cut.

lorebringer

RubyGirl wrote: »

Just a thought but what kind of dog was wearing it before your dog? Would it have carried an infection that your dog picked up? Was it cleaned in between uses and your's may have had some sort of small cut.

Buster collars are a one time use item - they are given to the patient and then disposed of when it is no longer needed. If they are use on a dog in the practice, they are either disposed of once the dog has left or sent home with the dog. Each dog gets a new one everytime.

ISDW

lorebringer wrote: »

Buster collars are a one time use item - they are given to the patient and then disposed of when it is no longer needed. If they are use on a dog in the practice, they are either disposed of once the dog has left or sent home with the dog. Each dog gets a new one everytime.

That definitely should be the way it is, but I wonder in this case. It just seems so odd.

kildareash

This may sound ridiculous, and feel free to tell me so. But could it have been an allergic reaction to the collar?

My first thought was a little cut, that you might not have seen. But you're vet ruled out any cuts.

Hope he's on the mend now

falabo

a similar thing happen to my puppy cocker spaniel when she was only 5 months old.

she fractured a leg and a bandage was applied. this bandage was replaced every second day (glad I have pet insurance).

one evening the dog was very distressed, throwing herself against the walls etc ... I got closer to the injury and it stank.

I rushed her to the vet and when he removed the bandage it had becoem infecrted, the smell could have knock a skunk down... she could have lost a leg if it wasn't for me being such a good daddy :-)

the latest bandage had been applied to tight, so maybe the head cone was too tight?

lilmissmoo

Sorry to hear about your puppy falabo,

Hope she's fully recovered now!

Brought her back to the vet yesterday, the infections gone and now just have to wait for the hair to grow back!

The vet had come up with his own theory which I tend to agree with. Because she's a st bernard and is growing at a rapid rate, he thinks that her folds of skin under her neck were rubbing against the collar (even though it wasn't too tight), that combined with the amount of drool that she would have been lying in every night caused the infection!

The collar itself was brand new, so I know that it wasnt the vets fault and he admitted that he hadn't seen anything like it before from a buster collar so it's not something that he could have warned me about!

I'm glad she's back to herself now, luckily we caught it in time! It's still quite a shock to me and after seein how quickly such a bad infection can kick in, it's safe to say I'll never be putting another buster collar on her!

portgirl123

thats great to hear she is now on the mend. that i suppose is the main thing. xxxxx

agent graves

ya

Aru

Bad infections can sometimes(quite rarely thankfully) kick in extremely quickly.Scarily quickly sometimes.
I have heard of cases in humans where bloods were taken in the morning and were unremarkable,patient went down hill so more bloods were taken in the evening and showed that the body was suddenly struggling to fight off a serious infection.it all depends on and bacteria involved.Some are very nasty.

Drool pooling on one area where the collar is rubbing would weaken the skin and create an area ripe for bacterial invasion and infection.A tight collar rubbing would also do it, or a cut/tiny injury in the wrong place and irritated by the collar could be another point of entry. You did well to notice it so quickly, if these sort of infection's enters the blood stream it can be very serious.


Glad to hear she is on the mend. X

gimmick

I would hope the dog is completely healed at this stage :pac:

DBB

Indeed, I'm guessing that after 3.5 years, the mending is well underway!
Thread closed.
DBB