Gus is a spunky, older, neutered male German shorthair Pointer found in October near Hwy K with a large wound in his right axilla (“armpit”). His rescuer took him to Emergency Clinic for Animals, which performed cleaning, culture and repair of the wound, including placement of a drain. Gus was brought to DCHS for continued care and medications. Three days later, when the drain was to be removed, it was discovered Gus had damaged the repair despite wearing an E-collar and being on restricted activity.

The wound looked damaged and infected, and Gus was taken back to ECA for treatment that night rather than wait until the next day. The wound was recultured and antibiotics changed when results showed different bacteria that were resistant to the original antibiotic.

For almost a week, the wound appeared to be healing, but Gus still managed to dislodge several sutures. Dr. Jeremy Page performed yet another repair. Due to the location, repeated surgery and motion involved in the area, the wound was difficult to close completely. Sedation was added to keep Gus quiet and minimize the pacing he tended to do in his kennel.

Multiple bandage techniques were tried to keep a dressing in place, but always ended up slipping, either exposing the wound or causing discomfort. On advice from Dr. Sara Colopy from the surgery department at the UWVMTH, a different dressing technique was used that allowed the dressing to stay in place, increased ease of change and used much fewer supplies. The tie-down dressing involved placing sutures in the healthy skin around the wound, which stayed until the wound healed. New dressings were tied in place using these sutures, and changed every day to every other day until they were no longer needed. Sugar was applied to the wound to hasten healing and act as a topical antibacterial.

Once the dressings were discontinued, Gus still needed a few days before the E-collar could be removed and the sedation discontinued. He was then monitored for any chewing at the now-healed site, and left it alone. After nearly 6 weeks, Gus was finally available for adoption and allowed to romp freely in the exercise yards and go for long walks with the volunteers!