# Starla has an infection after spay (pic attchd)



## LDGrillo

I was wondering if anyone has experience with an infection after spay...

*note* i took Starla to Humane Soc b/c it was cheapest, and I've heard good things...
Starla was spayed 1.5 weeks ago at the Humane Society (she didn't take the anesthesia well and puked about 5 times and it took her and a half day to bounce back). About 6 days later I started seeing the scar tissue lumps along the incision site. However, more to the end of the incision site a larger ball was forming. I called the vet and they said it was normal, but to make sure to limit her activity (it's hard with another dog here to egg her on :no. 

Now it's about half the size of a golfball, maybe smaller. Additionally, today I thought that a suture of some sort fell out because there was an open wound part (about 1/2 the size of dime), and it started getting seepy just a few minutes after I saw that it was open. But when I went to the vet (one close to our home that we take our other dog to) he said it opened on it's own probably to drain the infection underneath. He was scaring me saying that if the antibiotics don't clear it up, then he'll have to probe around in there- that it might be an internal suture of some sort that wasn't correct. 

375 mg Clavamox twice a day, for about 10 days I think, didn't even put anything topical on it, which I thought they would have at least cleaned it!!!!! He said he "hopes" it clears it up. He said maybe the Human Society wasn't sterile enough, or they did something wrong. 

Does anyone have any experience with an infection after a spay? WHat was the treatment plan for them?

I have attached a photo for you all to see...

Thanks for listening


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## iansgran

Did you try the search button? I know there have been other threads with complications of spay. I have a male, so no personal experience.


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## Karen519

*Where*

Did you take her to your vet or the humane society to have them look at it?

I have a male Golden that was neutered and was licking his incision, and it got infected and he had to take antiobiotics and wear THE e cOLLAR so he couldn't lick it and antibiotics worked. Make sure she is not licking it.

Here, I just did a search on Infection from Spaying.

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/search.php?searchid=264068


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## penparson

Wakefield was neutered last Thursday and the vet prescribed one week of Clavamox prophylactically. He's a live wire, so the vet gave me some Acepromazine as well to keep him a bit calmer. His incision looks good, but I've caught him licking it a few times. I'm using a soft inflatable collar, which isn't as effective as the e-collar, but permits him to eat and chew his toys. It's almost impossible to keep these young pups quiet! Hope Starla improves.


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## Sally's Mom

Looks like a suture reaction... Usually I put them on antibiotics and an E collar.


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## Florabora22

Flora's spay site got very swollen (about baseball sized) and began to weep. I took her in to the vet and she cleaned out the incision and basically told me to monitor it, but that it was likely a reaction to her internal sutures. She cleared up on her own and was fine after that.

I hope it's nothing serious!


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## Sally's Mom

Licking is not good as it is like sandpaper....


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## LDGrillo

Thanks for the feedback guys! 
Karen- she was spayed at the Human Society (HS), but for the checkup we took her to another vet that we are also clients of (It's right down the street from us). The HS is 40 minutes away, and I didn't want to have to travel all the way out there...

I feel a bit more relieved now. Yes I did do a search here, but I didn't see anything about Clavomax, which is actually probably what everyone else received as antibiotics. I just wanted to make sure. From other threads, they talked about putting a warm compress on it, and I did originally do that when I first talked to HS. 

The vet today made me nervous when he talked about opening her up and "probing around" to look for infected sutures. She has been excellent about not licking from the beginning. I'm not sure how the infection started...
Starla is still her normal self, so I hope that's a good sign. I just don't want to have to worry about an infection : (

I'll update in a few days!


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## Sally's Mom

Inflammation(suture reaction) does not equal infection.


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## jpajinag

Our girl didn't want to hold still and hat a lump form (about walnut size) and it had some clear oozing from the site. It was mildly pink. She was put on Clavamox also and we cleaned the area with hydrogen peroxide and put neosporin on it as the vet recommended. Are her stitches now out? Our girl was irritating the site, getting the sutures dirty, causing swelling and the sutures were bringing the germs right into her body. I cleaned her up and took the sutures out a day after the meds were started ( her incision was healed enough, it had been a little over a week I believe). Our biggest problem was keeping her still, the activity was what initially caused the swelling and hard lump under her skin. We ended up having to kennel her most of the day except to bring her to potty, eat, and slow walks. She was pretty restless but it was the ONLY way with other dogs in our home  Good luck


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## LDGrillo

jpajinag said:


> Our girl didn't want to hold still and hat a lump form (about walnut size) and it had some clear oozing from the site. It was mildly pink. She was put on Clavamox also and we cleaned the area with hydrogen peroxide and put neosporin on it as the vet recommended. Are her stitches now out? Our girl was irritating the site, getting the sutures dirty, causing swelling and the sutures were bringing the germs right into her body. I cleaned her up and took the sutures out a day after the meds were started ( her incision was healed enough, it had been a little over a week I believe). Our biggest problem was keeping her still, the activity was what initially caused the swelling and hard lump under her skin. We ended up having to kennel her most of the day except to bring her to potty, eat, and slow walks. She was pretty restless but it was the ONLY way with other dogs in our home  Good luck


I am going to ask the vet if I can use hydrogen peroxide to clean it, at least once. Her area is pink this morning.
Starla didn't have stitches, I'm guessing they used surgical adhesive. 

Sally's Mom- She has to be infected form something though, right? because the site is weepy.


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## mylissyk

She does have internal sutures though, even if they used dermaglue on the outside layers. It does look exactly like the internal suture reaction I have seen on a couple of foster dogs I have had. It should clear up in about a week and be just fine. You can use a warm compress on it a couple of times a day if you'd like to help it heal. Keeping it clean is a good thing, but maybe with antibacterial soap rather than hydrogen peroxide.

The few foster dogs I had that had that same reaction all healed just fine in about a week.


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## LDGrillo

I just wanted to update. Starla did well with the antibiotics. They seemed to start shrinking the infection right away : ) After about 6 days she was almost all better. I guess she just needed something that would work from the inside, out. Thanks for your advice everyone.


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## iansgran

Yea, glad she is better.


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## 3 goldens

Well, I am crtainly glad the antiboitocs did the trick and she is doing so well. We have never hd any kind of problem with spay and only once with neuter. He pulled stitches and got an infection and had to have some surgery. but he recovered just fine.


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