Please read this information if your pet has had an injury/wound bandaged at the hospital. A bandage is applied to help provide stability, keep the wound clean and dry and to stop your pet licking at the wound. The bandage is very important to the healing of your pets wound and it requires special care and management at home.
Bandages should be changed regularly, depending on the type of wound present. Your veterinarian will probably need to re-dress most bandaged wounds every second to third day. Poulticed wounds require similar redressing at more frequent intervals.
When a wound is re-dressed at the hospital, it is cleaned/bathed and treated before a new dressing is applied. Your veterinary surgeon will check the wound closely to ensure that all is running smoothly. You can expect the bandage to be changed a number of times during a normal healing process. This is dependent on how quickly the wound is healing.
Rebandaging incurs a fee that will usually include the cost of a revisit consultation and a charge for the dressings used in a bandage. Please feel free to discuss this with your doctor. Surcharges apply on Saturday afternoons and Sundays.
Common Problems Associated with Bandages:
- Water: It is important to keep the bandage dry to prevent moisture damage to the underlying skin. If the bandage does get wet please return to the clinic as soon as possible to prevent further damage occurring to the skin.
- Swelling: Swelling occurs commonly at the tops and bottoms of bandages and you should check these areas daily. Sand can also get down between the skin and the bandage leading to rubbing and discomfort. If rubbing occurs ulcers can develop and serum (tissue fluid) accumulates in the bandage causing it to smell. If a smell or a swelling develops please return to the clinic as soon as possible.
- Slipping: The bandage may slip or fall off if your pet chews/scratches at it. Please keep exuberant pets confined and rested. Some pets will need to have Elizabethan collars placed on their heads. If your pet has not been interested in chewing at his/her bandage but then suddenly begins gnawing at it please come straight down as this often means ulcers or rub sores are forming under the dressing.
Good luck with the management of your pet's bandage, and please don't hesitate to call us if problems occur.
