When we first met Guenther, he was a very sweet, very big boy with a very big problem. He had a very large mass on his side just in front of his left rear leg. It was about 15 cm wide and protruding just as far out. The mass had been present for several months and seemed to be growing very fast. They had been told that it was in a very bad location and would be very hard to remove. Dr. Margaret agreed this was true, but the mass was starting to ulcerate (rupture). Once this happens, it will get very nasty, very quickly. At this point we had no other option but to do surgery.
The surgery was difficult as the mass was large heavy and very vascular. Once it was removed, there was not enough skin to get a good closure over it without a lot of tension on the sutures. The wound was closed but because of the tension and the movement of his rear leg, the sutures would not hold.
After a second attempt to close it a week later, it became apparent that we were going to be dealing with a very large open wound. To make matters worse, it got infected with very nasty bacteria. During all of this, Guenther still maintained his sweet personality and his people were willing to do whatever they could to save their
special boy.
Dr. Margaret had discussed a new type of wound care with a local compounding pharmacist at a recent meeting and called to ask if this product could help Guenther. It is a gel that forms a matrix for the tissue to heal across a large open wound. It could also be
made with an antibiotic incorporated into it. After discussing with the owners, we started Guenther on this product. For the first two weeks, he came here for the treatments and then his mom took over doing it.
The results were amazing. The original wound was 10 x 14 cm at its largest with edges that were not attached. After one week, the edges adhered and then it started to migrate new skin. It took almost 4 months to decrease from the size of a dinner plate to the size of a
dime.
Meanwhile the pathologist reported that the margins around the edges of the mass were clean which was great news. According to
Mom and Dad, he is acting more playful than he has in years. The mass had apparently been bothering him more than he was telling them. It was a lot of work for everyone involved, but it was worth it to save such a wonderful pet.
AnimalHospitalOfStreamwood.com
"Doctor's Corner... A Case By Dr. Margaret"
Accessed 6 December 2011
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