Sorry for the epic posting, I'm sitting around worrying so thought I'd share! not a lot anyone can say so I won't be offended if you all fall asleep before the end.......

Hi all,
My 9yr old bitch had an op to remove a suspicious lump 8/9 days ago (friday 27/10)  She had about 5 stitches right over the joint at the front of her hock. since then we've been back and forth to the vets 5 times.
When I took her home they asked to see her the next day as the wound was quite oozy, also her foot was swollen to nearly double it's size,
( I asked about that when I collected her and the nurse said sth vague about the operation trauma but TBH I'm not convinced that they'd really noticed, the dressing was very tight and they hadn't included her foot, I think it probably came up after the dressing was put on and wasn't really noticed, if it had been I think they would have mentioned it in the after care talk with the nurse)

Sat:  I took her back as requested, she'd soaked through the dressings completely but the swelling was gone. It was producing so much fluid that I took stuff home and changed it myself on Sunday. Got given NSAID for her as it was a bit painful.

Monday: still a bit oozy but much drier looking, very slightly swollen so stitches were pulling a bit but not much. Vet put another dressing on to support it and try to limit movement but was hopeful that we could leave it a couple days and then probably leave it uncovered.

Tuesday: OK, I checked the dressing and it was dry so left alone. she was quite happy.

Wednesday: I noticed she was looking at it a bit, previously completely unconcerned so I checked it mid afternoon and changed the dressing as it was sodden. wound was producing quite a lot of fluid again and some of the stitches looked like they were a bit uncomfortable. I also noticed a pretty unpleasant odour from the fluid soaked bandage but think that was partly because it was obviously a pretty close environment.
I changed her dressing again it the late evening as it was wet through. (this is a dressing made of; absorbent pad, wound padding, and crepe bandage so pretty thick.)

Thursday: I changed her dressing first thing, took her to the vets appointment about 2 hours later and it was wet again already. The wound was pulling open again and was gaping so the vet put a staple in. My girl didn't even flinch at the staple and was quite happy in herself. Vet put a Robert Jones dressing on to try and keep the leg as still as possible. planned to go back sat

Friday: Back again as dressing wet. Different vet changed it, looked like it was starting to heal but a bit pink and a definite smell so gave antibiotic tabs. Put on a slightly lighter and less supportive dressing.

Today (saturday): when I got up at 3am she was showing discomfort when she got out of her bed and the leg touched the floor so I gave her her NSAID. (she only had it for a couple days at the beginning then stopped)
Took her into appointment this morning, leg looking much worse. They took the new staples and a couple of the stitches out as they had pulled out of one side of the wound and weren't holding anything, put in several new staples (definite OW :-( ) and cleaned it, put honey (!) on and redressed in a thick Robert Jones dressing.
She's been uncomfortable since we got home, installed on the sofa with a cushion and blanket looking gloomy, about 10 this evening she got off when I wasn't looking and the jolt of standing up obviously made it much worse as she got very distressed with panting and shaking and freezing up. I gave her her next dose of NSAID early (18hrs since last) and she's settled down, still breathing a bit quick but laid down quietly.
On the brighter side I've peeked under the top layer of dressing and can't see any fluid seepage yet. 
I'm obviously going to keep a close eye on her, (sleeping on the couch tonight, when I stop looking for cures on the internet) she's already on penicillin tablets so should be fairly safe from serious infection problems I suppose. If she's as bad tomorrow I'll probably ring the emergency vet and see what they say but I'm not sure what else they can do :-( . I'd like her to at least have more pain relief but at least with it hurting she's keeping very still which is a good thing. I've been keeping her as quiet as possible anyhow but she's been moving around the house much less today.

Anyone got any ideas or experience? (preferably positive ones please, I have a far too vivid imagination and a pronounced pessimistic streak as it is!) 

Oh and BTW. the results came back on her lump, completely benign, I'm pleased but it makes it even worse that the ops caused such problems!

Do you have to have a dressing on it? If possible I'd leave it out in the fresh air, or maybe just a very light dressing of a melolin pad and one layer of gauze to hold it on?

Manuka honey is great on wounds, I assume that's what they used? I'm also a huge fan of aloe vera straight from the plant, but that's only helpful if you happen to have an av plant :-)

In persistant wounds, and with infected and or necrotic tissue, I bathe with saline  ...1teaspoon to a pint of boiling water left to cool.....repeatedly (keeping up the ABs.)
Then redress or if at all possible leave to air dry then redress.

Ive just had a large tumour removed from my old girls leg and the wound got pussy and smelly after ten days so removed the dressing and started the bathing.. looks nice and pink and sweet smelling now.

Re the honey, my father always put it on wounds and burns and they healed lovely with no scarring.

We used to use honey back in the 70's on human wounds but it went out of favour like alot of simple inexpensive remedies that worked like leeches but are now back in use along with maggots.

I would be very concerned as to where all that fluid is coming from when the wound only appears to be fairly small,could they have nicked a lymph gland? Has any of this fluid been sent to the lab for investigation and tests for culture and sensitivity to see if there is bacteria present and if the correct A/B's are being given?

With the wound keeping bursting open were you not told to put the dog on crate rest to avoid any sudden activity putting a strain on the sutures/clips, the latter will have a problem holding to skin that is less than perfect and constantly wet.

Hope things improve soon

Well after worrying me saturday night she was much happier yesterday morning. mooching about wagging and looking bored, it is still a bit uncomfortable for her I think, (after her morning walk she looked a bit pained) but nothing like she was on Saturday. also I've looked under the top layer of vet wrap and it seems dry and I can't smell anything so fingers crossed there'll be a good improvement when we go into the vets at lunchtime.
I totally agree re normally leaving things open  to the air, I think the main reason for keeping as dressing on this is to try and support the wound as much as possible, absorb the fluid and minimise movement. Because the stitches run right over the front of the hock joint so any movement pulls them. I did consider crating her but the vet's haven't mentioned it, only said to keep her as quiet as possible. If she isn't any better later I'll suggest a very light cover and crate rest and see what they say. It was only a lump just under the skin (though they must have remove a portion of skin too so had to pull things together a bit) so normally wouldn't be expected to cause problems.

They haven't tested the fluid, I think it is just an excessive amount of normal serum type (can't remember what it's called) fluid. It didn't smell to start with BTW.
FWIT several years ago this same bitch had an accident that needed stitches and at the same time a lump removed from her neck, that was a fatty lump and quite deep under the muscle but we had a lot of trouble with fluid build up in that too. I don't know if dogs can just have a tendency to it, I'm not keen on doing a 3rd op to test the theory anyhow!
thanks

Pepsi had a lump removed from her knee some years ago and the wound kept breaking down. It was stiched 3 or 4 times and they kept pulling out, the bandages were not really helping so we cut one leg out of a pair of leggings and she wore the rest like a half trouser for weeks....we just taped the foot end round to keep it in place and the waist band went round her tummy! her tail and lady bits were free but from the thigh down the leg part of the leggings covered it. I got small childres sizes to fit better. (we had 2 pairs) without a bandage under it the air could curculate and with the application of Manuka honey every day eventually it healed. It left a big scar as the stiches never did hold properly. It was a combination of the location right on the knee joint and the fact that to get the whole lump they had to take a lot of skin around it. (Lump was a clogged sebatious cyst just would not clear and was getting bigger and bigger).
She got very used to wearing her "Baggy Trousers" Hope you can get it healed up soon. Manuka honey is excellent stuff.
Aileen

Sound like quite a similar wound (when you say knee it sounds like you mean hind leg?) being over the joints makes it so much harder. Glad to hear she healed ok in the end. I'm not worried about scars, she's already got a big one at the top of her front leg where they had to remove the flap of skin and pull it all together after she ripped a big tear years ago. (that was done on a chain so not a clean wound and it healed beautifully) 
After all the positive comments for Manuka honey I'm thinking of trying to get some for my home 1st aid kit. Where do you get it from? The vets had stuff that was specifically for veterinary application. Is food grade the same do you think?
Thanks

My vets used bandages impregnated with manuka honey on my dog when she had a lump cut off just under her brake pad and there was no skin left to pull together. He advised me not to use the food grade stuff so I got a tube of Activon medical grade manuka honey (probably from somewhere like Hyperdrug).

I used the strongest food grade and it worked very well. Health food shops will sell it.
Aileen

Quick update: When we went in on Monday the wound had spread open again so they took all the staples and stitched out as they were all adrift and not actually holding anything. The wound looked better and was starting to granulate so going to let it heal as it is (about 1cm wide wound to grow over). I discussed a light bandage and crate rest with the vet but they preferred to keep a thick bandage on to hold the leg as still as we can for a bit longer. The trouble with a crate is she will still be sitting and standing and that would flex it too much.

She is getting REALLY bored now, and decidedly offended that I keep going out without her!