Sadie my lab had a lump removed 4 weeks ago,last night when she was on her back I noticed afew little raised lumps around the scar, yep there were three stiches left in , since my vet has opened another practice we dont see him very often so it was the young vet that had been seeing to Sadie, she wont be see her again, infection is now present so we are bathing in salt water.

Sheila.

Have you seen the vet?  If stitches are left in they are usually pretty obvious because they tend to be dark blue or black as opposed to disolvable stiches ie Vicryl which are white generally.  Internal stitches, not designed to be removed, can work their way to the surface sometimes too and cause a foreign body reaction rather than an infection but they can be removed and the problem will disappear very quickly.

If there is infection and you are bathing with salt water, you should definitely go back and see a vet, any vet, and voice your concerns

Yes I saw the vet as soon as I saw stiches were left in, it was the vet that told me to bathe in salt water she knew I was anoyed but said things like this happen the usual excuse with everything today.

Sheila.

My dog has just been spayed and her stitches have been left in - but they're a clear plasticy type stitch and are supposed to be left in as they dissolve of their own accord.  Maybe yours are like this too?

Sheila

I had this for about 18 months after my CS :rolleyes:

My body just didn't deal with the dissolvable internal stitches so the only way out was through my skin

They were at one stage considering to open me up and have a good clear out but luckily it all settled down eventually :)

Lucy
xx

If they took 4 weeks to become apparent I am inclined to think that was the case here.

I had the opposite - after having forceps with my first, the dissolvable stitches dissolved after three days, so I had to be sewn up again with non-dissolvable ones :( :( Not pleasant, particularly when I had to have them taken out :D :D

Daisy

I had a lipoma removed from my arm and they used gut floss to sew me up instead of the fine stuff (they were out of that). Of course it chose a weekend when I had a big sales conference to work its way out. I had a very nice purple plum coming out of my arm for what seemed like weeks. It looked like a fountain. :-D

I hope your Sadie is better soon.

The stiches were not dissovable ones thats why I was angry , and of course upset for my Sadie as it was uncomfortable for her to have them taken out. Well she is fine now.

Sheila.x

I remember pulling a piece of stitch out a year after my CS!

I had my Gallbladder out 24yrs ago and the nurse who had problems getting my sutures out must have cut a few off at skin level instead of pulling them through,up to 2 yrs later I was having small abscesses appear on my abdomen and out of each one came a small piece of black suture when it burst I think there was 5 in total. As  a trained nurse myself I knew what had happened and how to deal with it,the first one was a bit scary when I saw this black suture.

Rhona