After phoning my vet and getting useless advice and trawling through the internet to find nothing I remembered how helpful and clever people are here and wondered if you could help! My 1yr 9mnth gsd/rottie was spayed on monday, wound is healing nicely and she is desperate to go out and play again but will have to wait. Anyway, last night i notied that one of her nipples was red and slightly swollen and caught her nibbling it a few times. I washed it in warm water and left it until this morning when i noticed it hadnt got any better. Its swollen to about twice its width and the skin around it looks quite sore, its not hard as when she lies on it it kind of squashes it against her body. I phoned the vet first thing who didnt sound too concerned, she suggested getting a bitter apple spray so she would leave the area alone to heel. I bought some wipes from pet shop today which are supposed to heal sore spots and taste revolting so as to put her off (i had to try and they do!) but i have still caught her nibbling. Is there anything herbally i could use to help the inflammation, i have some tea tree oil we use ourselves for infections and things but im not sure if that would help. Any help appreciated, C.

I would take her in to show to the vet.

It sounds as though it could be hormonal but I'd still want to get it checked and if you don't have much confidence in your vet then maybe ask for a second opinion or change vets.  All lumps and swellings need investigating.

I was advised to use colloidal silver for scratches, sore spots, cleaning ears etc and it can also be used as a gargle for the likes of us humans, so it might be worth getting some of this!

Being a first time owner it's all too easy to just take what vet says, but go with your instincts, if you are worried - get it investigated!

Maria :)

well my vets have been on the whole great, except for the last week. she has had a swelling in her gum, when she was spayed they sent off a biopsy to make sure but seem to think its just excess gum growth. however the vet that was supposed to do the operation was called away to an emergency so the vet that looked and took the biopsy didnt really know what was going on. when i phoned this morning i was also calling about the results as i was told that the original vet would call me yesterday and she didnt. this morning i was told they have been extremly busy this week and thats why i havnt been called. she seemed to think it was swollen and inflammed due to her nibbling and licking it which is why she suggested the bitter apple spray. I was/am inclined to beleive this as where they have shaved her for the op and the hair is slowely starting to grow it is kind of scratching the rest of her belly when she lies on it. she will often jump up to nibble a bit of her underside (not i might add the op wound which is healing nicely) and the area looks more sore on the outside like a graze might look. just wondered if anybody knew of anything i could put on it to maybe sooth the area. If it is worse tomorrow then i will be taking her to the vets but at the moment she is quite happy with in herself, still eating and drinking fine and even trying to get me to play tug when she should be resting!

You would be better using a collar to stop her being able to reach it.  You could also fashion a vest to shield it but you should ideally be allowing air frequently to prevent the area becoming moist and encouraging infection.  Lotions and posions should not really be applied close to wounds without the vet approval as many are not suitable on broken skin where they may be absorbed.  Many are not appropriate when licking may occur, not matter how unpleasant ;), tea tree for instance can be very dangerous swollen.  It should not be assumed that "natural" products are any less dangerous when used inappropriately which is why everything should be run past the vet or best avoided all together.  Clean, dry wounds are best of all :)

Hi you could try some aloe vera gel which although won't taste especially bad to her,may well cool and soothe the irritation and as aloe vera can be taken orally aswell shouldn't be a problem.  I wouldn't put it on the wound itself though, as Isabel is correct a dry clean wound is best.