A Banana Splint

It was 10 days ago that Maggie got her splint put on.  On about day 3 of splint wearing, Maggie woke me up at about 3 in the morning because she was violently licking the top part of the bandages.  The licking continued all day so I took a peak under the bandages.  Under the bandages was a spot that was very raw and sore.  So I cut off the section of the bandage where the sore was and put some antibiotic cream on it and covered it with a sock.  It seemed to be a bit better and then a couple days ago the licking started again.  I didn't think all that licking was a good sign so I called to make an appointment with the vet (she was not scheduled for a bandage change for another week).  Good thing I made an appointment because when I got home from work, Maggie had got the sock off and was licking at her leg again and the sore that was nearly healed was looking very raw.

We went to our appointment and the vet took Maggie to the back to change her bandages and look at her leg.  He came back a while later to tell me that she had developed a couple pressure sores that were starting to get infected and one was bad enough that it needed a stitch in it. Poor Maggie!  

Maggie spent about 40 minutes laying on the examination table while they removed the pretty purple splint,  cleaned her sores, put in the stitch and re-splinted her leg.  Everyone commented on how well behaved she was during everything they did.  At first, I was not sure they were actually talking about my dog. Maggie well behaved !?!  But I went to the back and yup, there she was, laying nicely, letting them do their work.  The vet said that most dogs would need to be sedated to have all that work done to them.  Maggie was a very good patient. 

Maggie is now sporting a bright yellow "banana splint".  It is quite different from the first splint that she had.  The purple splint was a hard plastic shell that kept her foot from moving.  The yellow splint is soft (no plastic) and has a nice, soft layer of cottony stuff underneath to give the pressure sores a chance to heal.  She has to be much more careful with this splint as it is not allowed to get wet at all.  It will also come off a lot easier.  

This new splint must feel much better on Maggie's leg.  We came home from the vet, she ate her supper and went right to sleep without trying to lick at her leg at all.

Here is Maggie sleeping soundly (yes, she sleeps with her eyes open).  She didn't even wake up when I took her picture. 

We go back to the vet in one week to get her sores checked and to get her splint changed.  Hopefully everything heals up well and we have no more set backs.