Friday was a busy day- I was fortunate enough to be able to work at home, to ensure that Dolly didn't lick her stitches. Dolly had surgery for a vaginal stricture which caused urinary tract infections. Apparently, if female dogs have continual urinary tract infections, they may have a stricture, or a closure, which means when they urinate, some of their urine stays inside their bodies and causes infection.
- Once the stricture is surgically reopened, urine no longer gets trapped and causes infection.
CLOSE MONITORIING -
I again slept with Dolly on the floor, to ensure she didn't lick her stitches. She kept getting up (about 4 times) because of the discomfort of having stitches in her private area. So, sleep was restless, but we got enough.
We finally got up at 6am, and I walked Dolly out in the backyard on the leash, and let Franklin run. It's important that when a dog has an operation near her privates (even spaying or neutering) that they're not allowed to "scoot" on the ground. That will wear the stitches and dirty the area. So, I was mindful of that, and cleaned her off after she snuck a "scoot" in on the grass. It's very painful for her to urinate still, just as it is for people with that surgery. Poor baby.Dolly's stitches are under her tail - that's why it's so very, very painful. They also shaved her lower back for an epidural during the procedure).
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**UPDATE: 7 years later as of Dec. 2015, Dolly has only had one other urinary tract infection (not related to the stricture).
***SO, if your female dog exhibits recurring urinary tract infections, have them assessed for a vaginal stricture. The surgery basically "reworked" her plumbing and there were quite a number of stitches. She was on pain medication for 2 weeks (I believe), but the surgery was Well-worth it.
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