A WARNING about heating pads

[mom2bijou]

So many of you already know the story of what happened to Benny last month. But I wanted to warn all of our SM members who haven't been able to read about Benny of the dangers behind the use of heating pads.

Right before Memorial Day I had brought Ben to have a dental. B&E were going to a very respected vet and we absolutely LOVED the practice. So Ben goes in for his dental and while I take excellent care of their teeth he still needed 13 teeth extracted. He came home and 2 days later I notice he is crying in pain when I pick him up and notice what seems to be a bruise on the back right side of his body. I figure he had a reaction to an injection. Within a few days the "bruise" seems to spread along the right side of his body. I bring him back to his vet to look over the “bruises” and he tells me that Benny must have been burned w/the heating pad they used after his dental. They used an electric heating pad to keep him warm after coming out of anesthesia. At this point I was told to wait and see what the burns do and to come back after a few days for a re-check. Over the next few days the burns continued to spread along the entire right side of his body so badly that I brought him back to his vet earlier than his re-check appointment. I was then told Benny would need debridement surgery to have the burned skin removed.

A few days later Benny went in for surgery at a specialty hospital. The skin was removed from his body and he was heavily stitched. The stitches were removed around 10 days later but he may never grow hair back in the areas that were burned and he has a large scar that runs along the right side of his body.

Benny is doing much better but he still shows a lot of agitation. He has a long road ahead of him. We have since switched vets after this experience.

I wanted to warn everyone that when you bring your little ones in for surgery make sure they do not use electric heating pads! Benny obviously was left unattended for a long amount of time w/that pad on him. Had he been checked then maybe the tech/vet would have noticed that the pad was burning him but the bottom line was he suffered 3rd degree burns. I was told by several other vets that this is the very reason vets have discontinued the use of electric heating pads. There are safer methods out there. PLEASE do not risk it! Make sure your vet doesn’t use these in their offices. I never want to see another dog or family go through this.

Below are pictures of how the burns progressed….

When the first burns were first discovered:




A few days later...this shows how the burns changed. This was taken right before debridement surgery....


After the burns were removed....


And our Benny boy now. His groomer did a great job of trying to clean him up for me last week and give him a cut that would fade into the shaved part of his body...


This post isn't here to bash our former vet but rather to give a warning of what could happen if your vet uses electric heating pads. Thank you for all the support throughout our ordeal. I pray none of you ever have to see your little one go through what we had to see Benny go through. It was just awful. My groomer even said to me that she could see the pain in Benny's eyes. That she could tell he had been through something terrible. Slowly his spark is coming back, but we are reminded everyday of Benny's ordeal when we look at him. He is changed. Period. We just hope in time he will be back to being the Benny he used to be and this will all be totally behind us.

[shellbeme]

Oh that poor pior baby how utterly horrible. Thank you for sharing with us.

[chrisnjenn]

I'm sorry Benny had to go through that. Thank you for sharing his story. I'm sure Benny will be back to his old ways again.

[cascosmom]

I started crying seeing Benny and imaging the pain he must have gone through. I will pray that he fully recovers and returns to being the Benny he used to be. Please give him lots of kisses and let him know he is loved by many. Thank you for sharing this you may have just saved another dog from suffering.

[pippersmom]

Oh my goodness, poor sweet little Benny. I pray for a full recovery.

[TLR]

Benny looks like he is making a great recovery...thanks for the update.

[ladodd]

I'm so sorry that your precious Benny had to go through that ordeal. I hope he returns to his happy self soon. Give him lots more hugs and kisses.

[silverhaven]

Oh Tammy! Poor little Ben. I am so sorry. Thank you for the warning, hopefully this will save any dogs that could have to go through this ordeal. You must be so upset over this, not that you didn't have more than enough on your plate right now.

[Mom2James]

Poor Benny. This was a difficult post to view - I can only imagine how horrific it must have been for you and Benny to deal with. So sorry that you had to go through this. Thanks for sharing - I don't know that I would ever have thought to ask about how monitoring takes place after a procedure but now I will. Hoping for continued recovery for Benny, that he returns to being as happy as he used to and that you will be able to put this behind you quickly.

[lynda]

Tammy, I am so glad that the worst part is now behind Ben and he will continue to heal and get better. I still get an upset stomach and the chills when I think of what this poor little boy has gone through. Hugs to all of you.
Lynda