Internal suture whelp?

[edelweiss]

Lisi was spayed on May 3rd of 2012---she had a reaction to the internal sutures & had whelps that appeared (blisters) over a long period of time & finally stopped. Tonight I arrived home from being gone for 7 days & she has a new whelp on her tummy---pretty big. It looks like she has surfaced an internal stitch (I was told this might take some time to clear her system). It is in the spot where there was a black dot (retained stitch?) & now the black dot is gone or not visible. This seems a bit strange to me considering she had that strong Rabies reaction about a week before I left.
The young lady taking care of her did a fantastic job and she said she has done well, except this appeared out of the blue today. She has been licking it but it does not appear to be painful. She called the ER vet who did not recognize it as a suture over the phone & told her just to leave it for now as it could be a bite.
Anyone have any experience w/delayed sutures surfacing?

[Snowbody]

Sandi - I never heard of a whelp other than whelping puppies. Do you mean either a wheal (like a big hive and common allergic reaction) or a welt? It could be an allergic reaction though that's really late unless it was still her system reacting to the rabies. As I said, their systems are very twitchy and easy to push over the threshold after a reaction like she had. Maybe something that wouldn't have happened before happened now because of the hit on her immune system.

[Sylie]

I'm thinking that her white cells are waging war on that piece of suture...the way it happens when you have a splinter. I think you're going to have to have the vet look at it. Give little Lisi a big kiss, poor little baby.

[spookiesmom]

After some of my surgeries, months, I've had small pieces of suture work out. Got a tweezers pulled it out, no problem.

[edelweiss]

Originally Posted by Snowbody

Sandi - I never heard of a whelp other than whelping puppies. Do you mean either a wheal (like a big hive and common allergic reaction) or a welt? It could be an allergic reaction though that's really late unless it was still her system reacting to the rabies. As I said, their systems are very twitchy and easy to push over the threshold after a reaction like she had. Maybe something that wouldn't have happened before happened now because of the hit on her immune system.

Geez--I was exhausted last night when I posted this!! I also picked up a nasty infection from the mold in UK.
I will try to remove it--I am certain it is a retained stitch.
Sue it is like hives---sort of blister like.

[SammieMom]

Sandi-penny had a stitch pop out within first few weeks after spay. I could really see it clearly. She licked it also. I let the Vet remove it. I saw those little black dots too. Since (I think) you can't see the stitch - just a welt on skin, were you thinking might still be from a rabies reaction ?? Makes sense.
All I can say is I could feel the stitch easily, so maybe she has one deeper that needs to be removed if causing a welt.
xxxx

[aprilb]

I'm sorry you are not feeling well, Sandi..I think Kandis gave you good advice..I would also let the vet look at it...especially since she just had the problem with her rabies vaccine...it doesn't sound like an emergency, so I don't see why it couldn't wait a day or two until you are feeling better..big hugs!

[jmm]

Roo's suture knots always work themselves out of the skin over many months. He had surgery in July and the top end knot just finally resolved. As long as it is not infected just leave it alone.

[edelweiss]

Thank you Jackie! It is definitely the end knot. I will keep my eye on it for infection as she is licking it now & again.