My Mollie has a large mating wound...this is my first experience with a wound of this size. She also as a 3 1/2 week old joey. I removed her from them and am going to the vet soon.
The vet will need to debride the wound (clean the edges) and then will probably stitch it closed. If he does stitch it, he will need to put in a drainage tube so that the infection can drain out of it. Otherwise, it will not heal internally and will be prone to being reopened in the future. Pain meds (Torb or Metacam), antibiotics (Baytril or SMZ/TMP or Clavamox) and SSD (Silvadine) ointment will need to be prescribed. IF the wound is not stitched closed, the vet should give you sterile saline solution so that the wound can be flushed 2-3 times daily.
The joey can remain with the mother, but they should be separated from all other cage mates for at least one month in order to allow the wound to completely heal. It may actually even take longer than a month for it to heal up. My DaisyMae's mating wound actually took almost 3 months to completely heal internally. Externally, it appeared to be healed after only 3-4 weeks.
At first, the vet used regular stitches on DaisyMae, but after multiple times of her pulling them out, the vet resorted to the type of stitch that disintegrates on its own after 3-4 weeks (I forget what that type of suture is called, sorry).
I feel for you and Mollie… I went through this a few times with my Sage …
The thing I am not sure about is the joey … ?????????? I hade to keep Sage separated form her (neutered) brother and Mango so that she could heal and they would not groom it and prevent it form healing … ultimately I have had to permanently separate Mango and Sage as he continues to try to reopen the same spot.
As you can see, even with the stronger sutures, she still managed to remove most of them on her own. Unfortunately, for this type of wound, an e-collar is basically ineffectual because the glider isn't gnawing on it with their teeth - they are grooming it with their hind feet. There's really no way to prevent this from occuring.
The most important aspect of caring for a severe mating wound like this is to check the wound 4-6 times daily to ensure that it has not been seriously reopened needing further suturing. Please get her to a vet asap and let us know the outcome. We'll be praying for you.
Make sure you clip her nails so she can't scratch at the wound. An ecollar won't help in this situation as she can't reach it with her mouth anyway. Silvadine ointment will help with the healing as will vit E oil. Torb for pain management. (do not use metacam). Probably Baytril for antibiotic (given orally). Watch for it to get oozy, stinky, black (necrotic) tissue or generally infected looking. If any of those happen, take her back to the vet as they will have to reclean the wound.
Keep her seperated from her mate as he will "groom" it and make it worse. She will have to be kept seperate from him until she is completely healed and hair starts to regrow.
The down side is IF the joey seems to be irritating the wound, you may have to seperate the joey too. So be prepared to finish raising the joey if necessary.
620-704-9109 Judge not until you have walked in their shoes and lived their lives. What you see online is only part of the story.
I could have missed the pain But I'd of had to miss the dance
The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears.
John has brought up an excellent point about mates continually reopening the same wound once a severe wound like this has been incurred. That is why I said that she will need to be kept separate from her cage mates for at least one month but it may be longer. If the wound has not completely healed internally, other gliders will detect the infection and will try to "help" by grooming the area and reopening it. In some cases, the glider who continues to try to "help" has to be permanently separated from the wounded glider (as in John's scenario with Mango & Sage)...
In DaisyMae's case, her daughter Mareki continued to reopen the wound a total of 3 times after the original wound was inflicted by their then-mate Coobah. Coobah was separated from them after the original wound occured (for other reasons as well) but I finally had to permanently separate Mareki from DaisyMae. After about 6 months of total separation, I was able to introduce DaisyMae to another single female, Luna. They have been successful cage mates with each other since last September and Luna has not aggravated the original wound site at all.
I don't know his hours, but Srlb's vet, Dr. Tim Tristan is willing to do consultations via the phone. His number is 361-994-1145. Unfortunately, the vet that I used has changed practices and I don't know where she is located now Otherwise, I'd give you her number, too.
Teresa has brought up another excellent point - do keep an eye on the joey. If the joey starts to groom or aggravate the mother, then you may need to separate it and start to hand-raise it. If that happens, feel free to call me at 440-953-0904 (home) or 440-520-4799 (cell). In the meantime, once you get the mother treated by the vet, you should get the supplies for hand-raising, if you don't already have them, in case you do need to separate the joey.
Suz, I know you mentioned it would be impossible to prevent the scratching with the hind legs, but I'm curious about the mittens used for Scrat (MrsKing's glider). Until him, I'd never even heard of or though of mittens, but maybe that would be something to consider--at least on the one foot that is most likely to reach the wound.
Re: Severe mating wound
[Re: ]
#266103 04/19/0703:39 PM04/19/0703:39 PM
Gina, Having been out of town for the past two weeks, I'm not totally caught up on my readings yet. I'm sorry, but I don't know about the mittens you are referring to. I will go do a search about them now It does sound like this may be a viable solution to preventing her from removing her sutures
Okay, I found the reference to the mittens in MrsKing's post about Scrat. She actually posted a picture of Scrat wearing one (view picture Here). It appears to be made from veterinary tape. I think that it may work if it is only placed on the right hind foot. However, I'm concerned about it limiting Mollie's ability to climb... I think I would hold off on it unless it becomes obvious that Mollie won't leave the wound alone.
O Stacie I hope mollie is going to be ok, she is Daisy's mom. Please keep us updated on her. I am sending my prayers your ways and also lots of huggs from Daisy and I...
Re: Severe mating wound
[Re: ]
#266131 04/19/0704:04 PM04/19/0704:04 PM
As soon as I discovered her wound, today, (she was fine last night!!!) I removed her from her family, cleaned her alittle, clipped her nails, gave her a special treat and water (while taking her pic) and gave her a clean pouch. I had neosporin in hand, but it was obvious the wound is too deep. So, only applied some around the outside of the wound.
Now, Hollie, her joey is back with her and I'm watching them closely. The reason I separated the joey from her immediately was because I saw her climb on Mom's back and it hurt ME all over!! She's nursing now, however. I'm fully prepared to hand-feed, if needed.
I've written everything down and am taking it with me. I still have about 30 mins until he will be in the office. I feel so fortunate to have such a great glider community to turn to when times are tough!!
Edited to add: OMG! Happy B-day, Suz! I'm glad you choose to celebrate here at GC!!
Re: Severe mating wound
[Re: ]
#266134 04/19/0704:06 PM04/19/0704:06 PM
My Ruby had the same thing the same place. The problem was it healed from the outside and not the inside. Thank God for her mate as since she looked healed I put her in the play room with her mate he just hardly touched it and blood came pouring out. Back to the vet. She kept it open so it healed from the inside and she did fine.
Love and kindness is a gift. Use it freely.... My Gallery
Re: Severe mating wound
[Re: Ellen]
#266136 04/19/0704:07 PM04/19/0704:07 PM
My vet did not stitch either. Untill it opened again. Then to be honest I don't know what she did. But I know she had a little drain in there so I would guess she did suture.
Keep us posted. My heart is with you and your little one.
Love and kindness is a gift. Use it freely.... My Gallery
Re: Severe mating wound
[Re: Ellen]
#266179 04/19/0705:13 PM04/19/0705:13 PM
Whisper's was not stitched either to allow healing from the inside out. If the wound is very severe, sutures may be necessary but the down side is, with a wound like that, stitching it closed can trap bacteria on the inside. (which is part of why the drain tube is needed)
620-704-9109 Judge not until you have walked in their shoes and lived their lives. What you see online is only part of the story.
I could have missed the pain But I'd of had to miss the dance
The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears.