New Bandage

So this morning, I woke up to discover Heidi had removed her bandage some time during the night.  Not a huge deal since technically her stitches can come out any time now, but I was planning on waiting a day or two longer just to be on the safe side (the range was 10-14 days and today is day 11).  Heidi was licking and chewing it constantly this morning, so I have made a makeshift bandage for now.  I went out last night and bought 2 X 2 gauze pads and some bandage tape.  Her bandage was starting to come off then, so I anticipated the need for a new one.

makeshift bandage materials

Finished product!

Basically, I just laid out 3 of the gauze pads on the inside of the packaging since it was sterile.  (I didn't want it to touch any "dirty" surfaces.)  Then I put long strips of tape along the edges of the gauze that would also be able to adhere to her leg.  And VOILA!  Easy peasy!  We'll see how long it stays on.

I also took a picture of her incision while the bandage was off for all of you curious to see:

It's probably about 5-6 inches long and looks great if you ask me.  No redness at incision site just minimal redness where the tape irritated her skin.  There's still a tiny bit of swelling under the knee as you can see, but it's gone down a lot since a few days ago.  I was so paranoid the incision would get infected and I wouldn't realize because it was covered, but it looks like we're in the clear!  Now if I can just keep her from licking this bandage off for a couple more days!

Guilty face: "Mom, I'm not licking my knee, I swear!"