Suggestion for canine elbow bandages?

[Sansena]

Hi folks. Need the wisdom of CoTH to help with my situation b/c I’m nearly at a loss…

Geriatric, mildly infirm, mildly overweight rescue dog has developed pressure sore type wounds on her elbows. Long haired, I’ve shaved off the surrounding fur and initially just kept dragging her onto her bed, or pushing her laterally, but she’d find that uncomfortable and move frequently.

Then, I tried celluloid/ blister bandaid dressing, covered by 2 4x4" gauze folded in half, secured with 1 round of softband, and 2 rounds of elastikon (stuck to the skin to hold in place). Not good… humidity from the elastikon caused moisture under the bandage, which made half of it stick to the wound.

I need suggestions for a padded - type wound dressing to help close the (now) seeping wounds and promote healing. I’ve already discussed underlying disease process with my small animal vet; also different topicals/ orals to help promote healing, so please no lectures on that portion. Just looking for suggestions on how to help this VERY difficult spot to be covered securely, allowed to breathe and dry, but not irritate it further.

I’m quickly getting to the end of my creativity for this situation. Thanks.

[GoForAGallop]

Does she pick at them? What about something like Alushield? I’ve never used it myself, but I know a lot of people on here suggest it for those tricky spots that you can’t really bandage and want to air out anyway…

Or Vet Wrap?

[Sansena]

Thanks G4aG… Vetwrap won’t stay put. It’s at the back of her elbow, so she can’t pick or reach it to pick, but high enough that the vetwrap would roll under/ past the wound. Plus air wouldn’t pass through.

Alushield? Unfamiliar with the product, but I’ve used a liquid-skin type dressing on it before, to no avail. Just stuck up her surrounding hair coat and made her cough/ sneeze. Wore through pretty quickly (half a day).

Thanks anyway.

[Simkie]

Oh, I saw something for this. Where was it?

Ah-ha! Here! http://www.dogleggs.com/adjustable/

[bdj]

The DogLeggs are nice, but expensive, and depending on what breed/body shape you’re dealing with, may not be the best fit. A friend’s dog just had shoulder elbow surgery and he has to wear them - but he’s a Corgi, and they don’t fit him very well - even the staff at the ortho clinic said that - but they’re the only real option for his recovery.

Not sure how big the wound is, but could you treat it like a corn (on a person)? Put a “donut hole” of thick moleskin around it, and then wrap gauze over it?
http://www.drscholls.com/drscholls/productSearch.do?method=doProductDetailsLookup&searchArg=17

That might relieve the pressure on the wound itself, but still allow for a little airflow…

Another random thought to hold a bandage of some sort on would be a tube sock with the toe cut out - that’s what I used on one of my girls - if you get the right size (think I used small toddler sized ones for my Corgi) it will stretch all the way up and over the point of the elbow without being too tight. It does take some re-adjusting, but it worked well enough for us for overnights.

[irkenequine]

I work in surgery/rehab and dogleggs are the first thing we recommend(require). However, after some use they become a nasty mess and are difficult to fit and keep fitted.

We sometimes do what BDJ’s suggesting…put some telfa over the wound, figure 8 wrap it (you can take it up the arm and over the shoulder, under hte other arm and back around again) and pull a sock up and over it. We’ll also often use long sleeved t-shirts. Sometimes if its a seeping wound that really just needs air, we’ll do minimal dressing and just go with the long sleeved shirt. At least it will keep her from staining your rugs/carpet/her own hair.

A PITA wound to get to heal…sounds like you an dthe vet have already worked out some sort of antibiotic topical and I hope some oral antibiotics too. Good luck and thank you for being such a caring foster mommy

[Sansena]

Oh, she’s no foster. She’s stuck with me… See my profile pic for the ‘before’ photo from Petfinders.com taken January 2 years ago. She’s come a long way…

The doglegs probably won’t fit. I’ve gone minimalist now… doing very large band-aids secured top & bottom with regular human -grade surgical tape. Triple antibiotic underneath them. If they continue to hold I won’t add anything else. A t-shirt is my next course of action. We’ll see. I’m hoping the oral meds will kick in soon enough, and we’ll find out why she’s so slow to heal (probably hypothyroid)… then this will all be behind us.

Most expensive ‘free’ dog I ever owned…

Thanks much for the suggestions.

[MeghanDACVA]

Dogleggs for sure. Not cheap but they work.