How to Care for Dog Stitches After Surgery (Vet-Reviewed)
REVIEWED BY
Dr. Rachel Barrack, Veterinarian & Certified Veterinary Chinese Herbalist
Learn how to care for your dog post-surgery.
Caring for Your Dog's Surgical Incision
Whether your dog was just spayed, neutered, or had a recent laceration repair, he/she will be sent home with an incision closed with stitches, sutures, staples, and/or suture glue. Your veterinarian should have provided you with aftercare instructions, but you still may have the following questions:
- How do I care for my dog’s stitches?
- How long do dissolvable stitches last, and what is the healing time?
- How do I keep stitches clean?
- What if my dog chews, licks, or scratches the stitches out?
- How long should my dog wear a cone?
- Is this normal? What if the stitches bleed, ooze, or have pus?
Sometimes, you aren’t even given the opportunity to talk to your vet after your dog’s surgery because the team has limited time and other patients to attend to. Let’s review some of the most important aftercare instructions for dog spays, neuters, and other surgical procedures.
Unless a dog is supervised post-operatively, e-collars or cones should be worn at all times to prevent chewing.
In This Article
- Your Dog's Operation Checklist
- How Long Do Dog Stitches Take to Heal?
- How to Keep Dog Stitches Clean After Surgery
- Why Is My Dog's Wound or Incision Not Healing?
- Consider the Type and Severity of the Surgery
- What Type of Stitches Does My Dog Have?
- Table: Types of Stitches or Sutures Used in Dog Surgeries
- How Long Do Dissolvable Stitches Last?
- How to Stop Your Dog From Licking and Pulling at Stitches
- How to Stop Your Dog From Scratching at Stitches
- How Long Should a Dog Wear a Cone After Stitches?
- Important: Restrict a Hyper Dog's Activity After Surgery
- When Dog Stitches Open Up, Come Out, or Look Infected
- Signs That Your Dog Needs Medical Attention
- Characteristics of a Normal Incision
- Why Did My Dog Get a Seroma After Surgery?
Your Dog's Operation Checklist
| Task | Instructions |
|---|---|
Scheduling | Schedule the surgery on a day your dog can be supervised. |
Recovery | Set up a comfortable, quiet space for your dog to recover. |
Isolation | Keep your dog away from other dogs and household activity. |
Leash Walks | Leash walk for potty breaks and prevent jumping and running; no running or free play. |
No Jumping | No jumping up and down from furniture. Lift your dog up and down onto the couch or bed. Do not leave them unattended. Barricade staircases. |
No Baths | Keep the wounds and stitches clean and dry (no bathing) unless otherwise instructed to do so. |
Cones and E-Collars | Keep a cone or e-collar on at all times to prevent chewing, scratching, or licking. |
Monitor the Incision | Monitor the incision for signs of infection (heat, swelling, pus, oozing, discharge). |
Take Home Instructions | Only cover the incision or apply ointments if your vet advises you to do so. |
Monitor Behavior | Monitor your dog for behavioral changes (lethargy, panting, discomfort). |
Emergency Contacts | Keep your vet's contact and emergency numbers close by. |
A typical spay scar, healing well
How Long Do Dog Stitches Take to Heal?
In general, a dog's incision is capable of withstanding tension and stretching within 10–14 days. While 10–14 days is the average healing time frame for a typical spay, any activity should be resumed gradually, and the site should be monitored until your next vet visit.
Healing time depends on the surgical procedure, the suture material, the suture absorption time, and your dog's health and age. Stitches generally last long enough to promote the healing of tissue. So, whether your dog received absorbable stitches, non-absorbable stitches, or staples, you will need to take good care of the area as it heals.
The moment an injury takes place (surgery is classified as an injury), the immune system activates white blood cells, which mobilize to the incision site. The skin will redden, bruise, and swell, but over time, scar tissue will form.
Did you know? Incisions heal side-to-side, so this means that a 4-inch-long incision will heal at the same rate as a 1-inch incision.
Wound healing in stages
How to Keep Dog Stitches Clean After Surgery
You may feel compelled to give your dog a bath, but you may want to hold off if your dog has an incision that has to heal. This also means preventing your dog's incision from getting wet in the rain.
Do not apply creams, ointments, or disinfectants unless your vet tells you to. Alcohol and hydrogen peroxide use is prohibited, as these chemicals will damage the tissue. You can wipe your dog's body down with natural baby wipes or dog-approved wipes to keep them fresh (do not wipe around the surgical site).
Why Is My Dog's Wound or Incision Not Healing?
Here are some things to watch for that may impair healing. Common causes for prolonged healing times include:
- Pre-existing health conditions: Diabetes, kidney and liver failure, hormonal imbalances, cancer
- Excessive activity: Post-surgical activity (i.e., jumping and playing)
- Medications: Corticosteroids, aspirin in high doses, etc.
- Age: Senior dogs take more time to heal.
- Nutritional deficiencies: Vitamin A, vitamin C, zinc, protein deficiencies
What Is a Suture Reaction?
In some cases, a dog's body may reject stitches rather than absorb them, triggering inflammation or a suture reaction and a prolonged healing time. A suture reaction is an inflammatory response by the body to a "foreign substance." This reaction may present as localized inflammation. The body is reacting to the foreign substance by either trying to dissolve it, break it down, or push it out. You will often see draining tracts and/or heat and redness.
Abdominal surgeries are closed in layers, so several types of suture material might be used to close the incision. If the suture reaction is deep, your veterinarian may have to go in and replace the suture material with another type. If the suture reaction is superficial and easily accessible, it may be a simple matter of removing the sutures and using suture glue or surgical staples, depending on the stage of healing.
The type of procedure determines the extent of the aftercare.
Consider the Type and Severity of the Surgery
It's important to consider the invasiveness and severity of your dog's procedure to gauge healing time (always follow your veterinarian's aftercare instructions):
Dog Neuters
Many puppies that are neutered at two months of age will bounce back the next day, and healing will seem almost immediate, as their incision site is small. You should still allow for a minimum of seven days for healing. Neutering in adult male dogs is less invasive than a spay surgery; however, post-operative care should still be followed for seven days minimum.
Dog Spays
As for an adult female dog who is spayed, a minimum of seven days is mandatory, as the procedure is more invasive, the surgical incision is larger, and the healing time is prolonged. A dog's age and size are a huge factor in female dog spaying. Large female dogs, older female dogs, and deep-chested dogs tend to have more difficult spays, require longer recovery times, and may be more sensitive post-operatively.
Orthopedic Surgery
Knee surgery in dogs, which is quite common, requires rehabilitation. Your dog's incision may start to improve at the one-week mark, but mobility must be limited, so this type of healing will be parsed out according to your veterinarian's designated rechecks. By two weeks, the wound should have closed; however, there will often be a two-week recheck and a six-week recheck.
Immobilizing dogs who have undergone orthopedic surgery is a must, as is keeping the surgical site clean. Bone plates can become infected and must then be removed in a second surgery.
Mass Removals
When a large mass is removed, not much tissue may remain to close the incision. In this case, there may be lots of tension, which can ultimately cause the incision to open up despite being stitched. To prevent this, your vet may use a special tension-relieving pattern to stitch up the area. Mass removal wounds should also be given a minimum of seven days of healing time.
Emergency Surgeries
Emergency surgeries often involve a dog that is already compromised on a systemic level, and recovery can be much longer than one week. Each case will vary, so be sure to consult with your veterinarian for week-by-week instructions, as some medical emergencies require extensive post-operative care.
What Type of Stitches Does My Dog Have?
There are different ways to close an incision in dogs. Just as you stitch pieces of cloth together, a dog's skin can be sutured with a needle and thread. The thread is usually made of synthetic material, but non-synthetic sutures exist for specific procedures.
Stitches can be absorbable or non-absorbable. In the case of absorbable stitches, the dog's body will naturally break down and absorb the suture material over time.
Depending on the type of incision, the stitches may be used to close just skin or several layers of tissue. For instance, in a simple laceration involving just a superficial skin tear, the edges of the skin are stitched together. In the case of major surgery, the vet may need to stitch up muscles, the subcutaneous layer made of fat and connective tissue, and then finally, skin, meaning there will be several rows of sutures in a single incision site.
Types of Stitches or Sutures Used in Dog Surgeries
| Type | Use | Care/Healing Time | Material |
|---|---|---|---|
Absorbable Stitches | Muscle and subcutaneous layers and organs, like the intestine. Soft tissue (bladders). Not used for tendons or ligaments. | Does not need to be removed unless suture reaction occurs. | Synthetic (polyester) or organic (collagen) |
Non-Absorbable Stitches | Good for cardiovascular repair. Not for gastric or bladder surgery. Excellent for skin closure, ligaments, and tendons. | Needs to be removed by veterinary clinic generally 10 to 14 days after procedure. | Synthetic (nylon) or organic (cotton, silk) |
Surgical Staples | Faster than suturing. Closes incisions of the skin, clamps vessels internally, sternum closure in open chest surgery. | Generally removed 10 to 14 days later (if accessible) using a specialized staple remover. | Titanium or stainless steel |
Suture Glue | Allows wounds to heal more cosmetically. Acts as an additional wound barrier. | Falls off naturally on average within 7–10 days; keep dry. | Cyanoacrylate |