wanda chewed a stitch out! Suggestions urgently needed on protecting her wound

Wanda chewed a stitch out of her big mammary lump wound. She has a little string vest thing on but didnt offer much protection. She has been stapled at vets but i know they can get them out too. I was chatting with Steph who has had Lola spayed and she is having similar probs and now has a collar and tubigrip.

Could anyone suggest what i can use to stop her getting to the wound. The wound is in a difficult place near her armpit and is quite long. So its on her upper abdomen. I am terrified that this could go on and on and get more and more costly too. Wish i had never had it done as there was no cancer in her womb at all and the mammary lump was prob just a cyst.

She is a 3.3kg rabbit. Could i use a baby gro and if so what type ( I dont have kids and know nothing about them or what to ask for) or are tubigrips better.
Thanks everyone
I dont feel I can leave her for any length of time but have to get out of the house

Pippa wore a cotton newborn t-shirt and was fine in that. Was quite loose fitting.

RogerRabbit999 said:

Pippa wore a cotton newborn t-shirt and was fine in that. Was quite loose fitting.

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Thanks Roger rabbit. How did you secure it on her? Did her front legs go through the arm holes and head through the neckhole? Sorry to sound so thick but i am the least practical person in the world. I am so worried about this going on forever, with Wanda keep pulling stitches out and it costing more and more at the vets. I cant understand why vets cant come up with better solutions for protecting stitches as they told me it happens all the time.

How big was your rabbit that wore the teashirt. Mine is 3.3kg
Also, how easy is if for them to get staples out? I think part of the prob was not getting enough pain meds down her so she chewed at the wound

Yes front legs through arms and head through the neck. Don't worry my vet told me to get her a t-shirt and I couldn't for the life of me think initially how it was going to work but it did. It came down to her back legs and it was secured with vetwrap, you know the bandage that sticks to itself not the fur, so it was just loosely wound about 3 times round her tummy near the back legs, but it was on the t-shirt not her. Pippa to be fair is a tiny bunny who was nearly starved to death and it has been such a long slog to get her back, and big enough, well enough to be spayed, that we just didn't want to take any chances with her. I think the t-shirt as well was a distraction to the stitches, and my vet apparently puts t-shirts on the females, because he says they are the ones more likely to investigate the stitches, and often they make them sore because they start chewing on them, when they were actually fine, and it then starts that vicious circle, so he trys to prevent it first. My friend had her french lop spayed and mable had a t-shirt, 3-6 months lol, and it worked fine on her as well. If they try to chew the vetwrap you can very lightly smear mustard on it and they hate that, but Pip didn't chew her bandage.

You could also try a dog jumper/shirt. Found something on eBay 150982042408 but p@h or tkmaxx or local pet shop would have one thing similar. I got an x small for Lola but it didn't come down far enough.

I didnt think about securing with tape. Where do I get vet wrap? Will my petshop sell it? The stringy stretchy vest keeps riding up and have to keep pulling it down but I could tape it into place. I havent been able to get out of the house to get tshirt and my husb working away so will try and secure vest. The mustard sounds like a brill idea too, she def wouldnt chew then. Great suggestions everyone, thanks.
How lonv generally do wounds take to heal? The mammary lump wound is wider than the spay wound and needed proper big stitches
I had a dream last night about pulling rabbit vests down for years lol:lol:

You can get vetwrap type bandages from Tesco in the first aid section - so probably any chemist or big supermarket will have some. It is rubberised crepe bandage that sticks to itself as you use it. Just need a bit of tape (micropore, sticking plaster, etc) to fasten the end securely out of reach. If you are putting them over another dressing, you could reuse it a few times if you needed to - as long as it is clean and dry.

The ones I used were dark blue.

Tesco also do various dressings (non-fluffy type) and cheap micropore tape.

Just remembered - I used the legs from my daughters' old thick cotton school tights to make a bunny T-shirt - cut to length and put leg holes in. Head goes through the main tube of the tights. Wrap securely with vetwrap bandages. Mine was a smaller bunny, but you could adapt the sleeve off an old top, or adult chunky tights.

I don't know if it would be any help now, but could the vet glue the wound? Our bun had her wound glued after she was spayed so there were no stitches/staples to pull out.

In the end I rigged up part of an old thick knee support bandage and put it over the stringy stretchy vest the vet gave me and then another stretchy vest over that and then taped it up securely. Everything else she has managed to rip off within mins. She has given up now. Took her for a post op check at my local vets and they say her spay wound and mammary lump wound have healed up nicely and she can have the staples/stitches removed on fri. I think the stitches on the mammary wound are dissolvable but are quite prominent and enticing to a bun - so do they just trim them off?