The assistant was an extremely good worker. On day 3, I went to vaccinate the other puppies and he had a better idea than me. He stuck a very sticky plaster on the wound to change the loose type with a swab used by me.  He had been told to change plasters on day 3 and he had done it. 



"This plaster prevents the puppy from licking its wound," he said. Good idea. But would the wound fester with infections under the sticky plaster?

"The wound healing may not be so good since the cells can't breathe under a sticky plaster," I said. "You will not be able to check whether the wound is healing or not."


After surgery, the care of the wound by the pet owner is most important.  Most dogs will lick off the stitches and cause infections. An Elizabeth collar may be practical in such cases or a water resistant plaster with swab inside. This must be changed every 3 days.  If the wound is inflamed, consult your vet quickly.

So, what to do now?

"Most likely an Elizabeth collar," I advised. "If you can make sure that the puppy would eat when it has this collar." Some puppies just don't like it and will stop eating.


I doubt this Chihuahua will stop its enjoyment of food. The Chihuahua yelped when the sticky plaster was pulled off and began licking the wound.

"There is still a swelling," Mr Formicelli's mother commented as she came into the room to find out why the Chihuahua was giving a shriek. I was holding the puppy while the assistant was pulling off the plaster.

She was the most pro-active pet shop owner of all I ever met and that she was the best of all pet shop owners. 


"That swelling is the right testicle," I explained as best as I could in the Hokkien dialect. "I had pulled it down and put it inside the right scrotal sac."  She knew what a testicle was and walked away to attend to the busy pet shop customers. 

Never mind about the technical details of how I did it. How I opened the scrotal hernia, pushed the intestinal loops and fat into the small opening into the body and stitched up the scrotal sac. A scrotal hernia is  a rare case in puppies and I had the opportunity to see how the testicle descended through a gap in the muscle from inside the body to the scrotum. The gap was 3 mm wide and some intestinal fat had prolapsed through.   

A size 7.5 Elizabeth collar fitted the Chihuahua like a glove. Another 10 days and his skin wound should have healed. I hope he would find a good owner and live a long life.