The Dangers of Heat Pads
WARNING: contains graphic photographs
Recently while visiting an Italian Greyhound Forum I came across this warning about heat pads. I was shocked as I knew that they could present a danger but I was not aware of just how dangerous they could be.
I asked the owner (Katie) if I could share this story so that others (including veterinary staff) would also be aware of the damage that these heat pads can cause if their use is not appropriately supervised.
This is the owner Katie’s story about her experiences with her Italian Greyhound Kasia in her own words.
My baby girl, Kasia, suffered a deep burn recently and I thought I'd share her story so if you, or a friend, ever have a dog with the same signs you can recognize it. Its long, and I apologize, but I want to share as much detail as possible so you can know the early warning signs.
Starting at the beginning...
Kasia and Mobes both went in for a dental on the 20th of July. When they got home that night, they were both still out of it from the anaesthesia, but by morning, Mobes was better and back to normal. Kasia was pretty lethargic, not eating, and appeared to be uncomfortable all day.
We called the vet that evening (the 21st) and they said to bring her in the next morning. Later that evening I notice Kasia had a fluid pocket under her right, front arm. I asked Alex if he had taken her to get a bolus (sp?) of fluid because she wasn't eating or drinking...he said no. The next morning when we took her to the vet, the fluid pocket had moved to in front of her back leg, and was now granulose.
There was some pain associated with the area, so the vet wanted to keep her all day for observation. The vet started her on antibiotics, but had no idea what it could be. I cried because I felt like I had done this to her by making her get the dental. She said to watch it over the next couple of days and if it got worse to bring her back. We took her home that evening, and thought everything would be ok. At this point, I'm still blaming the anaesthesia and promising myself, and Kasia, she'll never go under for non-emergent things again.
Fast forward one week...
The spot never really got better, but never really got worse either, so we didn’t take her back. Until Thursday, July 29th, when Alex was picking her up, he noticed she still whimpered. When he looked down at the spot, a few little areas had opened up...almost like the spot had "exploded out" in a few areas. They were small ulcer looking things, not leaking any fluid, but definitely not right. So back to the vet we go. She took some pictures, ran a couple tests, and still had no idea what was going on.
She refilled our rx and told us to call if it got any worse. I cried wondering if she was going to ever get better. That day we were leaving to take the dogs to GR to spend the week with my parents, while we were on vacation in Hawaii. I fill my mom in on the scoop and tell her to page/call the vet if anything changes.
Now...from this point on, my mom didn't tell me anything until I returned on August 9th, so this is all second hand from her. Apparently, after we left GR July 29th (9 days after the dental) Kasia was fine.
She did well throughout the weekend, but on Sunday night my mom was looking at the spots and when she scratched the surface she noticed a large clump of hair came out. She started to freak out and called the vet. The vet said to send her pics by cell phone in the morning. Well, in the morning, even more hair was gone and Kasia was really acting like unlike herself. All that day, my mom and the vet talked about what to do, what it could be and how to fix it.
Then Tues morning (2 weeks to the day after the dental) the skin started coming off. My mom freaked out, drove the 3 hrs to SLC and had the vet take a look in person. They wanted to do a biopsy and put her under anaesthesia again (which my mom said HECK NO...remember, we still thought it may have had something to do with that), so they did a local and did the biopsy. They prescribed my mom some cream, more antibiotics, and told her to clean/wrap the area 1-2x/day. They would call with the biopsy results when available.
My mom takes her home and does as she's told for the next 5 days. I call Sunday night as we're leaving Kauai and get the full scoop of what’s happening with my baby girl....and I cry some more.
Tues the 10th (3 weeks after dental) we see Kasia for the first time, and OMG is her wound ugly. There is exposed dermis, dead skin, healing skin, hair loss, it looks ugly. The biopsy results come back and are normal, I cry because we still don’t know, and Alex takes her BACK to the vet who mentions this could be a burn and I want you to see a dermatologist. Derm takes one look at Kasia and says "yes, this is a burn, I am 100% sure of it. And it was almost 100% caused by the heating pad they used after surgery".
Alex calls vet, tells vet they will pay for everything, and we have a consult with a surgeon the next day. Thursday, August 10th, Kasia meets her angel in scrubs, Dr. Morgan. He tells Alex she might need 2-4 surgeries with skin grafts to completely fix the wound, but won’t know for sure until surgery. Surgery is scheduled for Monday, August 16th. In the meantime, we pack Alex to leave for France (left the 14th...more crying) and I have my dad’s 50th birthday party.
Monday morning I drop her off at the surgical center before work, cry so hard I can't breathe, and head to work and wait for their call. That evening about 6pm I get the best call of the past three weeks...the surgery was successful and she won’t need anymore! I cried, but for the first time tears of happiness. I am not sure what the wound looks like because it’s wrapped and I can't unwrap it until next Monday for her check up. But I will take pictures and post them when I can.
Thanks to the WONDERFUL care of my mom, sister, and dad everyone could not believe how healthy everything was. Even though it looked ugly, there was no infection ANYWHERE, and the skin had even started to heal. You can see in the pics below (taken Sunday, August 15th) the outer rim that’s white is all healed skin.
Apparently burns from heating pads are one of the most common reasons for medical malpractice in vet clinics, and unfortunately happen WAY too often. This had never happened to my vet before, but all it took was one lazy/inattentive tech to cause 4 weeks worth of pain and suffering for my little girl.
This really opened my eyes to the dangers that could potentially be caused by heating pads, if they are not used correctly. Thankyou so much to Katie for letting me share this story if it can prevent one dog suffering like poor Kasia then it has been worthwhile telling it.
All at Shadedmoon wish Kasia the best and hope for a speedy recovery.
Update
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Kasia has had surgery and is doing well but will be left with a very
large scar