Vet Needs Amputation Advice!!

[Natalie Spencer]

My 10 year old axolotl has recently had a bite on her front leg from another tank mate.
It wasn't a clean bite all the way through as it 'usually' is.
Half way down the leg, the skin and flesh started to die away....which then got a small amount of fungus.
She went straight in the fridge and is having salt baths.
I read on this forum somewhere that somebody had amputated the leg to get rid of the rotting flesh that is just hanging on becoming a nuisance for the old axie to carry around!!!
My sister-in-law is a vet and she said to bring my axie into the surgery tomorrow and she would amputate the bad part with a nice sterile blade!!!
What she wants to know from you lot out there is.....
has anybody had trouble with any blood vessels bleeding excessively????
(bearing in mind that the refridgeration will help to slow much of that sort of thing down!)
Has anyone any advice on ANY aspects of amputation????
Would really appreciate some replies!
Thanks

 

[Jennewt]

I have performed amputations on small newts (about 4 inches total length). I am not a vet, I was doing this as part of a thesis project. The animals were anaesthetized with MS-222 at room temperature. The amount of bleeding was surprisingly small. At most, a small pool of blood about an inch in diameter in the bottom of the container where they were put for recovery. None of them died from the operation. HOWEVER, a 10-year old axolotl is a larger animal, so it could bleed more than this.

 

[Jennewt]

Does your sister in law have a copy of Amphibian Medicine & Captive Husbandry? It doesn't give any step by step directions, but here are some pieces of info from this book regarding surgery and amputation.

The animal should be unfed beforehand (4 hrs to 48 hours, depending on diet and temperature). They recommend antimicrobial therapy prior to surgery and, for amputation, antibiotic therapy for 14 days post-op. For anaesthsia, they mention tricaine methanesulfonate. The recommended surgical disinfectant is 0.75% chlorhexidine (diluted 2% Nolvasan).

For hemostasis, they recommend either hemostatic clips or simply using a cotton swab or absorbable gelatin sponge to apply direct pressure until bleeding stops. There are other things that can be done, like stitches, but based on my experience, I don't think this would be necessary. And, in fact, applying stitches would be likely to interfere with regeneration. In the section about amputation, they don't say anything specifically about hemostasis, so I suspect that bleeding is not a big issue.

 

[Natalie Spencer]

Thanks Jennewt,
Thanks for the wonderful help and advice!! Replies like that are why this forum is SO fantastic!!!!
I'll phone my sister-in-law now and relay all the instructions.
I think she'll be very grateful.....as am I.
Thanks again.