Cone of Shame

oldyouth

I'm putting off getting my 14mth old male lab 'done' because I can't bear the thought of him wearing the cone of shame. He is the most active chap you could imagine and the thought of this thing on him is breaking my heart.

2 questions, if you don't mind

a)how long is he expected to wear it?
b) are the alternative cushions/hoods as effective and user friendly?

Thanks in advance

SillyMangoX

Usually they are worn for 7-10 days till the stitches come out, but if he doesn't go at the stitches then there actually wouldn't be any need for one. If he does start to lick at this stitches there are inflatable donut shaped collars which seem to work really well, they don't come up over the face so it doesn't seem to affect them as much!

http://m.vetuk.co.uk/veterinary-supplies-pet-medicals-c-141_438/buster-inflatable-elizabethan-collar-blue-p-7902

Hooked

We had our lad neutered and I basically let him free of the cone while in my company. But, I always made him wear it going to bed (in his crate).

The very last thing you want is him going at the stitches, or infecting the wound.

And be wary... Those cushion/inflated collars work on most dogs but be wary of using it on a dog with a long muzzle.

Tea Tree

Mine (bitch) didnt wear a cone at all. We didnt even get one. I was at home with her all day though for most of the time and a sharp "ah ah" would stop her in her tracks if she did start licking. I suppose it depends on how licky the dog is and whether you are there to keep an eye on him but it's not an absolute necessity.

Ashbx

To be honest, a cone wont distract your dog too much. When I got my dog spayed, she was moping around the house for the first day and was right as rain after that! It does depend what dog you have. My friend has a Yorkshire terrier and the cone kept getting caught on the ground if she looked down on a walk. But if your dog is taller than a Yorkie, you will have no issue at all.

Alternatively, do what other posters say and take it off when you can supervise and put it back on when the dog is left alone.

I certainly wouldn't let the cone alter your decision whether to get the dog neutered or not.

oldyouth

Ashbx wrote: »

I certainly wouldn't let the cone alter your decision whether to get the dog neutered or not.

Ah no, definitely getting done alright

DBB

oldyouth wrote: »

Ah no, definitely getting done alright

The doughnut inflatable collars are super, but their manufacturers quite rightly warn that they are only suitable for abdominal surgery, because they can only stop the dog accessing the abdominal region... not legs, not paws etc. Would it stop the dog getting access to his scrotum? More than likely, yes.
With all due respect to Hooked, it's got nowt to do with the length of the muzzle, rather it more to do with the length of the dog's body, and his level of dextrous-ness! Your dog *may* be able to lick the stitches with the tip of his tongue, and that's okay. But he should not be able to really get his teeth at it to be able to nick the stitches out. Many people (myself included ) have fallen into the trap of not blowing them up to full capacity... they are far, far more effective when inflated fully.
To be honest, in any case, whilst the buster collar takes a bit of getting used to, most dogs do get used to them and manage fine with them
As others have said, most dogs don't try to damage their stitches, but the doughnut collars and buster collars are there for the small percentage of dogs that do... you or your vet have no way of knowing which category your dog fits into until you try!

PucaMama

booked my girl into get neutered friday. not looking forward to dealing with her tantrums over the cone!

Knine

I put a babygro on my Border Terrier & it worked well but she fell into the not bothered category & the vet did the job with only a couple of stitches.

BelleMolly

+1 for the baby grow. If you can get one big enough. My dog wouldn't tolerate the cone but was quite happy to wear the baby grow.

Rips

Will you be able to keep a close eye on him? His activity levels are important, because the more active he is, especially in the first few days, will effect how he heals. If he's really active and jumping and bouncing, he's more likely to tweak his stitches and be aware of them.

If you are really committed to making his recovery as stress free as possible, make a really good plan, maybe get it done on a Friday so you have the weekend at least to supervise the first 48hrs.

There are a few alternative suggestions here:
http://alldog360.blogspot.ie/2013/01/comfortable-dog-cone-alternatives.html

And you could even use a donut with a soft e-collar together at night. A dexterous dog come overcome either on its own, put together they would be quite the deterrent. Its seems like an added cost, but these may come in handy again.

Its not ideal to cover the wound when healing, but after the initial 48hrs healing period, you could apply aloe vera to the wound to deter licking, or even get him a pair of small tight fitting boxers, stick his tail out through the fly. Just make sure you do allow supervised time where the wound can get some air at it. It depends on what he is likely to tolerate.

Pretzill

My guy wasn't given a cone but he had internal stitches and tiny little pair removed! My girl had a cone, wore it with a BC glare and it went through so much when I brought her back for a check up to the vet the cone was held together with duct tape!

Outkast_IRE

When we got our dog done and the cone was put on her she would launch herself around the garden trying to get it off, this was more likely to cause damage to the stitches than anything else so we ended up removing the cone but luckily she didnt really go to lick the area so we were fine.

tk123

My boy didn't need a cone when he was neutered or when he had operations on his legs/paw injuries because he was thought the leave it command from an early age. That said he had surgery on his jaw recently and had very bad razor burn - to be safe I used an inflatable collar to dissuade him from scratching and it worked great. He didn't mind it at all and it didn't hinder him at all either. I'm convinced he liked sleeping with it on because it was cushioning his neck and saved him from lying on his sore jaw/face.

ShaShaBear

And precisely why is this thread not littered with pictures of surly post-op dogs in babygros??? :mad:

On topic though, Shadow never went near his stitches, and forgot about it after 48 hours. We were home for that time, so we just left the cone off

SillyMangoX

How about a surly cat in a baby grow? :P

DBB

ShaShaBear wrote: »

And precisely why is this thread not littered with pictures of surly post-op dogs in babygros??? :mad:

Oh I have a few of those...
My little Cocker x Shih Tsu broke her leg really badly last year, all made soooo much more complicated by her being a demon for rooting at stitches, so much so that I now have a professorship in wound management and wound protection.
The latter was helped along by a selection of Babygros. Here are some of them ....

Stheno

I've used long shorts (bought cheap in Pennys) rather than a cone

mymo

We've a dog and a bitch and neither went near their stitches, our vet doesn't give cones unless they are really bad and you can't stop them at the stitches.
He suggested a pair of knickers for my friends dog when he kept licking his stitches, he said "you know the big granny ones you ladies don't like to admit you have!" friend was mortified as he said it in the waiting room with two old farmers waiting.

oldyouth

Right, just a little update. Himself is booked in for Monday and I decided to get him the inflatable pillow. I bought it this morning, tried it on him and I think it will do the job.

Anyway, I left it on the kitchen table and went in to another room. 5 minutes later, I look out the window and there is himself with his teeth stuck in to the pillow, punctured. Hopefully the bicycle puncture repair kit will work or he will be getting the bog standard cone. Menace

greengold9999

Oh dear, that be labs for you LOL. My collie / jack russell cross who is a whirling dervish had to have a cone recently for a couple of weeks and after the first day or two of knocking into things she was fine with it so I would not worry too much. However her sister, a lab, did not like it on her at all and really reacted to the cone - we were very glad when it was all over. Best of luck

tk123

My inflatable one has a cover on it - my friend said it looked stronger/tougher than her kong one. It's a Comfy Collar... We also have a comfy cone on standby just in case. I got the cone one in petstop and I think I may have seen the collar one there too (we got that one years ago on zooplus i think?)

Aye Bosun

Try this out, pic attached. Mine just had a small op on his tummy and the cone of shame was driving him insane and was very distressing. This worked a charmed..he's getting his stitches out today this only works for the body and hind legs..they can still scratch their face and front paws. Google alternative to Elizabethian collar and you'll find a video on how to do it..good luck!

oldyouth

tk123 wrote: »

My inflatable one has a cover on it - my friend said it looked stronger/tougher than her kong one. i think?)

Oh, he got through the outer cover on his one

tk123

oldyouth wrote: »

Oh, he got through the outer cover on his one

:pac:

I have to say they're great...if the dog doesn't burst it that is! :P I used it on Bailey when he had his op a few weeks ago to stop him rubbing at his face. It acted like a cushion for him to so it supported his head when he was still sore and couldn't really put it down himself. And I've have used it on Lucy when she had hotspots a few months ago and again this week when she was scratching at her face and made it a bit sore.

Dyr

My little fella had a cone put on him but the major problem was that we had a very large akita (RIP) and the little fella was used to running underneath the big guy as a shortcut. Fine under normal circumstances, but he didn't have enough clearance for the cone so he was smacking it off the big guys bellend. Cue howls of pain and much startled snarling and spitting between them.

oldyouth

Update on my update. Like I mentioned above, my chap is getting done tomorrow. The vet told us no food after 6pm, which is his normal feeding time anyway.

Having dinner with family tonight around 8.30 and we realise himself is missing. There he was in the kitchen, filling his face with cheesecake which was on the counter. Little bollucks (if you pardon the pun).

Anyone know if this will be a problem for tomorrow? I will be telling the vet regardless

Pretzill

oldyouth wrote: »

Update on my update. Like I mentioned above, my chap is getting done tomorrow. The vet told us no food after 6pm, which is his normal feeding time anyway.

Having dinner with family tonight around 8.30 and we realise himself is missing. There he was in the kitchen, filling his face with cheesecake which was on the counter. Little bollucks (if you pardon the pun).

Anyone know if this will be a problem for tomorrow? I will be telling the vet regardless

I suppose it depends what time he's having the op - my lil guy had his last evening meal the night before but his op was before 10am?

oldyouth

Pretzill wrote: »

I suppose it depends what time he's having the op - my lil guy had his last evening meal the night before but his op was before 10am?

Was just told to bring him in before 9.30

Rips

12hrs is usually sufficient time to have fasted.

Just as you say, tell the vet who admits him, and they might just push his surgery back in line. It should be fine.

oldyouth

Back home, collar on and totally wasted