[shortcake23]

Our foster (Toby) got surgery on Wednesday. He's got stitches in three locations (neutering, back leg and neck (lump removals)). We can't use a cone on him, or even a 'Comfy Cone' due to the stitches on his neck (since it would scratch on his neck stitches)...

Toby keeps trying to lick his stitches. We tell him no when we catch him, but at night it's hard to do. We tried the towel around his neck last night, but that didn't work well, as he pulled it up a bit and was able to reach. We tried t-shirts, as the vet suggested, but couldn't figure out what to do with them...

Other than the t-shirts, the vet also suggested a 'Bite Not' collar (but we can't find any around here) or what my hubby got today - Protective Inflatable Collar (21st Century Protective Inflatable Collars - Health Care - Cat - PetSmart).

Toby's got it on right now, as he kept trying to lick his sutures from the neutering. The problem is that I think he'll still be able to reach the stitches on his back leg... We think he was just licking them a minute ago...

Is it too small - should we get a bigger one? The one we got is 13" to 18"... Toby's neck is 18" in diameter.

Any ideas?

(Here are some pictures below... one of the inflatable collar, and some of his back leg suture area.)

 

[shortcake23]

Not sure why the link didn't work... I tried re-posting and still didn't work...

 

[outabout]

Amazon has Bite Not, it might pricey for express shipping:
Amazon.com: bite not collars

We used it on Whiskey after his knee surgery, it did prevent him from reaching the stitches on the leg. The padding is pretty thick, so hopefully it won't bother the neck.

 

[SandyK]

I guess with all the different sites that Toby had surgery it must be difficult to protect everyone. Maybe you could wrap the leg at night so you wouldn't have to worry about him licking it. Not sure on the neck collar. By the picture it looks ok, but maybe the pet store would let you exchange for a bigger one and see if it makes a difference. Good luck and I hope Toby heals quickly!!

 

[shortcake23]

Amazon has Bite Not, it might pricey for express shipping:
Amazon.com: bite not collars

We used it on Whiskey after his knee surgery, it did prevent him from reaching the stitches on the leg. The padding is pretty thick, so hopefully it won't bother the neck.

Thanks. Will have hubby take a look tomorrow AM. The numbers; is one the height and one the dog neck size?

 

[outabout]

It looks like the first number is the width, 2nd is the length.

Available Sizes with Weight: · 16" Dog collar: 3.5" W x 16" L (under 10 lbs) · 18" Dog collar: 4" W x 18" L (10 - 17 lbs) · 21" Dog collar: 5" W x 21" L (18 - 30 lbs) · 24" Dog collar: 5" W x 24" L (31 - 45 lbs) · 27" Dog collar: 6" W x 27" L (46 - 70 lbs) · 28" Dog collar: 7" W x 28" L (71 - 100 lbs) · 32" Dog collar: 8" W x 32" L (101 - 140 lbs) · Small cat collar: 2.5" W x 14" L (under 10 lbs) · Large cat collar: 3" W x 15" L (over 10 lbs) Materials: · Plastic · Foam Cleaning and Care: ? Machine washable Warnings: ? Not recommended for protecting eyes or ears Recommended Use: ? When choosing size, the collar must stretch from behind the animal's ear to the top of its shoulder for maximum protection.

I think that Whiskey used a 7 x 28, he was approx 90 lbs. I took it off during the day when I could constantly watch him, put it on at the night, and slept in the living room with him because he couldn't walk up the stairs. In early morning, he would wake up asking "please take that thing off me"

 

[FlyingQuizini]

What if you put the cone on with the inflatable collar ... the idea being, the inflatable collar would keep the rim of the cone from resting on his stitches?

Not ideal, but it's only for the short-term.

Wishing him a speedy recovery!

 

[shortcake23]

I'm confused about the 'Bite Not' sizes... Toby's neck size is 18 inches but he weighs around 65 lbs...

 

[shortcake23]

What if you put the cone on with the inflatable collar ... the idea being, the inflatable collar would keep the rim of the cone from resting on his stitches?

How do you mean? Have the cone around the inflatable collar?

 

[shortcake23]

The inflatable collar didn't work... Toby could still reach his back leg sutures and the neutering ones... So my hubby got a bigger 'Comfy Cone' this morning (as the one we had was from our Golden Mia, and her snout isn't as long, so didn't work on Toby, he could still reach) and we're trying that tonight. We're hoping that it won't rub on his neck sutures too much, but at this time, we find that the neutering stitches look the 'worse', so at least this way we're protecting two spots... When we're home he won't have it on. :crossfing

 

[outabout]

I'm confused about the 'Bite Not' sizes... Toby's neck size is 18 inches but he weighs around 65 lbs...

I'm confused about the 'Bite Not' sizes... Toby's neck size is 18 inches but he weighs around 65 lbs...

I am trying to recall the size that Whiskey had from that photo. It might have have been 6 x 27, I seem to recall it was somewhat smaller that what his weight called for. It was loaned to us by our vet, I returned after the recovery so I don't have it. There is a good portion of it is Valcro, so the length may not matter as much, as you can play with it. The width is what keeps the dog's neck from reaching back to the other part of the body. I'd say go with maybe one size smaller than what the weight calls for.

 

[dinky do]

I had a simalar situation with a foster several years ago. I ended up putting a pair of draw string PJ pants on him, cutting the legs to length, and taping the end of the leg around the ankel. This worked well for times I could not supervise him. Lots of Luck!!!:crossfing

 

[BeauShel]

I like the pants idea. And for the inflatable color maybe you could wrap and tape a washcloth in the area the stitches are at.