Cone after Spaying

[Anne G.]

We took Murphy in to be spayed this AM and the vet said she should wear the cone for 10 days. Wow that seems a little extreme so I thought I'd check with you. Also I've read (maybe here) that the inflatable collar is more comfortable. Your thoughts? Thank you!!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

That does seem like a really long time to wear a cone! I think I hate those things as much as the dogs do! When Tara was spayed the vet said she "looked like a licker" to him and said she would need a cone. Well, it turned out that she didn't even NOTICE her incision. Never licked it ONCE! And never wore a cone.  Someone was home all day to watch her though so if you have to leave Murphy alone it might be different. But, maybe she won't lick either!  I would definitely try a soft one before making her wear one of those nasty hard cones. I don't have any experience with a soft one though so I don't know how well they work. Hopefully, someone else has that info. Good luck and I hope the surgery goes well and she heals quickly!

[Anne G.]

Thank you! Hopefully Murph will do as well as Tara. We'll be around most of the time to keep an eye on her.

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

Stuart just went through his neuter 2.5 weeks ago - the vet said the same - cone 12-14 days.  That is when I followed the advice of the DK experts and went and bought him toddler sized boys underwear.  I poked his little tail out the front flap.  He couldn't lick so no need for the cone BUT you do have to take them off and on for potty.

[Anne G.]

Good idea, and CUTE picture!

[Judi, David & Maddie Irishdoodle]

Maddie was spayed at 6 months and she didn't have to wear a cone.  I kept a close eye on her and never saw her even try to lick her tiny incission.  Good luck.

[Anne G.]

That's great. I'm getting some encouraging reports from the DK experts!

[Michael Gurley]

I did put a cone of shame on Sunny, but when I saw how much trouble she was having moving around with the cone on, I put a sweater on her instead. She licked her incision whenever she had the chance, so I had to stay really alert to what she was doing.

[Chelsea and Bailey]

Our vet did not even recommend a cone with Bailey. They said dogs almost never lick obsessively so they only recommend people to come back and get one if the dog has been bothering the incision.  Bailey did great.  She never bothered it, if she did go to lick it we would just correct her and redirect her to something else.  Good luck!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Same with our vet - they just said to come back if she was fussing over it.

 

Luna didn't really do anything with her incision, in fact she basically acted as though nothing had happened as of a couple days later. 

 

I would say take it off, then watch her closely for a few hours.. if she doesn't even so much as sniff at it then she'll probably be fine.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Murph was a "licker" so he needed the cone, but only for the first few days.

[Traci -Bexter & Maggie]

Tell Stuart he looks very sexy in his underpants!  I love the collar too (Bexter has the same one)!

[Doris]

Bodi began to remove his stitches before we picked him up!  So, yes he needed the cone of shame.  However, when we were home we took it off and kept him in the same room with us.  We kept a watchful eye and did a lot of distracting.  We also broke the rules and did not have Bodi wear it as long as we were told.  Time will pass quickly, but I would look at the underwear ideas . . . I wasn't on Doodlekisses when I first got Bodi!