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!!

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

We had no problem with Gracie Doodle who was spayed at 4 months.  She didn't have to wear the cone of shame at all.  But...last summer at 3 years old she had surgery on her front paw for foxtails.  She would not leave her paw alone so she had to wear the cone.  The inflatable ones are hit or miss.  My daughter's Rhodesian Ridgeback just swung her mouth around and popped hers with her teeth!!!!  You just never know.  I didn't know about the tee shirt idea until after the fact which would have worked on a girl.  The toddler undies are sooo cute but I don't think it would work for a little girl.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

What is going to be the hardest thing to do is trying to keep your Doodle calm.  They say no play for 12 days...yeah right...someone forgot to tell the Doodle!!!  After the first three days at the most, you will have a crazy, wild, happy, I wanna play Doodle on your hands.  Eventually you will witness the Zoomies which are totally the best thing ever and there is nothing you can do about it.  Doodles love to "zoom" after baths, when cooped up or just any ol' time they feel like it.  They run around in crazy eights and you will laugh yourself to death.  It is impossible to keep a Doodle down!!!

[Anne G.]

I like the term zoomies and have seen Murphy do this many times! I love it when she tries to get traction on the hardwood floors...so funny. Well hopefully we can keep her from damaging the stitches.

[Kyoko]

Charlie did not wear a cone. I put a tank top on her so she will not bother the incision.

[Jules9973]

Our dog Jessie had a broken toe and had to wear a cone and a boot for six weeks. Sometimes we would take it off her if we could watch to make sure she didn't lick or chew the boot. We got her a transparent cone, instead of the solid white ones. She liked it better and didn't run into as many things. If you must get a cone, I recommend the clear transparent ones. Good luck with the surgery! The toddler underwear is a good idea! thanks for sharing!

[Diane and Alma]

I put a t-shirt on Alma after her spay with a hair tie to pull up the excess shirt on her back.  I only used the cone when I was away or at night.  We were also told no walks, jumping or stairs for 2 weeks.  We propped up the couch cushions so she wouldn't jump on the furniture and we gated off the stairs and carried her up and down.  It was a loooong 2 weeks but now it seems like a distant memory.  We never did use the pain meds they gave us either.  She seemed fine without them.  I did have to take her back to the vet after 5 days because she had some fluid building up between the layers of stitches.  Good luck.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Lucy and Sophie neither one bothered their incisions but all of my fosters have needed cones.

[Anne G.]

Thank you everyone! There were so many helpful suggestions!! She is back home tonight and just sleeping . She was not interested in her water or food but I will try again later. She did seem to like the cheese I gave her. Now I just have to get her to drink some water. I guess the main thing is she is quiet and seems to be happy.  Update - she just threw up the cheese. It was probably to rich for her...my fault.

[Nelson, Rufus & KO]

I used a cone on both of our puppies. It worked great and looked stylin'. Like a life preserver.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

This is about male dogs but the idea is the same.  Ned checked out his incision once and we said no and that was it.  Sunny  chewed a stitch out while still at the vet's!  Once re-stitched and coned he was sent home.  He learned to  scratch the area and pick the stitches out with the edge of the cone.  He got infected and had to wear the cone for over 14 miserable days!