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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Original poster

HELP!! he is licking stitches!!

18 replies

lisad123 · 26/01/2012 22:19

Had T Castrated yesterday, came home with a cone, but he can lick his stitches with it on!! Have moved cone further up, and now he cant lick them, BUT is now rubbing the cone edge on his stitches Angry
I dont fancy them being infected and its only day one!!
AM I best to banage him? Ring vet?
Help!!

OP posts:
clam · 26/01/2012 22:25

Hmm, I sympathise. Mine managed to get at his too, and they got infected and we had a couple of weeks of antibiotics. We had to pay for were given an even larger cone by the vet, which was so flippin' massive it could probably have picked up Sky 1 with it. I suppose rubbing it with the cone is slightly preferable to him using his germy tongue, but if you're concerned, phone the surgery and see what they advise.

Original poster
lisad123 · 26/01/2012 22:31

we pop in tomorrow as its round corner from work. Its sucha stupid size to give to a huge dog Hmm

OP posts:
jasperJohns · 26/01/2012 22:35

We had ours castrated recently and he hated the cone so I took it off as soon as he got home.

He did have the odd licking session, but we distracted him whenever he started! I washed wound with hibiscrub every day - no infection. Possibly a bit reckless, but he was miserable with the cone.

JaxTellerIsMyFriend · 27/01/2012 07:45

how about some anti lick strips? my friend swears by them - and no cone needed.

ceres · 27/01/2012 07:48

our dog had to have an op recently and the vet put a cone on him. he couldn't tolerate it at all, i tried to buy an inflatable one but the pet shop didn't have his size.

in desperation i googled for alternatives and found a video on how to make a soft collar out of a towel.

i got the biggest towel in the house and folded in lengthways, to a width of about 6 inches, then wrapped it around his neck (firmly but obviously not too tightly) so it formed a thick ring and secured it with duct tape. it restricted his movement so he couldn't lick his stitches but didn't obscure his vision - i think that's waht was freaking him out. he seemed to find his towel collar comfortable and didn't mind wearing it, in fact i think he quite liked it!

LtEveDallas · 27/01/2012 07:52

Distraction during the day and a backwards t shirt at night!

MmeLindor. · 27/01/2012 08:31

We used a vest body of the DC's for Daphne, but I presume your dog would not fit into one of those?

JaxTellerIsMyFriend · 27/01/2012 11:25

ah yes, an old T shirt is a godsend. I have put a couple aside for when pupstar gets spayed.

RedwingWinter · 27/01/2012 18:21

We have terrible trouble keeping a cone on our husky as he is able to remove it at will and also has learnt how to bash it on the ground and roll his head on it to break it. We do better with the cone from the vet than the ones from the pet shop (ties with a ribbon and the plastic fastening is more robust).

If they are dissolving stitches, then him licking them will cause them to dissolve pretty quickly.

There are some good ideas on this thread. I've made a note for future reference. Good luck, OP!

Original poster
lisad123 · 27/01/2012 19:53

Did the t shirt trick, worked well. The cone is from the vet Sad
Pretty sure they aren't dissolvable because we have post op check next week and it says "stitch removal".
Thanks for all the helpful advice.

OP posts:
Original poster
lisad123 · 27/01/2012 21:48

How will I know if it's become infected?

OP posts:
LtEveDallas · 28/01/2012 07:36

Hey Lisa, if it is infected it will become red around the edges and (if he lets you) will be warm/hot to the touch.

Again if he will let you very dilute salt water is good for cleaning. When MuttDog was spayed the vet told us that plain Vaseline was good on stitches as it was a 'breathing barrier' and dogs don't like it, so less likely to lick.

We used to give Mutt half a paracetamol for pain too.

T shirt is a good idea because it is still loose enough to let the air get to it, no reason why he couldn't wear it in the day (except for the other dogs laughing at him!)

Lizcat · 28/01/2012 10:48

Please do not give paracetamol as it is toxic to dogs. Me I am a fan of boxer shorts on male dogs after they have been castrated. Worst. Ase scenario of licking the stitches is that they take them out and have to have another anaesthetic to stitch them back up again.

Lizcat · 28/01/2012 10:49

Sorry dodgy I typing meant case scenario.

LtEveDallas · 28/01/2012 13:18

Liz, I was under the impression that paracetamol was toxic to cats and Ibroprufen was toxic to dogs. It was my vet that suggested half a paracetamol for MuttDog, and it certainly seemed to help with generic pain.

If I am wrong I apologise OP, sincerely.

Lizcat · 28/01/2012 16:36

It is now felt that is I advisable to give any pets paracetamol as the side effects on the liver take so long to become obvious. The VIPS say vomit any dog that has consumed any at all.

LtEveDallas · 28/01/2012 17:11

Ahh well I stand corrected then Blush.

Mutt was spayed 18 months ago and had knee problems about a year ago and both times the vet said that paracetamol was ok. The thinking was anything over 250mg per Kilo would be toxic, so half a 500mg para wasn't going to cause any problems to a 10-15kg dog.

(you know it still says that when you google, but I'll certainly check with the vet next time)

JaxTellerIsMyFriend · 28/01/2012 18:05

I have always thought paracetamol was very harmful to dogs/cats but a bit of aspirin was ok - advised by Vet for our v poorly old dog years ago as only thing to do was palliative care. Sad

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