Stop dog licking neutering stitches

[SpiceRat]

Does anyone have any recommendations other than the usual?

He's a nervous dog and HATES the cone of shame, and gets a little growly with it on towards DP as i think he feels threated in it. (we are working with a behaviourist for this fyi).

Inflatable collar weve just bought did nothing.

The Surgical vest he came home in was chewed through within a few hours.

Vets is shut now so not sure if we can add any bandages or cover up, assuming they need air to heal but it already looks aggravated. Been keeping a close eye on him all day, had a few licks here and there but think he really went to town overnight when he chewed the vest off.

Can you put a cut down small t-shirt on him? So it's snug but not tight. Then use something like microspore tape to keep in place? He'll probably get it off but might slow him down for a bit. I think the stitches are itchy as they heal.

We bought a little cotton onesie from Amazon.

Onesie from Amazon again here.

Animals will always lick and pull out stitches, cones are effective but not liked of course. Can’t imagine a onesie working if he has chewed through surgical vest. Wound coulld get infected, I would call OOH emergency vet for advice.

I had to use a onesie and a cone of shame for my boy as he's quite flexible and very determined! He could get round either in isolation but together they did the trick. He did get an infection from licking them though and that made him sicker than the original op so if they are inflamed or weeping I'd go back to vet ASAP. You can get slightly softer cones which might help him feel less freaked out by it.

Baby vest

Cone is by far the most effective. Sorry. If he ripped a surgical vest I think you're stuck with the cone.

Sounds like you are stuck with the cone unfortunately. Ddog might not like it but it's for their own good. If they open up their stitches or get an infection it will be a lot worse for them

We’ve trimmed down the length of the cone for now and wrapped the end in surgical bandage as advised by out of hours vet. Sent them a photo of surgical site and said it looks slightly swollen but not too much of a concern for emergency visit atm told to keep an eye on it overnight and if it looks like it’s getting worse call the normal vet tomorrow morning.

Smaller cone seems to be working it’s not obscuring his view too much but it’s enough to stop him licking. He’s huffed but needs must.
Thanks all.