Dog cone help

[Jen500]

Do you know of a dog cone alternative that is effective? My poor boy has staples in his front elbow and his cone is so big. He's bumping into everything and can't seem to maneuver around very well. He's large with a long snout. Maybe he'll get better as he gets used to the cone? He's just using one of those big plastic ones from the vet.

 

[Mama Geek]

They do get more used to it.  My st poodle about 55 lbs had to wear 1 this fall for about 2 weeks.  They are a pain in the neck IMO.  I did see some other ones online that were different but I didn't try any of them.  After the first several days we would take it off him when we were able to watch him close so that he could play ball and have a little bit of down time from it.

[Aura]

I've used pet pajamas as an alternative to cones. This was on cats. Neither cat was fond of it, but it was way better than the cone. It was almost impossible for them to eat or drink while wearing a cone.

I think the concept would work fine for a dog, too. Maybe find some kind of doggie overalls that completely covers the front legs...probably have to be both legs so it will stay on? I bet you could make something with an old sweater.

This is what I used: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078GPYH6M/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Pawz4me]

Depending on his temperament, how closely you can watch him and where his staples are you may be able to wrap the area with self stick bandaging. That may be enough to get him to leave the staples alone. You'd need to be careful to not wrap too tight, and I wouldn't leave him unsupervised w/o the cone.

[Jen500]

36 minutes ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

I have a dog we absolutely cannot put a cone on. He rips them off even if he hurts himself doing it. The vet has us use a shirt- when he’s had surgery. It worked really well, and had the positive of being able to see if there was drainage, type,  and how much. I just would do like PP days and slip a long sleeve shirt on him. I would then gather it on his back and tie the excess in a knot. I kept three shirts in rotation and would wash daily, but my dog had a really extreme suture so it probably drained more than what you might be dealing with. But definitely have at least one spare. 

ETA- you could use Vetwrap to secure it above his feet so it doesn’t slip down and make him trip. 

I'm looking around the house now to see if we have a long sleeve shirt that will fit...I tried one and it was too small. His chest is bigger than I though lol. I'm kind of tired because he was waking me up throughout the night and I'm spending my time watching him because he's acting weird ...maybe the sedation hasn't fully worn off? Definitely getting more normal than yesterday though. I gave him a rimayl because maybe he's in pain?

[Pawz4me]

Giving him a Rimadyl was a good move, IMO. The weirdness you saw could be the after effects of sedation or it could be pain.

[Jen500]

1 hour ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

I don't know what kind of surgery he had, but when my dogs have had procedures (or snake bites) the vet has kept them extremely doped up on sedatives and also on Torradol for at least 5 days. If he is acting weird I'd call the vet- maybe he needs more pain relief? 

 

1 hour ago, Pawz4me said:

Giving him a Rimadyl was a good move, IMO. The weirdness you saw could be the after effects of sedation or it could be pain.

thank you, the vet called earlier to check on  him  and I am going to go pick up another pain killer. And I found a long sleeve shirt that works!