Day after Neuter and e-collar

[elmomil]

Hello
I was just wondering if everyone left the e-collar on your dog after the neuter. It just seems to get in the way and he can't eat or drink his water. Tyson also seems to be in some pain and whining, is that normal?
Thanks in advance

[KatarinasMom]

I know what you mean about the e-collar "getting in the way" lol. Our poor girl bumped into walls, knocked over lamps,etc. We kept it on her MOST of the time. If we were able to keep a very close eye on her than we would remove it for short periods of time to give her a little break.....although I don't know if it bothered her as much as it did us We did, however, cut it back a little so that it was easier for her to eat/drink but so that she still couldn't reach her stitches.

As far as the pain, our vet had prescribed some pain medication. I tried to only give it to her at night so she could sleep better. Our girl only seemed to be "uncomfortable" for the first few days.

Best wishes to your boy for a speedy recovery

[brunie's mom]

If you can keep an eye on him take off the collar.
I've had my own dogs neutered spayed ,as well as many fosters and have never needed to use the e-collar on them. If you can't watch them put the collar on if you think they will start licking. My vet uses surgical glue...no stitches and that may be the reason why the dog tend not to be licking.

Gina

[elmomil]

Thanks for the advice guys. I had to take it off, once the drugs wore off Tyson went ballistic and started growling and pawing at the collar. I am able to watch him and he is doing well.

Thanks again

[EmmysMom]

Just be careful at night - Baron was fine during the day but he was licking at night after I was asleep and it did become inflamed. So, he had to wear it at night for a couple of days and then he was fine!

Candy

[AngelBunny]

When our 5 yo foster was neutered a couple of months ago, Sailor was initially as good as gold. No licking. I thought he wouldn't need the collar.

Well, I was wrong. A few days after his surgery he started licking so that was the end of his collar-less days.

I took the collar off for meals and when we went for walks, but other than that, he wore it. I kept Sailor confined to his crate or leashed to me so he couldn't walk around the house, crashing into things.

[Debbie Ervin]

Inever used it, for our breed especially they are huge! If you are home most of the time to keep an eye out for at least 5 days I wouldn't use it. I think it stresses them out more. Debbie Ervin

[Static'sMum]

Static kept his E-collar on for around 10 minutes. Long enough for us to take a picture!(it is in my gallery) He looked SO sad it was painful to look at, and i was actually off work sick with the flu at the time, so Static and I hung out and watched tv all week.
The first night we put some of this nasty tasting stuff on the area around his stitches (he had his dew claws removed from his front paws the same day) and he licked one paw once, and cause it tasted so nasty, he didn't try it again. He was a model patient!!!
but the collar wasn't necessary for us!!

[Nishasmom]

The vet never sent us home with an E-collar, and we never needed one . Nisha didn't even know she had stitches!

Did the vet give you any pain meds?

[elmomil]

Well I would suggest that you try and keep it on. Tyson was going crazy with it on so I took it off. I work from home and he was great during the day. At night is when he licked the stitches open. We had to bring him back and they had to staple the wound shut and now he has to take penicillin for 14 days. Now the e-collar is back on and he is going to keep it on for the full 14 days. He went ballistic again but we weathered the storm and he seems to be accepting it. The e-collar looks like its been through a war and its only been on for one day.

[elmomil]

Oh, and there were not any pain meds given.

[AngelBunny]

Originally Posted by elmomil

...At night is when he licked the stitches open...

When Sailor decided to start licking, nights were the worst for him, too. Once he started licking, that collar went on and it stayed on. The only times it was off was if he was eating, going for a walk, or he was leashed to me by a very short leash.