Is my dog choking or struggling in her inflatable cone after spay?

Hi, if you are able to pass two fingers between the bandage and the neck, the bandage is lose enough. If you remove the bandage completely or make it too lose Lily will be able to take the cone off and then she might lick her wound. I would recommend to loosen it slightly f you are unable to pass two fingers between the neck and the bandage. You could change the plastic collar to an inflatable one, I would recommend to do it tomorrow morning so that you have any issues you can always pop Lily into your vet and get help placing the collar back ! She looks quite cheeky and smart ! Hope this helps !

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I'm sorry to hear Macey got a cut. Without seeing how deep the cu is or whether it is located on her neck, I have some difficulty in advising you about the cone. I would recommend reaching out to your regular veterinarian for further advice or taking a peek at her cut to see if it is a concern. In order to protect her spay site, you can also buy post-surgical dog "onesies" that would mean she wouldn't need a cone collar but she wouldn't be able to get at her stitches as well. Good luck!

Yikes! I'm so glad you were there to stop this from becoming a much worse situation! His mouth should heal just fine. Offer some soft food as hard food may be a bit painful for the next couple of days, other than that you don't need to change anything. If it hasn't healed well within 4-5 days, take him to the vet. Keep an eye on the other dog as well; while you were able to get them untangled quickly when he was choking, sometimes dogs can develop whats called "non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema" after a choking incident, even a brief one. If he starts to cough, seems to be breathing faster than normally or is labored at all in his breathing, take him to the vet. Oxygen therapy may be needed, these guys usually recover but they do often need to spend some time in an oxygen cage. He very well may be fine and not develop these symptoms at all, but it is something you need to watch out for over the next 12-24 hours. Thank you for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hi and thanks for your request. The wound seems fairly dry even though there is some discharge. The margins of it look healthy as well. I guess that the discharge is minimal but if not (from the pic I cannot assess it, then a check up would be required ). Her general status would be very important as well to decide whether she needs to be seen or not; if she is painful, lethargic, inappetent, if she has any vomiting, diarrhoea, then a check up would be ideal. Hope this could help. At the moment there is no need for a check up in my opinion. Licking should be discouraged with any possible means. plasters and soft inflatable collars (donut-like) may be useful.

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. You should clean the wound with cotton buds and warm, boiled water 2-3 times a day until you see your vet. Putting a cone back on is an excellent idea too. Your vet will likely prescribe Apollyon an antibiotic cream and maybe will put a stitch or two to close the small opening in the wound.

Her incision should be healed by now so you should not need another cone. I would take that one off while you are home and make sure she's not licking the area. Distract her if she does, and if there are stitches and she's still going after them then you may need to get another cone and leave it on longer. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Luna.

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I do not think those pillow ones on the neck work very well. But the soft-sided cones you can certainly use. The hard plastic ones are not really recommended. Dogs don’t resist the soft ones as much as the hard ones. Just make sure that the cone is long enough to go past the end of her nose or she wilI still be able to lick at the incision. Hope this helps. Best wishes.