My dog was neutered. How can I help him sleep with his cone?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Max should wear the plastic cone and not be bathed/groomed for 10-14 days. I wouldn't take it off at bed time if there is ANY chance he will lick his incision. It is better to be safe than sorry. He will be fine. Good luck

The point of the cone is to keep Tucker from licking. If you take it off, he will lick his wound over night. Do not take it off. He will get used to it and he will be able to sleep with it on. Tough Love does it here.

When you pick Reddington up after his procedure he will be a little sleepy from the anesthesia. You will want to keep him inside and very quiet. You will probably be able to feed him a small meal if your vet says it's ok. When he needs to go outside to potty you may even want to keep him on a leash if he tends to get really excitable in the yard. You want to make sure he does not lick at his incision, so an e-collar (cone of shame) is a good idea. Make sure to give the pain medication your vet prescribes to keep him comfortable. The total recovery time is about 10 days. For that time you want to keep him relatively quiet , no off leash walks, wrestling with other dogs or baths.

Hi there! I would recommend asking the vet who did his surgery how long you should leave the cone on. For my neuter patients, if absorbable sutures have been used for skin closure, I normally tell clients they can remove the cone after 10-14 days since the incision should be healed by then. The sutures themselves won't dissolve for a few more weeks, but it doesn't matter if the dog licks or chew them out before that, since the incision has already healed over. https://www.petcoach.co/article/surgery-on-your-pet-what-to-expect-before-and-after-the-pro/

Thank you for your question about Lucky. Yes, Lucky needs to wear the cone at all times until the incision is completely healed. If he leaves it alone, there is a high likelihood that it will heal on its own. It takes roughly 10-14 days to heal an incision and he damaged it around around day 10 so that is going to delay things a bit. Check the incision daily for redness, swelling or discharge. If you see this, he needs to go to the veterinarian for a likely infection from licking. Keep the incision clean and dry. Don’t worry about putting anything on it. It will likely form a new scab and will continue the healing process. I do recommend to have him checked by his veterinarian in about 1 week. I hope you found this helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Yes. Make Romeo wear the collar again. Some pets remember that there was something they wanted to lick and they will do so at the first opportunity. Although he cannot injure the incision anymore, he could cause an infection if he licks it too much. Over the next week you can gradually start to give him more freedom but you should not leave him unsupervised without the collar until things are back to normal. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

NO, a cone is the best way to prevent licking of the incision. Most pets will adjust to the cone within 48 hours. You may also call your vet today and ask about a sedative for Chewy. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.