When can my neutered dog be groomed and take off the cone at bedtime?

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/

I advise my patients to keep the cone on and decreased activity for 10-14 days. Also, the picture looks like maybe he was a cryptochid with 2 incisions? I would recommend being on the safe side and waiting 2 weeks before play with other dogs. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.

Please do not take Reddington's cone off at all. He likely will lick the stitches with it off when you are asleep, and that can cause serious post operative complications. It only has to be on for 10-14 days until he is fully healed, which is a relatively short amount of time. He will learn to live with it. I understand being concerned about him being in pain, but he will find his own position that is comfortable for him to sleep. I would leave it to him to decide which position feels the best since he can't tell you a specific position hurts or not.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! At this point this looks very superficial. If he does not lick or scratch at it, this will likely heal on its own at this point. I would put the e-collar back on until this heals completely. Good luck!

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.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Neutering a male dog is pretty standard and a relatively easy surgery for a dog to recover from. With in 24 hours after the surgery Toby will feel and want to act normal. Your 2 goals are to prevent licking of the incision, so make sure you get an Elizabethan Collar (cone) or donut and to prevent excessive exercise for 2 weeks. That means no running, jumping, stairs and leash walks only for 10-14 days. It is surgeon preference whether there are skin sutures that need to be removed and sometimes we send them home with 5-7 days of pain medications. After 10-14 days things will be back to normal! I hope this helps and I wish you and Toby the best~

He should have been healed after about 2 weeks. If he never had an e-collar (cone) on, he was likely licking the area when you weren't around or during the night. This could have caused the delay in healing. Ideally, he should be seen by a veterinarian as soon as you can. An e-collar should be obtained and placed as soon as possible to prevent further licking. A small tee shirt or onesie may prevent licking until you get a proper e-collar. Antibiotics may be indicated to treat infection. A veterinarian can dispense them, if indicated, after an exam.