Cone Redux

When Tuttle was neutered and had his rear dew claws removed last Sunday we were told to come back in a week and he could get his stitches removed. Following that surgery a week battling the cone took place: Tuttle battling the cone and me battling Tuttle to keep a cone on him.

One of his old cones that did not work well for him

It was wet and gross outside so we had been daily rewrapping his paws and he was wearing his cone 24/7. However, he quickly figured out that his body was long enough that he could wrap himself around and still get his rear foot in his mouth - cone be damned!

I tried tying the cone on so it was higher on his neck and also using a donut cone in tandem with the plastic one to keep the cone higher. The problem is that the longer the cone, the wider the neck. So for a pinheaded little Rat Terrier with a tiny neck and a long snout, the cones are next to worthless.

Yesterday we were back at the vet for the 1 week recheck and as I suspected, he had bugged the incisions enough that they were starting to get a bit infected. Instead of getting his stitches out he instead needs to wear his cone another 5 days, and take 10 days of Clavamox to get rid of the infection. The vet techs, who absolutely adore this little maniac, found a cone that was a bit longer and more flexible at the neck. They then showed me how to do a "cat harness tie" using gauze to tie the cone around the neck and then around the body behind the shoulders. Tuttle was not impressed.

His new cone setup. So far this is working.

So we are heading into week two of the cone. The other dogs are really looking forward to a cone-free Tuttle since he likes to run up to them for a butt sniff and then ends up jabbing them with his cone.