alternative to wearing "The cone" after surgery??

[Ann]

I've used the inflatable doughnut on all my dogs for various surgeries, from abdominal stitches to facial ones. I'd say it depends on where the stitches are. Basically, if you're there and can keep an eye on Lucky, you'll see if he can get to the stitches. If they're on his lower jaw I think it would be unlikely he can get to it with an inflatable on. If he does, the soft cone is another alternative.

 

[Sandy in CT]

she warned us to be cautious in using the donut because some dogs can bypass it and scratch the stitches

I can see this if you bought too small of a donut. I used a large on both boys - it's out of stock on Amazon but pics show the large fit a 12-18" neck. If I had opted for a medium (8-12") neck it may not have worked as well, they def could have gotten to stitches with the small. I used their normal collars threaded through the inflatable. Brodie wore his 24/7 for 9 days - his stitch removal was delayed as we had obligations on day 8 and didn't want to leave him unattended after removal. Deacon wore the collar when he first came home and then at night. He had a longer recovery as he had a testicle in his abdomen so 2 incisions; one minor, one major. During the day I had him in a 'Suitical' off of Amazon - surgical suit like a babies onsie. I only had him wear that if he could be supervised.

While out of stock, here is the inflatable cone we used. For reference, at 4 years, Brodie is 15 1/2" at shoulders and 19 lbs. Deacon is 14" at shoulder and 16 lbs. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Q6PKRP1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1