Nobody likes the dreaded E-collar (aka the “cone of shame”)
Our pets run into our shins, knock everything off nearby tables and just look plain “sad” in them, but they are exceptionally vital to your pet’s adventure. Why? Because unfortunately, our pets speak very poor English (or any language for that matter) and their incision is itchy! No matter how good your pet is, they will chew at their incision because of how itchy it is. They will scratch and chew all the way until you are looking at a wide-open incision, sometimes all the way down to the level of the bone or metal implant! For obvious reasons, this is not desired, so your second phrase to remember is:
Our hard E-collar comes off, only when our incision has healed and our veterinarian says it can come off.
This powerful sentence is also able to answer many questions that you may have in your upcoming weeks, such as:
Does my pet need to use an E-collar? I know them, and they will listen to me, I am certain they won’t lick at their incision.
Can I use something else, like one of the soft collars or inflatable ones?
Can I take off the cone when they eat?
Your pet’s incision is the most important thing in the world until it has healed, and it requires your undivided attention.
Trust me, it has your pets full focus. They are thinking about it all day, every day, and they are VERY clever. You MUST watch them like a hawk to make sure that they cannot get around the cone (yes, sometimes your veterinarian/nurse may send your pet home with too small of a collar), cannot use the edge of the cone to scratch at the incision, cannot kick the cone off, or simply interfere with the incision in ANY manner. We will not be able to progress to the next step in our recovery, which is our at home walking program, until the incision heals. Do not let the incision become a set back for you and your pet at such an early stage.
Your primary goal during the first two weeks is to ensure that your pet cannot interfere with their incision in any way. You should contact Dr. Lynch, or his nurse, if you have any concern with your incision and follow their advice to ensure that your pets incision heals.
We know what it looks like when your pet is interfering with their incision:
It is not fun when it starts to get worse and halts your pets progress:
You don’t want to see what it looks like underneath:
