anyone use an alternative to the Cone after neuter?

I want to be prepared for Renzo's neuter recovery so I would like to get him comfortable with the cone prior to. All my 5 rescues were already neutered so I do not have experience with this. I cannot wait 18 months or 2 years because I have a neutered pit bull male residing with me he is 17 years old and has a bit of an attitude now as Renzo matures. Has anyone used the surgical suit or the donut??

The surgical suit works great! The donut needs to be doubled up due to dobies being so flexible....I'll find a photo of Falcon in the donuts for you.....

I also used the 'Bite Not' collar and one donut....the bite not keeps them from being able to put their chin down...I used the suit, then the donuts after a few days so he would leave incision alone.

I've never used anything after a spay or neuter and they left it alone but the Bite Not works better than anything else I've tried.

Two Dobes said:

The surgical suit works great! The donut needs to be doubled up due to dobies being so flexible....I'll find a photo of Falcon in the donuts for you.....View attachment 162000

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omg that is too cute, how long did you keep it on?

Two Dobes said:

I also used the 'Bite Not' collar and one donut....the bite not keeps them from being able to put their chin down...I used the suit, then the donuts after a few days so he would leave incision alone.
View attachment 162001

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thank you how did he do?

JanS said:

I've never used anything after a spay or neuter and they left it alone but the Bite Not works better than anything else I've tried.

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amazing .. I do hear after a few days they are fine

This doughnut was great! Amazon. Only used it when I left her alone and at night the first few days. Otherwise she left her stitches alone.

For Falcon, it was really just the first few days....these guys heal up quickly; and I take photos daily to make sure incision is moving in the right direction. I put the Bite Not on when we were not home for I think a week. You know the hardest part is keeping them from bouncing off the walls once they feel good!

Two Dobes said:

For Falcon, it was really just the first few days....these guys heal up quickly; and I take photos daily to make sure incision is moving in the right direction. I put the Bite Not on when we were not home for I think a week. You know the hardest part is keeping them from bouncing off the walls once they feel good!

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Renzo got neutered yesterday and he is already bouncing off the walls but I was told to give him 600mg of gabapentin and 200 mg of trazadol .. I am afraid of medications so I always half dose at first and he is doing great with 300mg and 100 of traz all of a sudden he is acting like he's crazy I don't want to up his dose but I may have to... what do you think?

I'd go with vets advice.
How is he tolerating the collar?

Tbh,
I did not use the cone at all with either neuter or spay.

Took the day off and was with them, when they went nosing in that area, they got the well known “ETTTT!!!” and they would leave it alone- I would always have eyes on and established early it was off limits. At the same time, I felt very comfortable with my Dobermans in knowing they usually do what I request.

I agree with @Ddski5 . I've never used the cone at all and don't use pain meds at all after the first day. If he's bouncing off the walls, chances are he isn't in pain and the vets send the pain meds home with you as a just in case.

JanS said:

I agree with @Ddski5 . I've never used the cone at all and don't use pain meds at all after the first day. If he's bouncing off the walls, chances are he isn't in pain and the vets send the pain meds home with you as a just in case.

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Yep. We started with collar and prescribed dose, just to be safe and like @Ddski5 kept a close eye on Bonnie, and reminded "leave it".

Because the spay scar healed fast and didn't seem to be bothering her we backed off on the pain meds some and removed collar after second day.

What you DOn't want is the dog picking at it while fresh and the "bouncing off the walls" comment would suggest a tendency to boredom, imho. Better safe than sorry.

For the benefit of other noobs lurking to learn: One thing I have noticed vs my other dogs, in 60 years of a bunch of them mostly rescues, is how stoic this dobe dog is.

I have to remind myself to watch for pain or other issues more so than in past.

I never used any cone or collar when Buddy was neutered or when Annie was spayed. I never had any problem with them licking or bothering with any stitches.

Ddski5 said:

Tbh,
I did not use the cone at all with either neuter or spay.

Took the day off and was with them, when they went nosing in that area, they got the well known “ETTTT!!!” and they would leave it alone- I would always have eyes on and established early it was off limits. At the same time, I felt very comfortable with my Dobermans in knowing they usually do what I request.

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Yeah I had a few like that but this one has been a whole new experience….he has a Tasmanian devil gene and pushes every limit possible. Lol I thought it was an experienced Doberman owner after having five but the sixth one has made me believe otherwise. The Embark test shows that he has a almost 2% Wolf Gene maybe that has something to do with it lol

MyBuddy said:

I never used any cone or collar when Buddy was neutered or when Annie was spayed. I never had any problem with them licking or bothering with any stitches.

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I have had four previous that were rescues and they were already neutered so I didn’t have to deal with it and the one male I adopted from a breeder what’s 35 years ago so I don’t quite remember.

BGpa said:

Yep. We started with collar and prescribed dose, just to be safe and like @Ddski5 kept a close eye on Bonnie, and reminded "leave it".

Because the spay scar healed fast and didn't seem to be bothering her we backed off on the pain meds some and removed collar after second day.

What you DOn't want is the dog picking at it while fresh and the "bouncing off the walls" comment would suggest a tendency to boredom, imho. Better safe than sorry.

For the benefit of other noobs lurking to learn: One thing I have noticed vs my other dogs, in 60 years of a bunch of them mostly rescues, is how stoic this dobe dog is.

I have to remind myself to watch for pain or other issues more so than in past.

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I know he’s not in any pain right now at least I don’t think so but he’s been on the pills for so long, but I wouldn’t know unless I take him off and he does any whining or other symptoms. His behavior seems quite back to normal. He just wants to play play play every time he goes back to check it out and he doesn’t have the cone on. I say leave it and he does, but if I’m not watching, I don’t know what he would do. I think he would go to town so I’m not taking any chances. I’m watching him like a hawk and the cone goes on when I leave the room or he goes to sleep. And yes, he’s bored. He’s always bored even when he’s entertained, he’s bored this dog has more energy and needs more stimulation than my best friends twin toddlers I swear.

Renzo Red said:

I know he’s not in any pain right now at least I don’t think so but he’s been on the pills for so long, but I wouldn’t know unless I take him off and he does any whining or other symptoms. His behavior seems quite back to normal. He just wants to play play play every time he goes back to check it out and he doesn’t have the cone on. I say leave it and he does, but if I’m not watching, I don’t know what he would do. I think he would go to town so I’m not taking any chances. I’m watching him like a hawk and the cone goes on when I leave the room or he goes to sleep. And yes, he’s bored. He’s always bored even when he’s entertained, he’s bored this dog has more energy and needs more stimulation than my best friends twin toddlers I swear.

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I dont mean to laff at your expense...I just remember that stage. You will "get your steps in!"

Sorry also I said "trust your vet" before...
14 days seems way too long.

Cant recall the dose or the exact med but we cut it in half at four days and stopped altogether at 6, with vet ok once it looked like it was healing and Bonnie wasnt picking at it, cone off.

Those stitches look ok to me, and if he is not chewing at them he probably doesnt need the meds either, imho.

But I'm not a vet, so get a second opinion. It cant hurt and you may need a second dobe experienced opinion in future, if you are getting uncomfortable with current one...

Since you have had dobes before, I'd say trust your gut if this vet is not as well versed/communicating as others you trusted before. I dont like the head tremor...IHTS is another "above average" condition in the breed and the causes are murky, one trigger may be meds...

I think there are fewer vets coming up in this breed, if the trends in vet practice to franchises in small animal generic chains, and referrals to high dollar Emergency Clinics are continuing.

And as the slow decline in dobe breed club show chapters and working trials, "appear to be trending", anecdotally.

So its worth finding that backup...early.

For anyone lurking here thinking about the breed...good to do your homework on this: "find dobe experienced vet!"

Before you get in new puppy sleepless phase...

"These aren't easy or cheap keepers" - Bug

BGpa said:

I dont mean to laff at your expense...I just remember that stage. You will "get your steps in!"

Sorry also I said "trust your vet" before...
14 days seems way too long.

Cant recall the dose or the exact med but we cut it in half at four days and stopped altogether at 6, with vet ok once it looked like it was healing and Bonnie wasnt picking at it, cone off.

Those stitches look ok to me, and if he is not chewing at them he probably doesnt need the meds either, imho.

But I'm not a vet, so get a second opinion. It cant hurt and you may need a second dobe experienced opinion in future, if you are getting uncomfortable with current one...

Since you have had dobes before, I'd say trust your gut if this vet is not as well versed/communicating as others you trusted before. I dont like the head tremor...IHTS is another "above average" condition in the breed and the causes are murky, one trigger may be meds...

I think there are fewer vets coming up in this breed, if the trends in vet practice to franchises in small animal generic chains, and referrals to high dollar Emergency Clinics are continuing.

And as the slow decline in dobe breed club show chapters and working trials, "appear to be trending", anecdotally.

So its worth finding that backup...early.

For anyone lurking here thinking about the breed...good to do your homework on this: "find dobe experienced vet!"

Before you get in new puppy sleepless phase...

"These aren't easy or cheap keepers" - Bug

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Agree, so I do have his regular vet, which is Dobie savvy but I didn’t go to her for the surgery because it was $800 and I went to a place that does them for $125. Prior to going there for the surgery. I went and interviewed the surgeon and paid for a VWD test and some other bloodwork to make sure I was comfortable with them and that cost $400 which would’ve been additional to the $800 at my regular vet. So I’ve been embarrassed to call my regular vet and tell her that I went somewhere else for the surgery but needless to say I think it’s time to call and ask her opinion. I was sure she would say I need to bring him in and getting him into the car right now. I thought it would’ve been a bad idea to do while he’s healing. I have a large SUV and it would put strain on his incision so this morning, I gave him only 100 mg of trazodone. He still had a major reaction no head tremors, but went out of his mind. Crazy jumped over a gate like 4 feet in the air out of nowhere started running in circles. We couldn’t control him. It was like he was in a frenzy. His pupils were dilated. We couldn’t even get his attention. We finally leashed him and tethered him to something and he calmed down after doing some immediate training to get his focus so no more drugs I’m going to be ordering the CBD oil and see where that goes. Also, he got a really long walk today and that made him so happy if he didn’t pop a stitch after what he did today I’m sure he’s on his way to being healed thank God … I think I aged 10 years watching that episode.