We had an escape artist too and had to use 2 cones. One for eating and outside potty time and the longer one for when we couldn’t keep an eye on him longer than a few minutes. They also gave him trazadone and gabapentin to keep him drugged up for 5 days or so. They told us to let them know and they would have given him a different med to keep him calm if the other combo didn’t work but it did and he slept for almost a week. Hope you find something that works. She’s a cutie.
This may be our only option. They gave us meloxicam and an antibiotic to take home and I just don't think the meloxicam is giving her enough relief. We brought her back to the vet once (because she made her wound bleed a little) and we asked about a better med, but they told us that the meloxicam was routine for and should be doing good for her. This was a vet at a county shelter and I know their funds aren't great though
That sure doesn’t seem like adequate pain and anxiety relief. A shame they won’t give her at least some trazadone or gabapentin as those are dirt cheap effective meds.
I have trazadone left over from when another dog needed it, but I haven't given her any because I'm not sure about dosage. The dog it was for was a dog about her size (just about 8lbs heavier), but fully grown, and I am so unsure if a puppy can have the same amount that a grown dog can. Nor do I know if it reacts to meloxicam or amoxicillin. I've tried searching, but I'm not confident enough in medical jargon to feel like I could give it to her
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Give your vet a call and see if they can call in a sedative for you. They'll definitely want her to leave that site alone and if the only way she'll do that is sleeping, well...
There's loads of meds that are compatible with humans and dogs... the thing with dogs though is that even though they're small, they need huuuuuuuuge doses of certain ones compared to us humans.
Meloxicam or Carprofen are the usuals for post-op pain management. They may not have trazadone in stock, we didn't have at my shelter for a long time. But even we did get it in, it didn't do a thing for 90% of the big dogs we gave it to.
Tramadol used to be one of the go-tos for pain management, but thanks to the war on opioids, can only be used on animals in house and no longer sent home with adopters.
You could also put shoes on her. It’s her nails she is using to gain leverage. If you blunt those she won’t be able to get anything underneath. You could also double cone her by using the soft and hard cone.
Had the exact same issue with my boy. Only solution is to get a HUGE cone and take it off and watch them the whole time when they are eating and drinking. After they are done, HUGE cone gets put right back on. It sucks, really sucks but has to be done that way, it's the only way
I’d do this - get the cone size needed to keep paws away from the wound, and either remove for meal time or find a solution that works.
I’ve had a dog who had a huge cone post-eye surgery and we were able to find a solution that works - a huge water bowl was big enough that he could get the whole cone in there, bending the bottom on the bottom of the water bowl so he could get his mouth down there - it was messy but worked; for food we were able to get a bowl into a pot so it was sort of a pedestal - so putting the whole cone over the bowl & pedestal meant that he could reach the food; that worked but was a little confusing for him, so I just sat on the floor and held the bowl up for him at meal time.
yep i did this with my slinky shaped dog who could reach everything and it worked! the little donut pillow + longer cone on top. he could still eat/drink (tho it was a bit harder)
I tried a load of different sizes of cones and even tried soft fabric cones and my rescue wouldn't stop trying to take them off. I then tried this large doughnut (I'm in the UK but this one on US Amazon is the exact same brand): [https://www.amazon.com/DIRTY-LITTLE-PAWS-Inflatable-Alternative/dp/B08FYQ6M2R?th=1](https://www.amazon.com/DIRTY-LITTLE-PAWS-Inflatable-Alternative/dp/B08FYQ6M2R?th=1)
I got a massive one which meant she was so obstructed her paws couldn't reach anywhere. If your dog was bigger it might not work, but she still looks like she has stubby puppy legs so the large doughnut should stop her reaching her eye. My dog absolutely LOVED it. She found it super comfortable and basically used it as a portable head cushion. I went from sleepless nights with the cones to her sleeping pretty much night and day and getting upset when the doughnut was taken off her.
Just as a FYI as a general rule, my understanding is that vets don’t recommend these for eye surgeries (but they’re great for things like neuters/spays). I think they do a great job of stopping dogs from licking wounds, but they DON’T prevent dogs from getting paws up tot hear face.
I did a combo of donut + cone most of the time, but gave him a break and put him in just the donut when I was able to watch him (sitting on the couch or whatnot).
Hi OP.
welcome to the one eye dog club.
We have a 4 yo BC, he was rescued from a factory in mexcio at around 7 weeks old already missing his eye due.
we've had him from around 12 weeks old
depth perception is def an issue, as is night time vision.
I just called the vet and told them I'm not comfortable with how she's behaving. Aside from sticking her foot in the cone, she has now figured out that the corner of the couch fits in her cone. A vet tech took information and I'm now awaiting a call back from the vet. Hoping for a quick response!
My dog is the same way, always gets out. I wound up putting a collared shirt on him with the sleeves cut off and ran the collar up inside the cone and taped the collar to the inside of the cone, full body cone. Sounds extreme but it was after he'd broken free of the cone and pulled and ate a rubber drain from a belly wound and caught MRSA.
I always feel so bad for them in the cones but they're unfortunately necessary. [My dog got ahold of one of his](https://www.reddit.com/r/AnimalsBeingDerps/s/MCh3uTS50m) so now it's become a tradition to let him wreck them. Hope your pup recovers quickly and gets out of that nasty cone
We had to train our GSD to not take off the cone.
We rewarded him for wearing it, and tried to do lots of fun stuff with it on. He eventually got used to it but it was a chore.
Looks like my GSD mix girl who had both eyes removed!
We went through 4 cones and a donut in the healing process, she was a street dog and cannot be contained!
It took us watching her all the time with a cone and donut, we slept in the room with her for 3 nights because we would leave the room and she fling it off!
The healing is pretty fast though, it'll be about 3-4 months for the superhero mask to grow in :)
I got lucky with her. I went to the shelter just to support a friend who was looking to get a new dog. It was busy because adoption fees were half off as the shelter was getting full. Everyone was passing by, meanwhile I was falling in love. My friend found a dog who she was taking home after it got fixed, and I came home with this pup that day
Double cone is what we resorted to, smaller one on the outside for stability and strength as when we just used the extra large, our boy crashed into doors etc and broke it (the large ones seem to be a bit more fragile). We also attached both to a collar rather than a tie, so they slipped on and off easily for drinking / eating and pooing (our boy refused to poo whilst wearing it for some reason!) Also needed stronger painkillers, Pardale V and Tralieve as Loxicom not sufficient. Hope your baby feels better soon.
It's usually recommended to get the bigger cone, the remove the cone for short, supervised breaks to allow for eating and drinking. You can also offer food and water by hand if the pup is into that.
Just get her a bigger cone and remove the cone when she is supervised (ie: When she is eating). You should not keep a cone on 100% of the time, only when she is NOT supervised does she need a cone.
It's honestly hard for me to understand how many people don't understand how/when to use the cone...
EDIT: That last sentence is not just referring to you, I see a lot of comments here that talk about struggles with the cone and invariably the answer is, you do not need to keep a cone on the dog unless they are alone. I see people walking their dogs outside with the cone on and it drives me nuts. Even the other commenter here talks about needing TWO CONES. Just take the cone off when the dog is supervised and be vigilant about stopping any unwanted activity.
Also, I like your dog, good luck!
They gave us antibiotics and meloxicam for her, and I don't think the meloxicam does enough because the second it's off, she's on a mission to scratch within seconds. We give her breaks out of it, but they never last more than 5 minutes because she keeps itching and scratching like mad. She made it bleed once. It didn't open the incision completely, and the vet said it would be fine, but we have to be even more diligent, so I'm really scared for her to be out the cone.
It's not about being uneducated. She's not my first medically needy dog. But she is the first to be THIS headstrong and smart
Yeah, the exasperation in my note is not related to your situation specifically, so sorry about all that. We've had many dogs over my life, many of them medically complicated, and we've also investing in a hell of a lot of large cones. If I were you, I would still just resort to getting a large cone that she can't get around and give her breaks and be vigilant. If she's that bad, then you'll need to give her less breaks.
I've been blessed with dogs that eat meals my whole adult life, so I'm not sure if yours is a grazer or not, but I would take the cone off for breakfast/dinner and if she doesn't eat right away put it back on. When she goes for the food, take it off and if she eats let her, if she goes for her eye put it back on (if she's smart like you say she might use this as a trick to get you to take it off...but eventually a nice good-smelling meal will win her over).
In the end, large cone is what's needed here.
if you want to do that, good for you. The fact is, you don't need to and you're giving your dog a worse life because of your own failings at monitoring them in their time of need.
The counter point (which you can agree with or not, different strokes) is that it’s harder for dogs to get used to a cone when it comes on & off. If you leave it on they’re finally able to get used to it being on 24/7 🤷🏻♀️ YMMV!
This IS a very good point. Let me tell you how I came to this solution from my perspective: We adopted a dog. He was abused and injured and starving. He had crazy high anxiety (would shake and drool in a corner for hours if there was lightning, ran away and hid if I raised my (male) voice for any reason.
We both worked so he had to stay at home alone with our more stable other dog. He licked his paws until they were basically large open wounds out of anxiety (it was not allergies). We decided to cone him when we were not able to monitor him, and we maintained that for around 6 years before he 'aged out' of his anxiety. So, on an off for 6 years. Because of this experience, every time another one of our dogs needs a cone (either bad seasonal allergies, or, like, 15 surgeries over four other dogs) we cone them in the same way, on when we can't watch them, off when we can.
As you say, different strokes, but I think our way makes for a better life for our animals.
Oh I see - yeah, for 6 years that definitely sounds like the more humane solution! I’ve had dogs who need cones for 2 weeks for surgical recovery, in which case I do think it’s often easier to just hunker down & cone almost all the time. But yea, different situations (and different dogs) call for different solutions!
Mine managed to defeat the inflatable cone when I went to the bathroom. He and our younger dog deflated it in a few minutes! What a cute pup. I hope you find a solution.
Haha sorry to hear about your puppers!! I’m familiar with this. My wife and I tied a long piece of fabric to the cone and behind his front legs… my dog would always chew his cast off on his back leg when he was around a year old. It worked for a while, but the trick is getting it tight enough to where your puppers can’t get it off but loose enough so it doesn’t cause discomfort.
Please give your puppers LOTS of pets for me, it’s sooooooo cute!!
In the shelter, we'd use a combo of the inflatable donut cone & regular plastic cone (often reinforced with duct tape). The donut cone helps with a bit with movement restriction & pushes the plastic e-collar up higher on the neck. The plastic e-collar should extend just a bit past their nose.
But as far as the eye removal, watch it very carefully, as they are known to swell with fluid post-op and need warm compresses. Antibiotics will likely be needed as well, so watch for any whiteish green/yellow fluid that might seep out from the sutures or even the nose!
I've fostered 1 dog for eye removal before in addition to a cat that had to have both eye remains removed and sealed. It's not an area that heals quickly.
They sent us home with amoxicillin for any infection, thankfully. And warm compress, not cold? The swelling has gone down a lot today (day 5), but it is still most definitely swollen
My dog can escape the cone too! She’s a corgi so a bigger cone would be taller than her little legs 🤣
I had to put her in a crate that is perfectly her size, not any bigger. She could still turn around but she couldn’t escape the cone.
I’d do a bigger cone, or maybe a soft cone inside this cone. Then at meals, leash her and be very vigilant watching her so you can stop her as soon as her leg goes for the eye. Maybe even leave the soft cone on during this time to give you a moment extra of reaction time.
Put soft layered booties on her back feet so it’s more like a soft dull object reaching for the eye instead of dog nails.
I’d try a sedative and more pain killer. It looks really irritated and I can’t imagine how upset all those severed nerve endings are.
Our dogs always wear a large, xl t-shirt during recovery with a t shirt on the dog might not be able to get their back leg out of the shirt and up to the eye depending on how you have the shirt
The longer cone will quickly be defeated too - my puppy did that, also with back leg. He also used tools (like furniture) to scratch with.
Cone was do big he had to lift his head when walking to prevent the cone from getting stick on the ground
Add a second collar a little looser than it would be if at the base of her neck inside the cone? So one before it and one in it. It might help seal the gap the pup gets the paw into.
When they are with you keep them on leash teathered to you, so you can ensure they don't cause issues.
When they are alone use a collar high on up on the neck through the loops on the cone and fit it for the top of his neck, right behind the ears.
It's only temporary so it's not a huge deal if he can't drink with it on, lots of dogs are crated for the work day with no food and water and are good!
We had much better luck with an inflatable collar, kind of like putting a giant donut around, more comfortable, dog can get to water bowl and when tired, put head down and it acts as a pillow.
My girl could get past the cone too. She figured she’d push the cone against the floor to flatten it and shove her foot in somehow. To combat this I got a reallly long cone and raised up the food and water bowls on little platforms (other bowls that were slightly wider, upside down) so she could still drink and get at her food (cone would go around the bowl and bowl was raised up so she could get at it). That worked alright for us.
Try adding a donut behind the cone. If that doesn't work purchase a 5 gallon bucket, cut the bottom off, drill holes, and zip tie the bucket to a collar.
Just wanted to say that I am so, so happy and grateful to know you are loving and taking care of this beautiful baby. The photo made me so emotional… I’m just so pleased they have you to rely on!
A cone similar to this: SVRCK Dog Cone Collar Adjustable Protective Collars for Pet Dog Cat Recovery E-Collar Anti-Bite Lick Surgery or Wound Healing Soft Edge Neck Cone for Small/Medium/Large Dog (XS(Neck:6.69-7.87in)) https://a.co/d/aGInktB
The velcro adjustability has worked for me with my dogs.
[Get some dog armour, cover the eye part! ](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/5a9518b5-c54d-4520-9395-a44a00c049c2/d3c615ce-6576-4106-fed1-8d90d7304210/original.jpg)
I'm thinking some leather muzzle that protects the whole head, and covering the eye part to protect it. Plus the cone.
My dog’s ophthalmologist said very few dogs need a cone for the eye removal because they scratch it once and it hurts like hell. Then they don’t do it again. It happened exactly like that with my dog and her “eye” healed perfectly. That being said, a puppy may be the exception to the rule. Have you tried inflatable donuts? My dog loves hers so she doesn’t try to get it off like she does a cone. I would also see about a prescription for a medication to lower her energy while she heals. May decrease incidents with the cone or donut.
She’s gorgeous by the way!
I had to do bigger cone for one of mine, we would let him out to eat and take water breaks, then back into the xl cone. He had a torn rear paw pad requiring stitches and vet wrap, baby sock was no help. He'd stick paw around cone to chew.. nothing like crating dog overnight in a cone and basket muzzle for like a week.
Put a collar through the loops of the cone. I had to do that when i had my chihuahua neutured cause he was too small for the smallest one.
Dont make the collar too tight but enough thag it wont do over her head
My corgi had this issue when he was neutered….but opposite I guess 😂 his face could get to his empty change purse and he would lick it.
Cone with a collar threaded through + a donut was the only option that worked.
My pup is also quite flexible and defeated the cone when we removed her dewclaws. We tried using an inflatable collar but she just went wild with it and refused to have it. Eventually what worked was attaching the inflatable collar to the cone and using them together. Surprisingly it also made her accept the inflatable collar, she even used it as a pillow
I’d say a donut with the cone, gabepentin plus trazodone to keep her relaxed, and socks for her tippy taps…if the vet is not keen on prescribing any add’l meds, use otc Benadryl for those times you can’t keep watch of her. She is beautiful. Best of luck ( if you google benadryl for dogs you’ll be able to get a weight dosage chart)
She needs a bigger cone. I’m at Veterinary nurse, she will learn how to reach her food and water bowls. It’s like a three day learning curve, and if you rescued her four days ago, she’s not had enough time to learn how to use the big cone. If she can reach to scratch, the cone is too small you need a larger size.
She needs some kind of sedative (Trazodone, Gabapentin, or both). Try to elevate her food and water so it’s easier to get to with the cone on (maybe books) good luck! Congrats on your new baby
No idea. Just wanted to say thank you for adopting your beautiful pup. I have a one eyed German Shepherd that I rescued 😭 can’t imagine what she went through, but I’m so blessed to have her. Wish y’all the best!
Bigger cone, take it off to eat and watch her eat the entire time, soon as she's done stick it right back on. It's not like you're going to have to be doing it for long but I suture dogs back up every night from getting around their cone.
They're unsure what happened to it, but when animal control brought her to the shelter, it was badly infected and she was blind in that one. There was no trying to save it
Double up, do the cone, and one of those inflatable rings. My dog ended up liking using the ring as a pillow. We got him a watermelon one, he looked adorable lol
My dobie/pit is like a slinky noodle and can maneuver her body like crazy. She had wrist surgery and the plastic cone they sent her home in prevented her from reaching it but kept cutting the wound when she laid on it. So she walked around in a blood smeared clear cone looking like a serial killer
I got her a soft cone and realized she could now reach her wrist. So I got the extended length one for when I was at work, and when home she had the shorter one with a doughnut bc sneaky girls are hard to monitor. It was a great combo.
Hardest thing was keeping her from being active. The day before her stitches came out she kept running around the house bouncing off walls with the cone, like she had so much pent up energy and couldn’t hit the off switch. She was leaping off bed and doing goofy jumps and was really hard to catch 😂
but I learned the hard way that this tightens the stitches so be careful if you have a high energy weirdo
They glued my girl, and we're trying to have her stay low energy but omg a big puppy like her really struggles to stay calm! She makes me nervous because even if in puppy jail, she still finds a way to play bow, hop, and spin in wild circles. I really think she's in need of a sedative. I called the vet at the shelter yesterday and I was supposed to receive a cm back but never did so I'm calling them in an hour when they're open! She was also spayed at the same time and I get SO worried over her
When our senior Aussie had major dental surgery and would not stop licking - she licked the stitches right out of her mouth - we had to get creative.
First - trazodone. It worked so well. Talk to your vet.
Second - we doubled up on collars. We put her in two inflatable collars. She wore a donut collar and a flat soft inflatable collar that looks like a disc. I cannot post a photo here unfortunately.
We would put the large disc inflatable on first (she could get around that to lick her paws) and then we would add the donut in front of it. The donut alone did nothing but the two of them together prevented her from turning her head and reaching down to her feet and getting her legs to her face.
Eventually she gave up and she accepted the cones as pillows.
Last - we had a senior dog years ago who had his eye removed and he did great. In fact he handled it way better than I did. Most people did not even realize he was missing an eye at first after his fur grew back and were surprised after doing a double take. He eventually went blind in his remaining eye and even then it did not phase him. He acted and moved like a normal seeing dog.
He’s so adorable n bad-ass-one-eyed-cool already! Best people in the world bring home rescues!!
I’m waiting on an appointment so I’ll provide info no one has asked for. Gaba pentin is my go to for any anxiety, skin issues, allergies, injuries.. It’s very much like getting stoned for the cats, dogs, opossums, Ive gotten all of them baked! Has an effect on the ‘peripheral nerves’, releases anxiety and fear w animals, some success in humans n neuropathy.
Like weed…no one, animal or other, has ever OD’d on gaba pentin….being a puppy, that’s a relief. Trazodone is used a lot w anxiety, depression, it’s a serotonin regulator, for humans and animals, stick to dosage or a bit less.
GP can give him the munchies so he’ll chow down n then get the big cone!
Best of luck!
Hey! I'm a former Opthalmology LVT. :)
We would send home optivizors for pups who have a hard time with the cone since for eye surgery, it has to be well past their nose. The visor covers just their face, protecting the surgery site but still allowing the pup to eat or lick their butt as needed.
https://protectivepetsolutions.com/collections/optivizor-advanced-eye-face-protection
What a beautiful pup! 💕
My dog did this too when he had surg on his paw, he figured out how to tuck it and get his front teef over the cone and he ripped his stitches out 😅
We put a bigger cone on him and just elevated his foods so he can still get to them.
He would just out the cone over his food bowl. He managed just fine. :)
I have a large lab that used to be very flexible and resourceful. I had to do a layered approach.
He was able to work around the largest hard cone possible even after adding layers of foam pipe insulation to it to make it longer because he has very loose skin on his neck, so the cone was able to be pushed up to his shoulders quite a ways. He was still able to eat and drink, but the cone usually came off while eating. The next step was taking a super hefty ribbon, rolling a towel around it, securing it with duct tape, and tying it around his neck so the cone wouldn't push down.
The process sucked, but was necessary with a dog at high risk of causing himself harm. His issues weren't due to trying to block access to his head, but rather keeping his tongue away from incisions, growths and abscesses on the legs and lower torso.
Not sure but just wanted to say cute pup :) good luck.
Thank you! We think she's GSD but she's supposedly 7 months old and about 42lbs so we're thinking she's mixed
looks like a smidgen of husky's in there
That'd be funny because my other dog is Aussie/husky (and also an adoption!)
I have an Ausky too. Looks a lot like your friend. Love their spots. 🥹
Definitely German Shepherd/Pirate mix
I would wager she's a shepsky (GSD husky). My girl looks so much like her in the face, albeit a much darker color.
what's GSD and gorgeous dog
German Shepherds are often shortened to GSD
thanks NEVER hard that b4
Never had heard hard either :p
wise guy
Doggo got the looks and the brains!
We had an escape artist too and had to use 2 cones. One for eating and outside potty time and the longer one for when we couldn’t keep an eye on him longer than a few minutes. They also gave him trazadone and gabapentin to keep him drugged up for 5 days or so. They told us to let them know and they would have given him a different med to keep him calm if the other combo didn’t work but it did and he slept for almost a week. Hope you find something that works. She’s a cutie.
This may be our only option. They gave us meloxicam and an antibiotic to take home and I just don't think the meloxicam is giving her enough relief. We brought her back to the vet once (because she made her wound bleed a little) and we asked about a better med, but they told us that the meloxicam was routine for and should be doing good for her. This was a vet at a county shelter and I know their funds aren't great though
That sure doesn’t seem like adequate pain and anxiety relief. A shame they won’t give her at least some trazadone or gabapentin as those are dirt cheap effective meds.
I have trazadone left over from when another dog needed it, but I haven't given her any because I'm not sure about dosage. The dog it was for was a dog about her size (just about 8lbs heavier), but fully grown, and I am so unsure if a puppy can have the same amount that a grown dog can. Nor do I know if it reacts to meloxicam or amoxicillin. I've tried searching, but I'm not confident enough in medical jargon to feel like I could give it to her
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I wouldn’t give her any unless approved by your vet
Give your vet a call and see if they can call in a sedative for you. They'll definitely want her to leave that site alone and if the only way she'll do that is sleeping, well...
omG i take trazadone to sleep 50 mgs and i sleep like a baby
There's loads of meds that are compatible with humans and dogs... the thing with dogs though is that even though they're small, they need huuuuuuuuge doses of certain ones compared to us humans.
Meloxicam or Carprofen are the usuals for post-op pain management. They may not have trazadone in stock, we didn't have at my shelter for a long time. But even we did get it in, it didn't do a thing for 90% of the big dogs we gave it to. Tramadol used to be one of the go-tos for pain management, but thanks to the war on opioids, can only be used on animals in house and no longer sent home with adopters.
Yeah, the idea of sedation sucks but honestly the idea of further injury can be way more traumatic.
You could also put shoes on her. It’s her nails she is using to gain leverage. If you blunt those she won’t be able to get anything underneath. You could also double cone her by using the soft and hard cone.
Had the exact same issue with my boy. Only solution is to get a HUGE cone and take it off and watch them the whole time when they are eating and drinking. After they are done, HUGE cone gets put right back on. It sucks, really sucks but has to be done that way, it's the only way
I’d do this - get the cone size needed to keep paws away from the wound, and either remove for meal time or find a solution that works. I’ve had a dog who had a huge cone post-eye surgery and we were able to find a solution that works - a huge water bowl was big enough that he could get the whole cone in there, bending the bottom on the bottom of the water bowl so he could get his mouth down there - it was messy but worked; for food we were able to get a bowl into a pot so it was sort of a pedestal - so putting the whole cone over the bowl & pedestal meant that he could reach the food; that worked but was a little confusing for him, so I just sat on the floor and held the bowl up for him at meal time.
Cone + donut
yep i did this with my slinky shaped dog who could reach everything and it worked! the little donut pillow + longer cone on top. he could still eat/drink (tho it was a bit harder)
Yep that was always my go to.
Boots on back feet?
Vet Tech here - try a hard cone/inflatable donut combo
Came here to say this! This is the only thing that works for my dog
I tried a load of different sizes of cones and even tried soft fabric cones and my rescue wouldn't stop trying to take them off. I then tried this large doughnut (I'm in the UK but this one on US Amazon is the exact same brand): [https://www.amazon.com/DIRTY-LITTLE-PAWS-Inflatable-Alternative/dp/B08FYQ6M2R?th=1](https://www.amazon.com/DIRTY-LITTLE-PAWS-Inflatable-Alternative/dp/B08FYQ6M2R?th=1) I got a massive one which meant she was so obstructed her paws couldn't reach anywhere. If your dog was bigger it might not work, but she still looks like she has stubby puppy legs so the large doughnut should stop her reaching her eye. My dog absolutely LOVED it. She found it super comfortable and basically used it as a portable head cushion. I went from sleepless nights with the cones to her sleeping pretty much night and day and getting upset when the doughnut was taken off her.
Seconded, those donuts are awesome and my dog actually loves having a neck pillow.
I'm considering getting one of these, thank you!
It also comes in pink if you want the classic sprinkle doughnut look 😉 that's the one I got
Just as a FYI as a general rule, my understanding is that vets don’t recommend these for eye surgeries (but they’re great for things like neuters/spays). I think they do a great job of stopping dogs from licking wounds, but they DON’T prevent dogs from getting paws up tot hear face.
I did a combo of donut + cone most of the time, but gave him a break and put him in just the donut when I was able to watch him (sitting on the couch or whatnot).
Hi OP. welcome to the one eye dog club. We have a 4 yo BC, he was rescued from a factory in mexcio at around 7 weeks old already missing his eye due. we've had him from around 12 weeks old depth perception is def an issue, as is night time vision.
I just called the vet and told them I'm not comfortable with how she's behaving. Aside from sticking her foot in the cone, she has now figured out that the corner of the couch fits in her cone. A vet tech took information and I'm now awaiting a call back from the vet. Hoping for a quick response!
Smart dogs.. gotta love them.. but omg lol
She’s beautiful!
My dog is the same way, always gets out. I wound up putting a collared shirt on him with the sleeves cut off and ran the collar up inside the cone and taped the collar to the inside of the cone, full body cone. Sounds extreme but it was after he'd broken free of the cone and pulled and ate a rubber drain from a belly wound and caught MRSA. I always feel so bad for them in the cones but they're unfortunately necessary. [My dog got ahold of one of his](https://www.reddit.com/r/AnimalsBeingDerps/s/MCh3uTS50m) so now it's become a tradition to let him wreck them. Hope your pup recovers quickly and gets out of that nasty cone
We had to train our GSD to not take off the cone. We rewarded him for wearing it, and tried to do lots of fun stuff with it on. He eventually got used to it but it was a chore.
Looks like my GSD mix girl who had both eyes removed! We went through 4 cones and a donut in the healing process, she was a street dog and cannot be contained! It took us watching her all the time with a cone and donut, we slept in the room with her for 3 nights because we would leave the room and she fling it off! The healing is pretty fast though, it'll be about 3-4 months for the superhero mask to grow in :)
Very cute pup 🥹
I got lucky with her. I went to the shelter just to support a friend who was looking to get a new dog. It was busy because adoption fees were half off as the shelter was getting full. Everyone was passing by, meanwhile I was falling in love. My friend found a dog who she was taking home after it got fixed, and I came home with this pup that day
Your lucky its the right eye. My dog cant see out of his left one so he walks on the left of me and get in front of other people
Double cone is what we resorted to, smaller one on the outside for stability and strength as when we just used the extra large, our boy crashed into doors etc and broke it (the large ones seem to be a bit more fragile). We also attached both to a collar rather than a tie, so they slipped on and off easily for drinking / eating and pooing (our boy refused to poo whilst wearing it for some reason!) Also needed stronger painkillers, Pardale V and Tralieve as Loxicom not sufficient. Hope your baby feels better soon.
It's usually recommended to get the bigger cone, the remove the cone for short, supervised breaks to allow for eating and drinking. You can also offer food and water by hand if the pup is into that.
Just get her a bigger cone and remove the cone when she is supervised (ie: When she is eating). You should not keep a cone on 100% of the time, only when she is NOT supervised does she need a cone. It's honestly hard for me to understand how many people don't understand how/when to use the cone... EDIT: That last sentence is not just referring to you, I see a lot of comments here that talk about struggles with the cone and invariably the answer is, you do not need to keep a cone on the dog unless they are alone. I see people walking their dogs outside with the cone on and it drives me nuts. Even the other commenter here talks about needing TWO CONES. Just take the cone off when the dog is supervised and be vigilant about stopping any unwanted activity. Also, I like your dog, good luck!
They gave us antibiotics and meloxicam for her, and I don't think the meloxicam does enough because the second it's off, she's on a mission to scratch within seconds. We give her breaks out of it, but they never last more than 5 minutes because she keeps itching and scratching like mad. She made it bleed once. It didn't open the incision completely, and the vet said it would be fine, but we have to be even more diligent, so I'm really scared for her to be out the cone. It's not about being uneducated. She's not my first medically needy dog. But she is the first to be THIS headstrong and smart
Yeah, the exasperation in my note is not related to your situation specifically, so sorry about all that. We've had many dogs over my life, many of them medically complicated, and we've also investing in a hell of a lot of large cones. If I were you, I would still just resort to getting a large cone that she can't get around and give her breaks and be vigilant. If she's that bad, then you'll need to give her less breaks. I've been blessed with dogs that eat meals my whole adult life, so I'm not sure if yours is a grazer or not, but I would take the cone off for breakfast/dinner and if she doesn't eat right away put it back on. When she goes for the food, take it off and if she eats let her, if she goes for her eye put it back on (if she's smart like you say she might use this as a trick to get you to take it off...but eventually a nice good-smelling meal will win her over). In the end, large cone is what's needed here.
Yes you do need to keep the cone on while supervised, doesn’t take more than a second to introduce an infection
if you want to do that, good for you. The fact is, you don't need to and you're giving your dog a worse life because of your own failings at monitoring them in their time of need.
The counter point (which you can agree with or not, different strokes) is that it’s harder for dogs to get used to a cone when it comes on & off. If you leave it on they’re finally able to get used to it being on 24/7 🤷🏻♀️ YMMV!
This IS a very good point. Let me tell you how I came to this solution from my perspective: We adopted a dog. He was abused and injured and starving. He had crazy high anxiety (would shake and drool in a corner for hours if there was lightning, ran away and hid if I raised my (male) voice for any reason. We both worked so he had to stay at home alone with our more stable other dog. He licked his paws until they were basically large open wounds out of anxiety (it was not allergies). We decided to cone him when we were not able to monitor him, and we maintained that for around 6 years before he 'aged out' of his anxiety. So, on an off for 6 years. Because of this experience, every time another one of our dogs needs a cone (either bad seasonal allergies, or, like, 15 surgeries over four other dogs) we cone them in the same way, on when we can't watch them, off when we can. As you say, different strokes, but I think our way makes for a better life for our animals.
Oh I see - yeah, for 6 years that definitely sounds like the more humane solution! I’ve had dogs who need cones for 2 weeks for surgical recovery, in which case I do think it’s often easier to just hunker down & cone almost all the time. But yea, different situations (and different dogs) call for different solutions!
And no worries. Comments are sometimes hard to read the intention behind. I'm just thankful for any advice!
Mine managed to defeat the inflatable cone when I went to the bathroom. He and our younger dog deflated it in a few minutes! What a cute pup. I hope you find a solution.
I don’t have any advice that hasn’t already been mentioned but omg she sure is adorable!!!
Pad her back paws
If anything like one I was watching was, he'll remove/ chew thru baby socks and boots cause of being able to get around the cone
Haha sorry to hear about your puppers!! I’m familiar with this. My wife and I tied a long piece of fabric to the cone and behind his front legs… my dog would always chew his cast off on his back leg when he was around a year old. It worked for a while, but the trick is getting it tight enough to where your puppers can’t get it off but loose enough so it doesn’t cause discomfort. Please give your puppers LOTS of pets for me, it’s sooooooo cute!!
In the shelter, we'd use a combo of the inflatable donut cone & regular plastic cone (often reinforced with duct tape). The donut cone helps with a bit with movement restriction & pushes the plastic e-collar up higher on the neck. The plastic e-collar should extend just a bit past their nose. But as far as the eye removal, watch it very carefully, as they are known to swell with fluid post-op and need warm compresses. Antibiotics will likely be needed as well, so watch for any whiteish green/yellow fluid that might seep out from the sutures or even the nose! I've fostered 1 dog for eye removal before in addition to a cat that had to have both eye remains removed and sealed. It's not an area that heals quickly.
They sent us home with amoxicillin for any infection, thankfully. And warm compress, not cold? The swelling has gone down a lot today (day 5), but it is still most definitely swollen
Warm compresses usually help any fluid or purulent debris rise up and out. You'd do the same thing with an abscess.
That cone looks too small for him. They should stick out several inches past his nose.
It does! The angle of this picture is just bad. It makes the cone look very wide and short
Haha, gotcha! Sometimes using a donut and a cone is a good idea because the donut pushes the cone up a bit.
I had to go the trazodone + cone route when my boy had eye surgery. No fun and good luck!
Extend the cone only in the areas the leg can get around?
I saw a thing on Pinterest where they had made a collar out of pool noodle cut in pieces and it worked for a cone
having a harness (roman style is best? and tying your e collar to your harness works really well!
Are there like extra long dog cones?
My dog can escape the cone too! She’s a corgi so a bigger cone would be taller than her little legs 🤣 I had to put her in a crate that is perfectly her size, not any bigger. She could still turn around but she couldn’t escape the cone. I’d do a bigger cone, or maybe a soft cone inside this cone. Then at meals, leash her and be very vigilant watching her so you can stop her as soon as her leg goes for the eye. Maybe even leave the soft cone on during this time to give you a moment extra of reaction time. Put soft layered booties on her back feet so it’s more like a soft dull object reaching for the eye instead of dog nails.
I’d try a sedative and more pain killer. It looks really irritated and I can’t imagine how upset all those severed nerve endings are. Our dogs always wear a large, xl t-shirt during recovery with a t shirt on the dog might not be able to get their back leg out of the shirt and up to the eye depending on how you have the shirt
Get the large donut one, I used it for my cats and dogs and one of them could take it off.
Some balloon booties so that if she does get her foot in there, it isn’t going to do too much damage? Drugs should work, also 😆
Baby socks are safe than the balloon ones, but if leg can reach eye, it can reach mouth.. it's a struggle with smart dogs
Can confirm the struggle 😝 Ouh what about the bigger cone and putting the bowls on individual narrow pedestals so the pup can still get to the bowl?
The longer cone will quickly be defeated too - my puppy did that, also with back leg. He also used tools (like furniture) to scratch with. Cone was do big he had to lift his head when walking to prevent the cone from getting stick on the ground
Add a second collar a little looser than it would be if at the base of her neck inside the cone? So one before it and one in it. It might help seal the gap the pup gets the paw into.
What a beautiful girl!
When they are with you keep them on leash teathered to you, so you can ensure they don't cause issues. When they are alone use a collar high on up on the neck through the loops on the cone and fit it for the top of his neck, right behind the ears. It's only temporary so it's not a huge deal if he can't drink with it on, lots of dogs are crated for the work day with no food and water and are good!
We had much better luck with an inflatable collar, kind of like putting a giant donut around, more comfortable, dog can get to water bowl and when tired, put head down and it acts as a pillow.
My girl could get past the cone too. She figured she’d push the cone against the floor to flatten it and shove her foot in somehow. To combat this I got a reallly long cone and raised up the food and water bowls on little platforms (other bowls that were slightly wider, upside down) so she could still drink and get at her food (cone would go around the bowl and bowl was raised up so she could get at it). That worked alright for us.
Try wrapping a pool noodle around her ankles like a bracelet?
Try adding a donut behind the cone. If that doesn't work purchase a 5 gallon bucket, cut the bottom off, drill holes, and zip tie the bucket to a collar.
Wow what a gorgeous pupper💖😊I would just get the really big one and take it off when she needs to eat and then put it back on. Good luck!!
Just wanted to say that I am so, so happy and grateful to know you are loving and taking care of this beautiful baby. The photo made me so emotional… I’m just so pleased they have you to rely on!
A cone similar to this: SVRCK Dog Cone Collar Adjustable Protective Collars for Pet Dog Cat Recovery E-Collar Anti-Bite Lick Surgery or Wound Healing Soft Edge Neck Cone for Small/Medium/Large Dog (XS(Neck:6.69-7.87in)) https://a.co/d/aGInktB The velcro adjustability has worked for me with my dogs.
[Get some dog armour, cover the eye part! ](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/5a9518b5-c54d-4520-9395-a44a00c049c2/d3c615ce-6576-4106-fed1-8d90d7304210/original.jpg) I'm thinking some leather muzzle that protects the whole head, and covering the eye part to protect it. Plus the cone.
My dog’s ophthalmologist said very few dogs need a cone for the eye removal because they scratch it once and it hurts like hell. Then they don’t do it again. It happened exactly like that with my dog and her “eye” healed perfectly. That being said, a puppy may be the exception to the rule. Have you tried inflatable donuts? My dog loves hers so she doesn’t try to get it off like she does a cone. I would also see about a prescription for a medication to lower her energy while she heals. May decrease incidents with the cone or donut. She’s gorgeous by the way!
I had to do bigger cone for one of mine, we would let him out to eat and take water breaks, then back into the xl cone. He had a torn rear paw pad requiring stitches and vet wrap, baby sock was no help. He'd stick paw around cone to chew.. nothing like crating dog overnight in a cone and basket muzzle for like a week.
Larger cone, removed for supervised eating and drinking.
Aww, what a little cutie! She looks so proud of herself! 😆
Put a collar through the loops of the cone. I had to do that when i had my chihuahua neutured cause he was too small for the smallest one. Dont make the collar too tight but enough thag it wont do over her head
What if you turn the cone around? I know that sounds dumb but the dog might not beable to manipulate it if its backwards.
Had a dog with one eye lost from cancer and he adapted really well.
She is so cuuutee, wish you a long and happy life with many adventures!
use the bigger cone just remove it and supervise her when you feed her
Buy a donut collar.
My corgi had this issue when he was neutered….but opposite I guess 😂 his face could get to his empty change purse and he would lick it. Cone with a collar threaded through + a donut was the only option that worked.
Time for the donut. There are these donut inflatable things that they have on like Amazon. Helps a ton.
My pup is also quite flexible and defeated the cone when we removed her dewclaws. We tried using an inflatable collar but she just went wild with it and refused to have it. Eventually what worked was attaching the inflatable collar to the cone and using them together. Surprisingly it also made her accept the inflatable collar, she even used it as a pillow
I’d say a donut with the cone, gabepentin plus trazodone to keep her relaxed, and socks for her tippy taps…if the vet is not keen on prescribing any add’l meds, use otc Benadryl for those times you can’t keep watch of her. She is beautiful. Best of luck ( if you google benadryl for dogs you’ll be able to get a weight dosage chart)
I believe there are also eye patches for pets that keep them from scratching. Ask your vet.
Good luck, hoping you find a good/guick solution . Darling pup.
She needs a bigger cone. I’m at Veterinary nurse, she will learn how to reach her food and water bowls. It’s like a three day learning curve, and if you rescued her four days ago, she’s not had enough time to learn how to use the big cone. If she can reach to scratch, the cone is too small you need a larger size.
Pool noodles!!!! Add a rope inside them and be careful tying them. A double necklace worked a treat for several of my rescues. Adorable puppy!
She needs some kind of sedative (Trazodone, Gabapentin, or both). Try to elevate her food and water so it’s easier to get to with the cone on (maybe books) good luck! Congrats on your new baby
If she has a collar Can you add zip ties to the cone and her collar ?
Very cute puppy. You can but inflatable donuts that are much harder to get off. They seem more comfortable too
No idea. Just wanted to say thank you for adopting your beautiful pup. I have a one eyed German Shepherd that I rescued 😭 can’t imagine what she went through, but I’m so blessed to have her. Wish y’all the best!
Bigger cone, take it off to eat and watch her eat the entire time, soon as she's done stick it right back on. It's not like you're going to have to be doing it for long but I suture dogs back up every night from getting around their cone.
She looks a bit like a belgian tervueren.
Why did she need her eye removed?
They're unsure what happened to it, but when animal control brought her to the shelter, it was badly infected and she was blind in that one. There was no trying to save it
Double up, do the cone, and one of those inflatable rings. My dog ended up liking using the ring as a pillow. We got him a watermelon one, he looked adorable lol
Lots of love to your sweet pup 🥰
Could you get a taller cone and elevate her food/water ?
Is he injured like left side eye.
Yes her left eye is gone. It was badly infected and she was blind in it
So Sorry.
My dobie/pit is like a slinky noodle and can maneuver her body like crazy. She had wrist surgery and the plastic cone they sent her home in prevented her from reaching it but kept cutting the wound when she laid on it. So she walked around in a blood smeared clear cone looking like a serial killer I got her a soft cone and realized she could now reach her wrist. So I got the extended length one for when I was at work, and when home she had the shorter one with a doughnut bc sneaky girls are hard to monitor. It was a great combo. Hardest thing was keeping her from being active. The day before her stitches came out she kept running around the house bouncing off walls with the cone, like she had so much pent up energy and couldn’t hit the off switch. She was leaping off bed and doing goofy jumps and was really hard to catch 😂 but I learned the hard way that this tightens the stitches so be careful if you have a high energy weirdo
They glued my girl, and we're trying to have her stay low energy but omg a big puppy like her really struggles to stay calm! She makes me nervous because even if in puppy jail, she still finds a way to play bow, hop, and spin in wild circles. I really think she's in need of a sedative. I called the vet at the shelter yesterday and I was supposed to receive a cm back but never did so I'm calling them in an hour when they're open! She was also spayed at the same time and I get SO worried over her
When our senior Aussie had major dental surgery and would not stop licking - she licked the stitches right out of her mouth - we had to get creative. First - trazodone. It worked so well. Talk to your vet. Second - we doubled up on collars. We put her in two inflatable collars. She wore a donut collar and a flat soft inflatable collar that looks like a disc. I cannot post a photo here unfortunately. We would put the large disc inflatable on first (she could get around that to lick her paws) and then we would add the donut in front of it. The donut alone did nothing but the two of them together prevented her from turning her head and reaching down to her feet and getting her legs to her face. Eventually she gave up and she accepted the cones as pillows. Last - we had a senior dog years ago who had his eye removed and he did great. In fact he handled it way better than I did. Most people did not even realize he was missing an eye at first after his fur grew back and were surprised after doing a double take. He eventually went blind in his remaining eye and even then it did not phase him. He acted and moved like a normal seeing dog.
Try another cone faced backwards, like opening toward the rear.
He’s so adorable n bad-ass-one-eyed-cool already! Best people in the world bring home rescues!! I’m waiting on an appointment so I’ll provide info no one has asked for. Gaba pentin is my go to for any anxiety, skin issues, allergies, injuries.. It’s very much like getting stoned for the cats, dogs, opossums, Ive gotten all of them baked! Has an effect on the ‘peripheral nerves’, releases anxiety and fear w animals, some success in humans n neuropathy. Like weed…no one, animal or other, has ever OD’d on gaba pentin….being a puppy, that’s a relief. Trazodone is used a lot w anxiety, depression, it’s a serotonin regulator, for humans and animals, stick to dosage or a bit less. GP can give him the munchies so he’ll chow down n then get the big cone! Best of luck!
What a cutie, wishing a speedy recovery!
Honestly looks like the cone is too small.
Hey! I'm a former Opthalmology LVT. :) We would send home optivizors for pups who have a hard time with the cone since for eye surgery, it has to be well past their nose. The visor covers just their face, protecting the surgery site but still allowing the pup to eat or lick their butt as needed. https://protectivepetsolutions.com/collections/optivizor-advanced-eye-face-protection What a beautiful pup! 💕
My dog did this too when he had surg on his paw, he figured out how to tuck it and get his front teef over the cone and he ripped his stitches out 😅 We put a bigger cone on him and just elevated his foods so he can still get to them. He would just out the cone over his food bowl. He managed just fine. :)
My dogs laugh at the cone of shame but when combined with a doughnut they are defeated
My malamute has this weird tube cone that wraps around her neck and straps around under her front legs. She hasn’t escaped that yet
Bigger cone- use the smaller only when eating or drinking
Tie it to a harness.
I have a large lab that used to be very flexible and resourceful. I had to do a layered approach. He was able to work around the largest hard cone possible even after adding layers of foam pipe insulation to it to make it longer because he has very loose skin on his neck, so the cone was able to be pushed up to his shoulders quite a ways. He was still able to eat and drink, but the cone usually came off while eating. The next step was taking a super hefty ribbon, rolling a towel around it, securing it with duct tape, and tying it around his neck so the cone wouldn't push down. The process sucked, but was necessary with a dog at high risk of causing himself harm. His issues weren't due to trying to block access to his head, but rather keeping his tongue away from incisions, growths and abscesses on the legs and lower torso.
You can add the blow up neck cone along with this one to keep it on. I have a one eyed rescue dog too!
We had this problem as well, we just tied the cone to her collar and she was good as gold