# Cone Head!



## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

So I mentioned this in another thread, but here it is again:

Yesterday I got home and noticed that Jasper had licked all the hair off of one toe! When I got down to look at it, it looks nasty--a little scabby around the nail bed, infected-looking, etc. He hadn't shown any signs of an injury, so I was surprised, to say the least.

We went to the vet today--she had a good look and couldn't find any signs of trauma. The nail looked healthy, there weren't any cuts or abrasions, nothing. It just got infected somehow. I'm calling it the Immaculate Infection, of course.

Anyway, we got some meds and a cone, of course. Mostly this entire thread is an excuse to show you the hilarious picture of him in his cone. Because he has such a long neck, they had to use a very large cone. But because the neck and head are so skinny, they had to tie it to his collar! It's amusing, to say the least. Unfortunately it's the front paw, so I'm not sure if an inflatable collar would work. Does anyone know if one might be able to keep him away from that front paw? The big plastic one just looks terribly uncomfortable, and I'm not sure he'll fit in his crate with it on! I tried just wrapping it last night--he works and works and works at it until it's off, no matter how well I secure it. 

Anyway, pictures! Excuse the poor quality--they were taken on my phone in substandard light. The first one is that sad toe, the second his reaction to being in the cone.


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## Kobi (Oct 26, 2010)

Hahaha, Jasper is not amused! Hope he gets better soon!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Mine had to have the large cone to a while back. He would bump into things with it and could not fit in his crate.


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Rather than subject Astro to the discomfort of a bucket, I used a bootie on his foot while his was healing. I used to take it off when we went outside and re-clean/dress his toe and then put hte bootie back on when we got home. It cleared up quickly and was way more comfortable for him while healing.


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

Ozkar said:


> Rather than subject Astro to the discomfort of a bucket, I used a bootie on his foot while his was healing. I used to take it off when we went outside and re-clean/dress his toe and then put hte bootie back on when we got home. It cleared up quickly and was way more comfortable for him while healing.


Ozkar, is there a particular kind of bootie you used? I'm not sure he'd keep it on, but perhaps the combined power of an inflatable or soft Elizabethan collar plus a bootie/wrap would keep him away from it, at least while I'm at work. This dog...!


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

RR, forgive me but I have thrown out the packaging and there is no brand on the bootie. I have taken a pic to show you and used Astro's nose as a size reference   

I had no issues with him keeping the bootie on while at home. He slept all night with it and never tried to chew it off.


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

Thanks! I'll have to see if I can find anything!


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

If you don;t need to use them apart from covering an injury then these might do the job.


http://www.dogbooties.com/products/10dencorboot.html


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## raps702 (Dec 19, 2010)

Our dog Axel recently cut his tail running in the forest (not bad), however he started chewing and licking it and we had to purchase a cone for him. (so his injury could heal and not get infected) We bought a medium comfy cone (which is soft) so he can sleep with it in his kennel. However he is so flexible and he can still stick his long nose out and lick his tail. So now we put a bandage around his injury for now and are taking him to the vet next week. I think after looking at your picture we should have purchased the large plastic cone. It would of been better suited for Axel, maybe not as comfortable or attractive though..


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

After some more digging on the soft cones, I came across a lot of stories about dogs that were able to get around them, especially if they find a way to make them fold back. I tried a friend's inflatable collar with no hopes at all, since they really only seem to work for keeping your dog from licking a wound on the main part of the body. Didn't work. While I'm gone or until I can get him a bootie, he'll just have to wear the crazy plastic cone! I checked--he will fit in his crate. Barely. Luckily my schedule is relatively flexible, so I can work a few short days so he's spending as little time in the crate with the cone.

The rest of the day he'll leave it alone. The only other time he really licks it again is at night, right before bed. For now I've MacGyvered a temporary, supervised-only bootie--I took an old sock (I have very small feet!) and put it over his paw, then tied it loosely with some scrap yarn. He acts really funny about it, but it keeps his mouth off!


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Hahaha RR.  I did the same thing till I could find a bootie. I had collected a whole heap of orphan socks over the years (I keep them to use for bits and pieces). I ran out of orphan socks the day I bought those booties. Astro didn't chew them, He just wore holes in the bottom from running around the backyard. Glad I didn't have to break into the stash of paired socks as I never got any from my kids this Christmas. Most disappointing it was, gotta go buy my own for the first time in 20 years.


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

Just in case there were any lingering doubts about how Jasper felt about his cone collar...

I came home to this tonight. Nothing to do but laugh!


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## raps702 (Dec 19, 2010)

That's priceless!!! I love the innocent look he has on his face. Or the "Oh sh_t I'm in trouble now look!!


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## pippa31 (Aug 2, 2011)

Oh my gosh! Too funny! ;D


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

Well, this is our current setup. I figured it has as good a shot at being kept on as a real bootie.

It's a very small sock of mine (just in case he does manage to get all the way down to it--less to ingest) on his foot. Then a plain old Ace bandage wrapped snugly (but not too tightly) around the sock itself, then up the length of his leg. Followed by a healthy dose of duct tape to keep everything a little more permanent. He looks at me like I'm insane while I duct tape up his leg.

To be honest though, I'm probably just going to start taking him to work for the next few days. It's easier to bring all his stuff in and then keep an eye on him than to worry about him eating duct tape, bandage, and a sock. He managed to pull a cone off his head that was tied to his collar and destroy it today--duct tape, awesome as it is, probably has no chance against a determined Vizsla. Hopefully the toe will heal quickly so he'll start leaving it alone!


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## RustyBear (Jul 25, 2011)

These are some of the best pics yet. I can't stop laughing! Jaspers face is priceless next to the chewed up cone. 

Rusty had to have one on after getting neutered over Christmas break, thank goodness I had some days off. He HATED that thing and acted like he was dying, of course I had to take it off... and spent the next week watching him like a hawk. I give you credit, at least you tried to stick with it.

I noticed you have him in the wire crate... does he ever bounce around in it while you're gone or is Jasper pretty peaceful about his crate? We had to move Rusty to one of the hard plastic type...just when we thought he was doing better in the crate while we were gone (a few months back) we came home to the back of it open, he must've really been losing it and bounced around so much he popped it open.

Either way, great pics, I love when I see and hear how other Vs on here react to things...it makes me feel like Rusty is "normal" too. lol.


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

He hasn't really tried to bounce around for quite a while. A few months back he managed to escape, but mostly he seems to just lay there--very little is disturbed when I get back. Sometimes even his toys haven't moved! Then other days he's managed to tip over his water bowl and bunch the blanket up against one side of the crate. You never know! They're such silly dogs.


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## raps702 (Dec 19, 2010)

Well redrover we have now followed your strategy with regards to the duct tape method (last resort). I went out early yesterday morning and left Axel downstairs sleeping on his bed, and my wife came downstairs 20 minutes later and he had completely destroyed his bandaged tail (he also had a cone on his head) and managed to lick and bite his wound. It was almost completely healed, however now it's like starting from square one, as he has broken the skin again.. It's so frustrating.. He does not go to the vet until february 20th and it is difficult to keep him from trying to get at his tail.... I hope Jasper is doing better than Axel..


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

Jasper will leave the bandage alone if I'm around, but will give it heck if I'm gone for more than about 20 minutes. Given that, I've reduced the situation to just the sock and some of that self-adhesive first aid wrap. I also added a gauze pad with a little Bactine between the sock and the paw--the sock itself was getting caught very easily in the scab, so whenever I took it off I just reopened the wound. The gauze is much easier to get off without tearing it open, so it's healing a lot faster now. Like I said, if I left him alone with it, he'd tear it off. But I've been a total homebody this past week because of it.

Up until today I had not left him alone with the dang thing. He was doing ok coming in to work, but it was becoming something of an inconvenience for us and my coworkers. Last night was the first night he didn't lick his paw, so I tried leaving him at home today without the bandage. Who knows what I'll come home to?!

I'm sorry to hear Axel broke open the skin again! Don't you wish you could reason with dogs like you do with people? I regularly explain to Jasper that it would heal faster if he kept his mouth off it, but do you think he understands? Sadly, no. Poor Axel! Do you think it would help if you put some of that cayenne pepper or bitter apple spray on the duct tape? I can't decide if that would be good or bad to do.


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## raps702 (Dec 19, 2010)

It's basically the same with Axel. When he is with us, he leaves his wound alone, however 20 minutes alone he tries to get at it. We had to take the duct tape off his tail (gauze and bandage underneath) last night as I believe we had it wrapped around his tail to tight and his poor little tail had swollen up like a little sausage. I felt really bad, so now we just have the gauze and a bandage again. I actually did try to put some bitter apple on the duct tape, not sure if it deterred him or not. We have also tried to explain to Axel that we are not punishing you, we just want your wound to heal, he always has this sad look on his face, and of course does not listen... haha I think the answer is keeping a close eye on him all the time, which is kind of frustrating at times. I was going to buy that huge plastic cone that you bought, however after seeing how Jasper destroyed it, I decided to pass on that route.. All well, the adventure continues...


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## Coya (Aug 20, 2011)

Sorry I have no advice, but a question similar and instead of creating a new post thought I would add to this one.

Coya got spayed yesterday and last night was horrible to say the least. She usually sleeps in bed with us at night but because of the cone she was forced to sleep in the crate, and the poor thing had such a rough night...and we did too! 

Today we both had work so we were forced to crate her with the cone for a few hours and when my boyfriend returned home he found that she had chewed on the cone and left it pretty mangled around the front. 

We feel helpless and don't know what we should do. She hasn't attempted to get at her wound when the cones been off (under supervision of course) but I don't want to chance leaving her alone with no protection. Anything out there that is an alternative to the cone???


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## Shivangi (Jan 19, 2010)

I'd really urge you to consider taking a few days off if you can. Those stitches can be of a lot of trouble if not taken care of properly. And I'm sure Coya would appreciate it in her time of need.


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## RustyBear (Jul 25, 2011)

They have soft cones available...maybe try one of those. They aren't as heavy and a lot more tolerable. I think they are called Comfy Cones...PetSmart, Fleet Farm, etc.. carry them.

Or as previously suggested..take a few days off to supervise


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