First off, we all know how incredibly important it is to get your dog spayed/neutered, just do it!
In addition to spay/neuter surgery, other medical conditions can leave your deaf dog in a position where you need to stop them from messing with incisions as they heal. If you have dogs, you will face this! There are a variety of products on the market, and we want to share our favorite – the one we personally use.
Our favorite the The Comfy Cone Soft Pet Recovery Collar. Common cones of past years were the rigid clear plastic ones that worked beautiful to shred your calves as your dog ran by, and to give your dog uncomfortable jolts when they knocked in to things. The Comfy Cone is SOFT, with just the right amount of rigidity. It collapses a bit if your dog hits it on something, but it is plenty rigid to keep them from getting at stitches and such.
You also may see the inflatable “doughnuts” that some use. While these can be effective at minimizing your pups motion, we’ve found that they are not comfortable for the dog when they want to lay down. When laying down on their side, the doughnut style cones are a huge bump, uncomfortable on your dogs neck. This gives another big plus of the Comfy Cone – it collapses inward when your dog lays down and this lets them rest their heads naturally.
IMPORTANT TIP: Do not wait until after surgery to get your dog used to wearing a cone! When Axl was neutered this fall, we got his Comfy Cone almost two weeks in advance. This allowed us to put it on him for short periods over a long period of time. Your dog may not be initially happy, and it is better to have this experience when they have not just had surgery. But, they will get used to the cone quickly. Make it a positive experience, lots of treats just for wearing it!!
Give the Comfy Cone a shot, you won’t be disappointed! Multiple colors are available. We found the fit true to size measurements, and the cone designs gives a lot of adjustment room. The cone does include elastic straps to hook to your dogs collar, we found these were not necessary and the cone stayed on very well by itself.
