# Spayed Dog Licking Incision



## ERackley88 (Feb 6, 2010)

So it is Monday, and my new dog was spayed on Thursday, and I just got her on Sunday - yesterday. I was told by her foster that she hadn't been licking, but I noticed today that off and on she just won't stop. Is it mainly in the beginning that this is a risk? Or is it still a big risk although it's been a few days? She is also pretty low-energy, is it common for the dogs to still be low-energy 4 days after they were spayed? Because i know typically she is a pretty high energy dog from what I've been told, but right now she doesn't really get off the blanket I put on the living room floor for her.


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## Mr. V (Jan 28, 2010)

You need an E-collar on this dog pronto. Licking an incision can turn out pretty bad


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## ERackley88 (Feb 6, 2010)

Oh no, she'd bleeding a little bit. Just noticed a few drops of blood on the floor  I called her foster and she said that if things get any worse that we'll take her into the vet tomorrow. I'm worried.


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## Mr. V (Jan 28, 2010)

If this little girl has a belly that starts to get a lot bigger, has blood weeping out of the incision, or becomes very painful when you feel around her belly - get it checked out, quick


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## ERackley88 (Feb 6, 2010)

I think she may have opened up the incision some, dissolved one of the stitches or something. I'm going to let her sleep tonight and see if she heals up some by morning (without the licking, since she'll be busy sleeping), and if she's bleeding any worse tomorrow, her foster said she'd take her to the vet for me. I don't have a car so it's kind of a sticky situation.


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## lucidity (Nov 10, 2009)

Actually.. it might be bugging her so much that she might lick in the middle of the night too. You don't have an Elizabethan collar at home? I'm surprised that the vet didn't send her home with one. It's pretty important to have one on her for at least a week.


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## ERackley88 (Feb 6, 2010)

No Elizabethan collar, and the vet didn't give one... I was a bit iffy about it but the foster said that she didn't think it would be a problem.
She seems to ignore it when she goes to sleep. When she's licking a sharp, firm "no" eventually gets her to stop, but she returns to it eventually.


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## RedyreRottweilers (Dec 17, 2006)

What size dog is it? There are some household clothing articles that can be very helpful. 

You can take the leg of the proper sized panty hose, and cut a piece about as long as her body. 

Cut holes in the appropriate places for legs and tail. Slip over the head, push the legs and tails through the holes, and voila, no more licking.


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## katiemay (Jan 30, 2010)

Our vet didn't give us an ecollar either, I had to send my husband to the pet store after we got home for one.

Rocky licked every chance he got, I would wake up to him licking it in the middle of the night - with his collar on! Little poo head learned how to push it down enough on his neck so his muzzle stuck out just a little and he could reach it. 

So, we had to put baby undies on him with a hole cut out for his tail.


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## flipgirl (Oct 5, 2007)

You can try an old big t shirt and put it on her and then secure the back so the shirt covers the incision.


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## Melissa_Chloe (Dec 31, 2008)

licking can cause infection, my dog was just neuter last week along with his ulcer suture removal and he kept licking it with the e collar on and poking it with the e collar and it got infected. antibiotics are clearing it up now though.


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## ERackley88 (Feb 6, 2010)

I don't think it's infected, I think it may have opened up some. She has to go up and down stairs to use the bathroom so that might be part of it also. We're going to the vet at 2.


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## Dog_Shrink (Sep 29, 2009)

My Luna got spayed last wednesday at the low cost clinic by reputable vets and they didn't send home an e-collar either. The shelter that runs the clinic didn't even tell us it was an option on their "check out" so we ended up going to the clinic's main vet office and picking up one for $6 bucks rather than the $16 petco wanted to charge us. She has already pulled out 2 sutures (out of the mere 4 they put in) but thankfully no weeping or bleeding and the incision looks pretty solid. The only openings (and slight at that) are the suture holes. She was drunk for her first night home but by day 2 you didn't even know she just had major surgery. I would be concerned about the depressed state of your dog and the fact that there is no e-collar. The spot is only going to get more itchy from the shaved hair and the incision as time passes. You absolutely need an e-collar. Please let us know how the vet visit goes and that foster rep you've been dealing with is no medical expert. I wouldn't take much advice from them as it seems already to have been proven inaccurate.


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## ERackley88 (Feb 6, 2010)

Well, I took her to the vet. They said she had opened up the incision some but that it wasn't bad at all, and they also said that she had a urinary tract infection (she has urinated twice in the apartment), which the vet said is pretty normal following a spay, and had a fluid pocket under the incision from too much exercise. She sent Cami home with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory meds, and also an e-collar. I went ahead and got her checked for heartworms and got a prescription for Sentinel since she hasn't been on any heartworm preventatives at the foster's. I am letting the foster take care of her for a week or two, since i am upstairs and Cami would have to go up and down stairs with me every time she needed to go potty, i figured that might be too strenuous for her. The prognosis is good and I'll keep checking up with the foster about how Cami is doing. I'm already missing the dog heh


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## GreyWolf11 (Feb 8, 2010)

Thats good that your letting the foster home supervise the recovery. To effectively stop your dog from licking an open wound you should look into a Pro-Collar. Similar to the E-Collar except it is inflatable like a life preserver around the neck. It makes it much harder to move the neck and reach the affected area. Obviously your issue is taken care of but a good product to recommend if a friend is in the same bind.


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## ERackley88 (Feb 6, 2010)

Thanks for the heads up. I called the foster and she said Cami isn't able to lick at all with the e-collar thus far. Hopefully she doesn't figure it out to where she can, like some dogs do.


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## Lisa marie (Apr 13, 2013)

My female pup she will be 6 months april 21st 2013 is getting spayed in a few days I love this little girl. She's a mix yellow lab/golden retriever she's very playful and listens. My question is will it still be okay to put shirts on her or will the wound need to breathe. I'm afraid she will lick the wound and try to get the stitches out. I'm going to get a e collar. But what I was thinking was out of sight out of mind maybe if I put the shirt on her b4 she wakes up from surgery she won't notice much. Will the shirt be okay or does the wound need to breathe??


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

Our Vet puts dissolvable stitches in when they spay and of the four that I have had spayed, I have never had to use an e-collar on any of them. They just never seem to even notice them.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

My last foster got spayed last month and while I had an inflatable collar ready in case it was needed, she never tried to lick the stitches. Surprisingly since she was a very lick-y dog for her demodetic mange but the dissolveable stitches were no issue. Some dogs might be bothered by it, but overall it doesn't seem to be a big issue. 
I'd think a tee-shirt would be fine for keeping things clean if needed, cotton breathes just fine.


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

Boys underwear turned upside down so the tail comes out the crotch, also works. You can also put Cortisone cream NEAR but NOT on the incision, on the shaves areas to stop the prickly/itchy feeling that shaved hair has. If you've ever shaved your bikini area you know how irritating that can be.


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