[rincaro]

Rufus, my 1-2 year old beagle rescue, got neutered about two weeks ago. It was quite an invasive surgery because he had one un-descended testicle, which they had to go in and find. *shudder*

Anyhow, today he got the staples out, and they took the cone off of him. So we come home, and he's so happy. But then about 15 minutes after he finished eating food, he started "eating" his belly. Really digging into it, to the point that it started bleeding. So I put the cone back on. Poor Rufus.

The spot he chewed up isn't the suture/scar spots. It's about three inches off to the side. And he has another spot where it looks like he got an abrasion on his belly. I assumed it was because he got too squirrelly during the shaving or somesuch. But now I'm pretty sure he did that one to himself as well.

Other than keeping my poor Rufus in a cone forever, how do I discourage him from this?

 

[missbelgium]

Could be itching. Really bad itching. Like when we wimmin shave and it grows back in ? I would wait for a few days and then take the cone back off...

 

[rincaro]

Oooh. I never thought of that. It is only in areas that are shaved, and it's right where his hip joint type area would be. So yeah, that would be be crazy itchy.

 

[missbelgium]

You could try a topical antihistamine ointment. I imagine a "human" tube would be OK. It brings a lot of relief. Should be gone in about 2 days or so, LOL.

 

[Pirate Ferret]

When my ferret was snipped he got a bad rash where he was shaved... one vet said it was some skin infection and charged us for this cream to put on once a day... then our real vet came back from holiday and was like "wtf thats shaving rash" sooo i guess that happens a lot

 

[GhostUser]

I would keep the cone on for a few more days and try again

 

[rincaro]

I figured out a way to get the cone easily off. So I take it off when we go for a walk, and then put it back on when we're inside. Hopefully this will die down quickly.

 

[rincaro]

Just an update to this, in case anyone else has a similiar problem. I used clear Benadryl anti-itch gel on his belly. I'm not sure if the anti-itch worked or if he really just hated the taste of it. He actually made a cute little doggy ack-gag noise when he tried to dig at his belly. But either way, it stopped him from digging at his tummy and he was able to take the cone off.

 

[Marie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rincaro

He actually made a cute little doggy ack-gag noise when he tried to dig at his belly.

Aww!

My pup always makes cute doggy burps when she gobbles down extra good food.

 

[Gita]

My dog had that same operation. They say he runs the risk of getting cancer unless it is done. Dont they send home anti-biotic drops with you? I was almost sure he had a squeeze of that pink amoxicillin every day for 10 days. If he is on something like that it might be counter productive to add another ointment. I've used neosporin on my cat before. Why not just use a mild non-medicated human ointment for rashy skin?

 

[rincaro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gita

My dog had that same operation. They say he runs the risk of getting cancer unless it is done. Dont they send home anti-biotic drops with you? I was almost sure he had a squeeze of that pink amoxicillin every day for 10 days. If he is on something like that it might be counter productive to add another ointment. I've used neosporin on my cat before. Why not just use a mild non-medicated human ointment for rashy skin?

Rufus had his surgery when we we were out of town for 13 days, so he had all the meds/etc. while he was still boarded at the vet. And the vet said that benadryl was fine for him.