Muzzle Injury; Need Suggestions

[AndysMom]

One of our members has a Greyhound who was attacked by a neighbor's Jack Russell Terrier. The Greyhound sustained a fairly serious injury on his snout, near the corner of his mouth. The vet gave him several stitches (don't know the number) and put an e-collar on him. The dog was able to mess with the stitches (presumably with his foot) and had to make a trip back to the vet to have it re-sutured. Now, he won't eat or drink with the cone on.

 

I haven't seen this dog yet so I really can't personally attest to how he is doing. But wonder if any of the folks on GreyTalk have ideas on protecting the injury site for the next 10 days.

 

I don't think the No-Bite collar will help because he'll still be able to get to it with his foot.

 

I suggested putting a plastic turn-out muzzle on him but she thinks the plastic is going to rub against the open wound (not bandaged).

 

I don't think one of the inflatable boo-boo collars will help either because he'll still be able to get to it with his foot.

 

As I understand it, there is a cut and a flap of skin that's been sutured. Today, the vet put the dog on a second antibiotic, trying to fight an infection that seems to be developing. (The injury happened two days ago.)

 

I've run out of ideas. Any suggestions?

 

Lois

[Sambuca]

What about sticking mole skin to the inside if the muzzle and having him wear it.

 

Another idea is to have him wear boots or socks so that if he does scratch, his nails can't catch it.

[JJNg]

She can take the cone off to let him eat and drink and when she's directly supervising to keep him from scratching/rubbing at the wound. Just use the e-collar when she can't watch him. Also, I'm not sure what size cone they have on him, but to protect the corner of the mouth from a back foot, he doesn't need a cone that extends past the tip of his nose. A slightly shorter one would work, and most dogs do figure out how to eat and drink with it on.

[tbhounds]

I was going to suggest cutting the e-collar down. You don't need a big huge one just to protect the hound from scratching with his foot.

[AndysMom]

Thanks for the suggestions. We'll pass them on to her.

[GeorgeofNE]

Exactly what Jing said. Take it off when it's meal time.

 

And they're easy to trim. I have way more e-collar experience than I ever wanted to have! They CAN eat and drink with them on, and given a bit of time to get used to it, he probably will. But hopefully his injury will heal quickly!

[Walliered]

Mole skin is my vote too.

[Maddiesmom]

Hope he gets better soon! and that the greyhound owner forwards the vet bill to the neighbor.

[MP_the4pack]

There are two types of cones. Hard plastic and the soft blue. If he's wearing the hard plastic one, maybe the soft blue one will work instead. My girls freak out with the hard one but Opal had no problem with the blue one. And it'll still be in the way if a wayward hind foot comes up to scratch the face.