Think it would be okay if I wrapped it instead of having him wear the e collar?

Question

My dog had what was diagnosed as a hot spot, as he was seen by the "other vet" in the practice, not my vet. It wasn't healing right, so I took him back for another appointment. My vet said it was not healing like a normal hot spot and said it was likely it was a type of tumor. He didn't seem alarmed by this and will send it off for cytology, but said in order to get it to heal right it will be best to remove it. So, he's having a minor surgery next week to remove it. He has been wearing an e-collar for like 2 weeks. It is cracked and bent from him running into various items like door frames, furniture, my legs, the stairs... Anyway, he really doesn't mess with the wound very often, and I think he has had to put up with that e collar long enough. The wound itself is quarter sized, a bit raised, and looks like a thick scab. I put some vasoline on it, and then put a non-stick pad on it. I then wrapped it with vet wrap. Do you think this is okay? I will call my vet in the morning to double check, but it makes sense to me...

Answer 1

Healing takes place best when its not wrapped up. As long as you are capable of watching your baby to make sure he's not going to mess with the wound, you can take the collar off. Remember, if you walk away, go to bed, quit watching him, etc. It needs to go back on.

Also, if your pet decides to remove the vet wrap and the telfa pad and eats them...you may get the lovely responsibility of paying for a exploratory lapartomy for the veterinarian to go in surgically and remove these items from your pet's GI tract.

This is truly your call but falls entirely on the fact that you MUST watch him if you decide not to keep the collar on. In addition, there are soft e-collars that would be much easier for him to keep on for prolonged periods of time.

If this were my pet, I'd just stick it out a little longer and look to purchase a soft e-collar.