HELP!! My puppy is chewing his stitch...

Chico, my 7 month old pup was neutered on Monday and been really good about wearing his 'lamp shade' and appears to be healing well (definately getting back to his normal cheeky self!) however, he has now learnt how to curl himself up to reach, lick and chew the wound .

I'm worried that during the night he might pull the stitch out so any suggestions to prevent him doing so would be much appreciated.

Many thanks
Natalie

ring your vet ASAP - the elizabethan collar is obviously too small.

otherwise yuou might be on an all nighter

Yes, better to contact the vet over the weekend before it is an emergency.

Or got to pets at home and buy a bigger one!!

Thank you all for your advice - had an uneventful night as Chico just curled up and was out for the count! Will look into finding a larger collar though.

If he is just giving it a lick i personally wouldnt worry. It was done 6 days ago and is should have healed mostly by now. Obviously you need to use your discretion, if he is really chewing at the stitch he needs a lampshade on!! But I have had two dogs that have been castrated and neither of them needed one, i would have thought you are over the worst now unless it is looking swollen or infected.

It's looking pretty much normal - no signs of infection and the swelling has gone down considerably (no longer walking like John Wayne!). Trying to keep him occupied so he's not thinking about it. Thanks for reassuring me honeysmum

Just spoken to our vet as we think Chico has managed to remove the stitch - GRRRRR!!! She said that if it doesn't look swollen or red he should be ok so have just kept his appointment for Friday just to make sure. The site has scabbed over and doesn't appear to have 'opened'. Has anyone experienced this before?

yep, quite a few times