You can put a shirt on your dog instead of a cone to protect the surgical site.
While a cone is best for a dog after surgery, you can use a shirt instead of the cone depending on the surgery.
For some surgeries the cone should be used instead of the shirt.
But if the type of surgery your dog had is okay with a shirt then the dog can wear a shirt instead of a cone.
If you use a shirt on your dog instead of a cone, ensure that the shirt is a snug enough fit and covers the surgical wound completely and use methods such as a reversed T-Shirt with legs through the shirts armholes or use a DIY onesie to keep the fabric securely in place on the dog.
Some people do prefer to use a T-Shirt instead of a cone on their dog and the vet will tell you after the surgery if the shirt is okay for your dogs type of surgery and surgical wound.
But for most dogs after surgery the shirt is often okay.
For people that are insistent against the cone, a shirt is the next best thing to protect the stitches or staples.
The T-Shirt method instead of the cone is an innovative and simple alternative to the traditional dog cone and it involves just using a snug fitting T-Shirt to cover your dog's torso, preventing the dog from licking or scratching wounds or surgical sites that are located on their body.