An alternative to dog cones are soft e-collars, recovery suits, inflatable colors, lick sleeves and bandage wraps or even a T-Shirt.
The Soft e-collars are a great alternative to the standard dog cone and offer the same protection as the plastic cones and are more comfortable for your dog to wear and they are also less likely to cause your dog stress.
Inflatable collars look like neck pillows and prevent the dog from accessing many injuries, while also allowing for the dog to have a wider field of vision and more mobility, although they are not suitable for all types of wounds.
Recovery suits cover the dog's body like a bodysuit and makes them ideal for wounds on the dogs chest, back or abdomen and they also come with closures for easy use.
The lick sleeves are designed to protect a single leg or paw by sliding over the dogs limb.
And bandage wraps are also a good solution for injuries or surgical sites on the dog's body or limbs as they also cover and protect the dog's wound directly.
It is okay to put a shirt on your dog instead of a cone to protect the surgical site or wound.
While a cone is best for a dog after surgery, you can use a shirt instead of the cone depending on the wound or 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.