Day 6 after TPLO

Ok - so I'm dense. Niko was doing so well and he was healing like a champ. He didn't mind the cone and was into his new schedule. Everything was going great until we started to get a little lax on the cone thing.

We first started taking the cone off to give him a break when we were sitting right there. Then we left the cone off while we were in the other room for a few minutes. Then we left the cone off for a little longer period of time. He never was bothered or even interested in his stiches....

Always, always listen to the Doctor !!! I left the cone off and walked away, when I came back into the room, Niko was licking away. I nearly fainted. They warned us that this would happen. Thank goodness he didn't remove any staples. But the area is all red and raw from his licking and now I'm going to have to watch it for infection like a hawk. I'm sooooo stupid ! Everything was going so well, and we got careless. The amazing thing is that the Doctor could not have been more explicit about this particular instruction.

Rule #1.... Never leave the dog unattended without his cone on. Grrrrrr !