Product ideas needed to make my dog stop licking her wounds!

[Kzlamal]

Hi -
Mckenna broke her back right leg about a month ago by falling oddly on it. She's gone through a cast, a few splints, and now we've come down to changing her wrap everyday at home. She is now in just a bandage wrap with cotton roll underneath because she licked her leg so much she caused large sores on her leg. We stop her when we catch her licking, but we have to sleep too and she gets to it then sometimes. Even though we change it everyday it getting wet does not help the healing process. Our vet gave us a cone to put over her head, she figured out how to get around it and reach her leg. They put vicks on it, didn't even phase her! And we tried the highly recommended Apple Bitter Spray... that didn't phase her either. Anybody have any other recommendations for something to keep her from licking? Thanks!

[Enigma]

The sores on her leg are lick granulomas. There's not much you can do, except finding a way to physically prevent her from licking her legs. Try different types of elizabethan collars:

Inflatable Pro Collar:
http://www.petco.com/product/100555/ProCollar-Premium-Inflatable-Protective-Collar.aspx

Neck Hug:
http://www.wagtailfarms.com/index.html

Bite Not:
http://www.bitenot.com/

Soft E-Collar:
http://www.companyofanimals.co.uk/products/care-and-grooming/poorly-pets/softe-collar

Regular Plastic E-Collar:
http://www.petland.com/kong-e-collar-assorted-extra-large.html

The most important thing is to prevent her from ever licking her leg again. My ex's dog had one, it was a nightmare to heal. It took a couple of weeks of him constantly wearing an e-collar, day and night, except on walks where we had him under control. That plus a cortisone cream helped with the healing and itching. Luckily he forgot about it and eventually stopped licking his leg when he didn't have an e-collar on.

Here's an article about lick granulomas:
http://www.petmd.com/dog/general-health/evr_dg_acral_lick_granuloma_a_dermatology_nightmare

[Misskiwi67]

That product was made YEARS ago - its called an e-collar. There are several different brands and multiple tricks you can do to make sure she keeps the collar on. Several were already posted for you above, you can also call your vet and have them help you re-fit the collar to make sure its on tight enough.

I have had, on rare occasions, to have a dog wear a basket muzzle to prevent licking. I had one dog who was able to lick through the basket muzzle and was hospitalized at our 24 hour clinic for constant monitoring 24 hours a day for 2 weeks.

Her wounds will not heal until you make her stop licking. Its your responsibility to ensure she is not licking. 5 minutes of licking can destroy days of recently healed tissue, so its absolutely critical YOU make her stop. There is no miracle drug for this...

[AllisonPibbleLvr]

Judgey, judgey.

OP, your vet should have explained that if the cone didn't fit properly, or if she can get around it, you may need a bigger one. I'm happy you're actually searching for a solution instead of ignoring the problem. Call your vet and see if you can get a bigger cone, or try some of the options that Enigma posted above.

[Mooresmajestic]

Bigger E-collar.
Depending on which leg and the location of the lick granuloma, you could try a different type of e-collar.
A couple of drops of tabasco or hot sauce on the bandage... not on any skin though.

[AmberD]

A friend of mine had great success with Bitter Apple GEL when the spray wouldn't work for her dog.

[Kzlamal]

Thank you everyone for the ideas, and good lucks! This past weekend we picked up a bandage at Walmart and for some reason she absolutely hates it. I'm glad I found that before I bought a ton of things that were pricey. However, I am waiting to see if she becomes tolerate to it, as of right now she won't go near it with that bandage on. All those ideas are great though, and if she starts licking again I am going to look into them for sure because I want to see her get better as soon as possible. The vet has tried a few things like I said before, but Mckenna is just ridicious! They laugh at her at the vet because she's such a trouble maker. Thanks again everyone

[mhocker10]

Kanobis' vet recommended using VICKs vapor rub to stop licking since it tastes terrible but is non toxic.

[Misskiwi67]

Thank you everyone for the ideas, and good lucks! This past weekend we picked up a bandage at Walmart and for some reason she absolutely hates it. I'm glad I found that before I bought a ton of things that were pricey. However, I am waiting to see if she becomes tolerate to it, as of right now she won't go near it with that bandage on. All those ideas are great though, and if she starts licking again I am going to look into them for sure because I want to see her get better as soon as possible. The vet has tried a few things like I said before, but Mckenna is just ridicious! They laugh at her at the vet because she's such a trouble maker. Thanks again everyone

Just be careful with the bandages - a lot of bandage materials are stretchy and can cut off circulation if wrapped too tight. It shouldn't be a problem when you are changing it regularly, but do make sure to watch for swollen toes and such between bandage changes.

Best of luck! The troublemakers are always keeping you on your toes!

[Kzlamal]

We do change her bandage daily, and she has weekly vet appointments where the vet changes the bandage herself and checks it. We have been full warned about the swollen toes, always checking! Sometimes it raws her skin a little bit at the top, we put bagbom on it and it helps a lot. Thanks again

As for the vicks, in my original post I had said the vet tried that, Mckenna liked it, crazy pup.

For anyone interested here's a link to the bandage I found that worked for us, if you or someone you know is in need of trying different things I recommend this.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/23381568