Here's a pic on the day she had the op - you can see the wound still looks a little red (that's all gone, now), and the tie-off is quite long (now trimmed, tho actual stitch intact). It's hard to see just how thick and dense her fur is, but it gives a general idea.
She's healed really well - just to clarify, when I said she was cleaning around the area, I meant she was restricting her grooming to the intact fur, leaving the shaved area and sutures alone - sorry for any confusion!
I know what you mean, Lynn - in the strictest sense, animals saliva is not truly antibiotic, more bacteriostatic. As with a lot of scientific info, the act of simplifying the facts often renders them inaccurate. Bacteriostatics, in all practical purposes with regard to wound healing, act like antibiotics. It's just that most people understand "antibiotic" rather than "bacteriostatic".
Edited to add: the collar gets put on again when we go out, and overnight, as we obviously can't keep an eye on what she is up to!
