Constant licking

My dog Bella broke her front leg around a year and a half ago. During recovery she had her cone on constantly but while we where out at work, never longer than around  2 or 3 hours as we would check in, she would be insistent on getting to the scar/entry from the surgery, this leading to the cone badly cutting and hurting the top of her foot leaving an open wound. No matter what we or the vet done, bandages, anti licking products, laser treatment, she would not leave it alone. A year later she is still wearing the cone as she will not leave it alone, the vets unfortunately will do no more other than telling us to put her on antibiotics, which ended up messing her stomach up as she was on them for so long, and we are really at a loss of what to do. We are in a catch-22 as we feel she has no quality of life stuck in a cone all day, but then we take it off and she injures herself by constantly licking and biting at the wound. This has been the same for the past year and a half and I just want my girl to have a happy life, it upsets me every time I walk through the door and see her, please help if you have any advice.

Sending hugs; that sounds extremely traumatic, frustrating and (I realise that this is more of a barrier to some people than others) expensive.   Obviously the person who knows most about the technical side of this case is your vet, having the background and having examined the patient, but here are some good questions for them: 1) it has been shown that a lot of self multilation / licking is linked to underlying pain.  In absence of an animal being able to tell us about this, are they on enough meds to minimise the likelihood of this possibility? 2) The cone sounds to be causing trauma but also preventing it.  What other ways of preventing trauma to the foot are there?  Different kinds of cone / clear cones / soft cones / banaging are worth considering.  Healing may be less likely in a chronically stressed dog, so there's a trade off to be had here, but it sounds as though some barrier would be useful.  Unfortunately 100% compliance is usually needed. 3) Is there actually an infection?  I beleive that gold standard nowadays is to test before treating (search our blog - antibiotic resistance) 4) Is there a qualified veterinary acupuncturist near you?  The evidence base for acupuncture is growing, especially regarding pain / wound healing.  The ABVA (they Google) may be able to advise. 5)  Is your vet happy with the case or would they be prepared to refer to eg a Soft Tissue specialist? 6) Do they think that the wound is capable of healing?  Amputation should always be a last resort and many an amputation is preventable, especially if referral is an option. In general, of a wound has failed to heal several times, something significant  needs to change when trying again.   I hope that something there helps.  Please will you let us know how you get on?