Thanks everyone for your words of encouragement and advice!

Everytime I take Nakita's collar off, she goes straight for the stitiches. For the last 2 days, when I take it off, I have to put my fingers to cover her stitches so she can go ahead and have a grooming session. Boy, her grooming sessions are getting longer and longer. I guess because the hair growing back in and the stitches are itchy.

The deterrent cream won't work. I talked with the vet and he said he started off with the cream but Nakita didn't even notice the taste!

I'm trying the tube sock idea and I'll let you know the results!

Thanks again!