e-collar questions

Good news first, then inquiries. Sherlock's surgery went very well yesterday morning. The growth on his chin (about the size of my thumb) is gone now, and he's got a wee row of staples there until next week, when we can go back and have them removed. He's eating and drinking fine, has gone to the bathroom, and has mostly gotten his feet back under him after recovering from the anesthesia.

Now, the inquiries. Because he's got those wee staples in his chin, the vet asked that we fit him with an e-collar so that he can't irritate them. I was reluctant yesterday while he was so out of it, but as soon as he started perking up in the later afternoon, one of the first things he did (after eating and visiting the litter pan) was to start scratching at his chin. So, the collar went on. He's been miserable since. He keeps whacking it into things. He can't seem to move well with it. He sort of lays around and mopes, and it makes it difficult for him to be able to eat or drink. We've popped it off for his meal times so far, but both of us work during the day and can't be around to take it on and off unless we're home.

Does anyone have experience with these collars? Will he get more functional with it if we keep on making him wear it for a few days? How long does he need to wear it? The vet said come back in 7-10 days to have the staples out, does he need to wear it right up until then? Are there any alternatives to the e-collar that won't make him so unhappy?

Just looking for some perspective, since I don't have any experience with these collars or what kind of protocol goes with them.

 

Hi. Do you have the hard plastic or the stiff fabric collar? I have used both on cats and dogs. The fabric collar seemed much more comfortable. They get used to it …….eventually. It certainly is awkward. You will need to continue removing it to allow them to eat. My concern with staples would be if kitty is scratching her chin she could hook a nail under the staple; she would then rip the staple out or be hung up on it with her nail. So definitely needs the collar until staples come out IMO.

 

The only collar we could locate is the stiff plastic kind. The pet store didn't have any for cats, so they pointed us to the ones for dogs. Sherlock's wearing the smallest size we could buy. They did have these wonky little inflatable donut-type collars, but... inflatable. I'm pretty sure he'd have his claws in it and that would be it. Plus it looks kind of scary, like putting a tiny pool float around his neck.

I'll look around for the fabric kind. There are two more pet shops in town. We just popped into the closest one yesterday after they suggested he might need it during recovery.

 

Call your Vet directly; they should have some in the office. They sure are not cheap, think I paid about $18 for the last soft collar and the little bugger only wore it 2 days!

 

If it'll make him more comfy, I'll give it a go. Thank you!

 

Instead of driving all around time a phone call to the store (and vet) may be easier to inquire if they have the soft collar in stock. (They are difficult to come by.)
My Juan had allergies when he was younger and would groom himself a Mohawk. That's not bad, but then he would break skin.
If he breaks skin he gets the collar. In the beginning he was in the collar a lot so we moved from the hard collar to the soft collar pretty quickly and it was so much better. (It's still an inconvenient collar, mind you, lol.)
To this day I see Juan licking his belly too long I verbally remind him... you break skin I break out the collar! (He hasn't had the collar on in many years, heck, I don't even know where the collar is, lol. But he doesn't break skin any more, so luckily we are good.)
If you can't find it at the store perhaps Amazon can get it to you with one day shipping?
This is the exact one we used.
https://www.amazon.com/Original-Com...F8&qid=1537411226&sr=1-4&keywords=Soft collar

 

Oh, gosh. Poor lamb and his excessive grooming. That's all Sherlock wants to do when I take the collar off of him. He eats, then he grooms, then he conks out for a while. I let him have a break yesterday afternoon but had to pop it back on when he kept watching to scratch again. On the up side, the staples look good and he's mostly stopped banging into the walls with the collar. Still, I think the softer one might be better for the next week or so just for his comfort.

None of the stores seem to carry it, but we've got a Prime membership so I'll just order. We should've done it before the surgery, but last week was a bit mad trying to swap vets and tackle the diabetes issue and it just slipped by the wayside.

Thank you so much!

 

Glad to help, and I'm happy that Sherlock is healing well.