Inflatable Vs. Cone Style Recovery Collars

[Grey_Tuxedo]

I'm preparing for an eye enucleation in a couple weeks and am trying out some recovery collars.

I first tried a cone style e-collar. He wore it for about 4 hours two days in a row and at the end of the second go, he was having a harder time than when we started. Plenty of back-arching, walking backwards, walking into/scraping against walls, getting stuck and other weirdness. He didn't try too hard to remove it so that was promising, but when he started doing this disturbing thing with his mouth—opening and closing it kind of like he was biting the air I took it off because the distress was seemingly getting worse.

I also tried an inflatable style recovery collar and it didn't bother him much at all, he even played with his string toys like normal (which he wouldn't do with the cone) and ate treats. The only problem was sleeping, he had to sleep in a different position than normal and it made his breathing labored because it was pressing on his neck/throat.

I would like to use the inflatable collar at least some of the time for the obvious reasons, but especially since my guy has had problems with FIC and I'm very scared of him having urinary issues due to the stress of recovery.

Has anyone used an inflatable recovery collar for an eye, head, face or ear injury? I can't tell if it will actually keep him from his stitches although some experiments I've done bending him like a Gumby doll while he's wearing it (my dude is awesome, he might think I'm crazy but he gets with the program anyway) suggest that it might be a safe option.

I did email my vet about my concerns and he sent back a short one sentence reply "elizabethan style is better", but that didn't really answer my question.

I've attached a couple pictures of the styles I've tried. The inflatable one fits him proportionally similar to the little dog in the photo.

Thanks for any input.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!

although some experiments I've done bending him like a Gumby doll while he's wearing it (my dude is awesome, he might think I'm crazy but he gets with the program anyway)

I don't have experience with this but I did want to comment on what sounds like a very cool cat (other than with that first type of cone)

All the very best to you and your fur baby

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hello. I never had to use any cones/collars on my cats for any reason (hope I never have to), but there is yet another type of collar that you might want to consider. It is a soft-cone. Might be easier to sleep with it on? Here is a pic of one.

 

[Grey_Tuxedo]

Thanks for the reply. I've seen those soft ones with the drawstring, Kong makes them and then there are also some knockoffs that might be the exact same thing.

My concern with those are the reports that the soft material can be compressed allowing pets to get at their wounds. Perhaps they are better for stomach incisions where you are trying to protect from the mouth vs. trying to protect from back feet which can almost scratch wherever they want.

I still might buy one just to check it out though.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

One thing you also have to consider with using collars is that cats can (successfully) pretend they are Houdini, and paw off or squeeze their heads out of the collars. It might be that elizabethan collars are what the vet recommends as they are usually designed so that the neck band can be adjusted loosely or more close-fitting, if you need that. It's sometimes harder for a cat to dislodge a closer-fitting cone. (Sometimes, ahem. My cat easily dislodged the soft cloth e-collars when given the opportunity to try them out after some surgeries.)

If a cat pawed it off its head, I am not sure how an inflatable collar would rub or scrape past an eye incision without possibly hurting the cat's eye?

You not only have to worry about their stress level in any type of collar, but them being a Houdini PLUS if they can scratch the surgery area even with the cone on.

I don't know if this will help, but here is a TCS article:
The Cat Cone: A Complete Owner's Guide

 

[Grey_Tuxedo]

One thing you also have to consider with using collars is that cats can (successfully) pretend they are Houdini, and paw off or squeeze their heads out of the collars. It might be that elizabethan collars are what the vet recommends as they are usually designed so that the neck band can be adjusted loosely or more close-fitting, if you need that. It's sometimes harder for a cat to dislodge a closer-fitting cone. (Sometimes, ahem. My cat easily dislodged the soft cloth e-collars when given the opportunity to try them out after some surgeries.)

If a cat pawed it off its head, I am not sure how an inflatable collar would rub or scrape past an eye incision without possibly hurting the cat's eye?

You not only have to worry about their stress level in any type of collar, but them being a Houdini PLUS if they can scratch the surgery area even with the cone on.

I don't know if this will help, but here is a TCS article:
The Cat Cone: A Complete Owner's Guide

Thank you. The inflatable collars actually "clamp" on to the neck and then secure with a velcro strap so I wouldn't have to push it over his eye. What else is pretty cool about them is that there are loops to thread a regular collar through to make it pretty Houdini proof. I just don't know if it will really keep his claws out of his eye.