E-Collar troubles

Gizmo won't leave his eye alone and made it worse, so now he has to wear an e-collar and he HATES IT!!! I have never had an animal with one on before, and the vet sized him for it, but I worry its too big... I mean... how is he going to eat?? What di you guys think? In the video below it looks like he tries to drink, but then he doesn't.





http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa105/daniellegerrish/?action=view&current=100_2454.flv

The size looks fine to me.

Unfortunately you will probably need to remove it while he eats and drinks. Does he mess with the eye when he is supervised? If you don't mind me asking, what is wrong with the eye?

When Jack's herpes acts up and his eye is swollen and stuff he doesn't mess with his eye--just curious as to whether the vet was just using the ecollar as a precaution or there was a history of him messing with the eye?

Leslie

He has conjunctivitis & he has been messing with it a lot,which is why it got worse & why the vet wants the e-collar. He had me come in immediatly when I said it got worse, and agreed with me, my poor guy!

Poor thing.

I can't imagine using an ecollar--I refused it for his neuter. Didn't lick at all.

Good luck--hopefully it'll improve quick.

Leslie

I have the same challenge with poor Tango since OCTOBER. His left eye has pretty bad case of feline herpes along with conjunctivis AND his right eye is also infected with conjunctivis.

However his e-collar is a lot shorter than yours and he's able to eat with it.. You can see pictures of TAngo with his e-collar on at this link- http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...=152727&page=5.

I think you can get a smaller e-collar that he'd be more comfortable in and be able to eat even with it on. Check with your vet about this maybe?


Sometimes I remove it for a short time while he's eating/drinking- I stand there watching and as soon as he starts to rub his eye, I put the e-collar on.

*sigh*

Good luck and keep us posted!!

Seamus had the ecollar for his neuter, and was mopey and miserable for four days, but I felt better with it on because he kept insisting on trying to lick the wound... he managed to eat and drink just fine, occasionally he'd get a bit of the food stuck in the cone and wriggle a bit, but he managed ok... the only thing I had to do and didn't realize til after he made a mess of himself was take the cover off the litterbox... he peed all over his leg and I had to chase him down and wipe him clean...

Clinton had to wear one; hang on let me measure.. it's 4 & 1/2 inches. I think its a small. He had to wear it for aabout 3 weeks, he was VERY cooperative, ate, drank & used litterbox with collar on. He may have to wear again, he is scratching his head and its scabbing. Anyway.. be patient, maybe collar is too big, measure & see.

good luck & kisses for yr. kitty.. San.

I feel so bad for him, he won't even walk with it on all he does is lie there and mope, occasionally trying to pull it off (this he acomplished at 4am and then woke me up to show me what a good thing he did )

I'm really concerned that he's not going to be drinking any water with that on. I took it off for 15/20min this AM because he would not eat his wet food. Do you think I should cut it so its shorter?

Originally Posted by sillyitiliangrl

I feel so bad for him, he won't even walk with it on

all he does is lie there and mope, occasionally trying to pull it off (this he acomplished at 4am and then woke me up to show me what a good thing he did

)

I'm really concerned that he's not going to be drinking any water with that on. I took it off for 15/20min this AM because he would not eat his wet food. Do you think I should cut it so its shorter?

Click to expand...

He'll be just fine hon I use e-collars on my foster animals all the time. The size seems appropriate. What i normally recommend is putting a regular leather collar (not a break away) on him and make sure it fits properly (you should be able to put two fingers underneath it to make sure it isn't on too tightly. Then punch two holes side by side on the e-collar with a hole punch and do that all the way around it should look like .. .. .. .. if that makes sense! Take some zip ties and put one end through one side of the e-collar and through the regular collar and then pull it through the other...do this all the way around it-then cut the ends off. He will NOT be able to get it off like this i promise (I'm a vet tech, so i've tried every possible e-collar technique- this one works best! )

You need to leave the collar on him all the time when he is not being supervised. When you are at home though it is ok to take the collar off so long as you are supervising him. This way he can eat and drink frequently during the day while you're there to watch him. If you notice him mess with the eye- put the collar back on You can pm me if you have any questions!

What medications/ointments is he currently taking?