Alternative to cone collar?

I have to put a cone (elizabethan) collar on Mr Grey when he gets his lime sulfur dips because they are not supposed to ingest it, so he has to keep one on until his fur is dry He's wearing one right now but it's been over 3 hours and his fur is still damp! The lime sulfur is not supposed to be blow-dried or toweled off, it has to air dry so it takes forever for his fur to dry. I got a clear cone thinking it would feel less restrictive but no go. He won't eat, drink or use the litterbox (or barely walk) while wearing one so I am looking for an alternative.

The problem is, it has to be something that can be bleached because he has ringworm, and it has to prevent him from licking his body, legs, and feet. I looked up alternatives and found a few that are supposed to be more comfortable which look a bit like a traction/neck brace, but the problem is I think he'd still be able to lick his legs/paws with those. I thought about the "Comfy Cone" -- I have one for my dog though and it's pretty bulky and stiff, even heavier than a regular plastic cone so I'm not sure if he'd feel any better with that one.

If you can sew, you might try studying the comfy cone design then go see if you can find a lighter weight fabric that would work and make your own. That would be my solution, but I have a sewing machine and am pretty handy at stuff like that.

Though, the smaller comfy cones could be softer, you'd have to check.

there's one hissy recommended that i've seen online - don't know about the bleaching part, but you could check.
foam ecollar

Found this care information on the foam ecollar site posted by Laureen227.

"Care Instructions for the PetsGuard foam collar:

If your cat has worn the PetsGuard collar for awhile, you may want to wash it to keep it fresh & clean.

Most fur on the collar can be removed with a wire pet brush and/or one of those sticky roller lint removers.

Next, we recommend hand-washing the collar in warm water with a mild detergent (like liquid dish soap), wring the water out of it and let the collar drip dry. DO NOT put it in a clothes dryer or use a hand-held hair dryer in close proximity to the collar's foam, which could melt.

To disinfect the collar, spray a 10 to 1 mixture of bleach and water on all surfaces of the collar, rinse in warm water and drip dry. You could also dip the entire collar in a 10 to 1 bleach mixture. "

So this might just be what you need.

Alternatively, You could try to work something up using foam (like that used for couch cushions, etc) wrapped with/stuffed into some material such as that of a tube sock, and add velcro to be able to close the contraption around the neck.

Thanks for finding that out! It looks like that one could work, but I'm not sure if it will stop him from licking his legs/feet?

I thought about trying to make one from foam sheets from the craft store or maybe plastic embroidery canvas; that way it would be lightweight and flexible. I'm not sure what he'd think of it though, if it would be better than the regular cone.

There are some probs with soft collars though:


I have never had one, but I think they could still reach their back end if the collar turns backawards like that.

But the collor in the pic doesn't look like it has foam in it...

It's worth a try.