# Please Oh Please Help with Elizabethan Collar!!!



## fudgiesowner (Aug 31, 2011)

My poor Shep Fudgie has been prescribed an Elizabethan Collar following his eye surgery. He is not dealing with it very well and tends to just stay still as a statue sometimes, especially when navigating after bumping into something. To make matters worse he is now being growled at by Bo my other big fellah who is scared of the collar. I am trying to keep them separated but this situation is becoming difficult, at times Bo will not eat his food. When I take collar off, he makes it so difficult to get it back on and often goes straight for his eye.

So I need help with three things.

- Is there an alternative to the collar if anything.
- What can I do to help Bo stop growling at Fudgie?
- How can I encourage him to eat his food without taking the colalar off ahhhhh


----------



## Pawzk9 (Jan 3, 2011)

You might see if the blowup donut type collar would work for him. I did have one client whose dog had just had eye surgery and it worked for her. It worked for my dog who had an external fixator on his front let that he wanted to mess with.


----------



## fudgiesowner (Aug 31, 2011)

Thanks, Pawz. I'll look into that one. I really don't want him being able to rub his eye against furniture though. But it might be a bit better for eating with and maybe less scary for Bo (my black lab, he is normally so passive).


----------



## fudgiesowner (Aug 31, 2011)

Have you heard of doggles? would they be suitable? or come off too easy? They don't look to secure? They look more life a fashion accessory.


----------



## fudgiesowner (Aug 31, 2011)

Has anyone used on of these products before. The Optivizor and the Novaguard?

http://www.provizorinternational.com

They look really interesting and might work for Fudgie, what do you think?


----------



## agility collie mom (Jan 26, 2008)

You can try raising his food bowl. That way you do not have to take the cone off. When did he have surgery and how long does he have to wear the cone?


----------



## fudgiesowner (Aug 31, 2011)

He had surgery about a week ago for Cherry Eye. The vet said all dogs are different with recovery time and suggested the ecollar for 2 - 4 weeks. Thanks you Collie mum, raising the food has helped! 

The biggest problem is keeping the dogs separated, that's the main reason I was looking for something else. Thank god it will be over soon. I hope he will be OK after another week. I might look into getting an Optivizor in case he continues to try and itch after that, I'll see how it goes! 

I guess if I had to wear one of those things I wouldn't be to happy about it either. haha


----------



## rodger (Sep 2, 2011)

Hi fugiesowner. I've used the Optivizor before. My dog had a difficult time with a traditional elizabethan collar so I went looking for another option. It worked out really well actually. The nice thing about the vizor was it sat really stable on my dogs head and didn't really get in the way. Definitely worth looking into.


----------



## vote1staffy (Sep 2, 2011)

Oh dear  I feel your pain! I know exactly what it is like to struggle with these problems... I had a staffy years ago with mange, and she was always biting at herself, paws, legs, and scratching at her eyes... poor thing was just miserable with the traditional lamp shade style collar... It hardly seemed fair to have her trapped inside one of those things... not much of a life, especially as her condition was never doing to go away  Honestly, those things should not be on the market.

Anyway, my staffy girl and I needed a solution, so I called every pet shop in the surrounding area to no avail, until one day I watched that show 'the new inventors', where I learned about a guy who designed a alternate collar which was more like a guard or a visor... I was suprised to find out that they are located only 40 minutes from where I live!! I tracked down their number, and contacted them. They helped my little girl SO SO much!! I took her there and they fitted a Novaguard to her (similar to the optivizor I think)... she adapted to wearing it really well!! It protected her so well, but still allowed her to eat, and navigate around our furniture... she could even run and play with it on. I can tell you, as a mad dog lover, was overjoyed to find a product that was able to offer my baby some quality of life FINALLY!! 

:clap2::clap2:


----------



## vote1staffy (Sep 2, 2011)

fudgiesowner said:


> Have you heard of doggles? would they be suitable? or come off too easy? They don't look to secure? They look more life a fashion accessory.


I love the look of them, but they wouldn't function well in a protective capacity!! Gi Gi can get most things off...believe me, my kids dress her in doll clothes all the time... never lasts long!! lol


----------



## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

I guess that Bendigo is too far to drive from Texas  Do they sell it via mail-order?
(I don't need one now, but for others... or in the future.)


----------



## Mheath0429 (Sep 4, 2011)

the best thing i ever did was get my husky the comfy cone. I just posted a picture of her in it actually...in the pictres forum titled introducing delilah. Google them. they are MUCH better than the elizabethan.


----------

