Elizabethan Collars...

Elizabethan Collars- also known as: "the cone of shame,""lampshades," "leg killers," and E-collars.  They range from the basic plastic cone to elaborate devices like inner tubes, fabric neck braces and more.  Their basic function is to keep your pet from pulling their stitches out, licking themselves, or opening their incision with their teeth.

This does happen.  It is not pretty.

Ranging from just a little bit of skin infection to cases where the abdominal contents come out through an open incision, it's just not good.

This is a public service announcement.  If your veterinarian tells you to put a device on your pet to keep it from injuring itself.  Do it.

I once spent a New Years Eve doing surgery on a cat who had gotten a cheap spay at a cheap clinic.  The owners had spent about $250 on the spay and they spent over $1,000 fixing the spay and long-term antibiotics.

I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the nnumber of times people have told me, "well, my pet hasn't been licking at the incision" for me to tell them, "the only way that happened is from your pet licking at it."

Unlike normal humans, cats, dogs and other animals don't have the common sense to not pull out their sutures, and to not eat themselves.  It sounds gross.  It is.

I won't get into details, but just understand this is a common, preventable occurrence.  Just the other day, I saw someone, who had gotten surgery elsewhere.  By the time I saw the damage the dog had done, the owner told me I was the third person who had asked if her dog had an E-collar.  There is a reason for this.  It's considered common sense in the veterinary world and now I'm passing it on to you.

If your pet can't tolerate it, you have a long line of excuses, etc..  Let us know.  We have ways of working something out.  (There have been many dogs wearing boxer shorts and onesies because of a modification of the "E-collar" in my history.  Let us know.  Don't assume your pet has common sense.