Recently, my sister’s cat had minor surgery and the animal hospital sent her home with a elizabethan collar. She called me and asked why they had put a lampshade on her cat. She said that the cat didn’t like it on. She said that the cat was walking into walls and could not eat. I told her that she could remove it for eating, and put it back on.
I first experienced the e-collar in 2005 with my shih-tzu, Sugar. She too was walking into table legs and walls. We had to carry her outside to potty. My husband elevated her food and water bowls…and that didn’t work. Finally, we realized that the e-collar was too big for her. Shih Tuzs, Bulldogs, Boston Terriers, Pekingese and Pugs have brachycephalic faces, so the e-collar ususally sticks out too far. He finally got the idea to trim the e-collar down.
An elizabethan collar or as some people call it, a space collar, cone and yes lampshade, is a protective medical device worn by an animal, usually a cat or dog. Shaped like a truncated cone, its purpose is to prevent the animal from biting or licking at its body or scratching at its head or neck while wounds or injuries heal.
The device is generally attached to the pet's usual collar with strings or tabs passed through holes punched in the sides of the plastic. The neck of the collar should be short enough to let the animal eat and drink. Although most pets adjust to them quite well, others won't eat or drink with the collar in place and the collar is temporarily removed for meals.
While purpose-made collars can be purchased from veterinarians or pet stores, they can also be made from plastic and cardboard or by using plastic flowerpots, wastebaskets, buckets or lampshades. Modern collars might involve soft fabric trim along the edges to increase comfort and velcro surfaces for ease of attachment removal.
FOLLOW US!
