# help with elizabethan collar



## Nash (Jul 30, 2005)

I took Pig to the vet yesterday and they fitted her with a collar because she has a skin problem on her leg and we are treating it with Surolan, a topical lotion. We got back Friday morning at 10am and she only came up from under the bed at 10pm, since then she has been a lump on the bed. I brought her food and water which she ate but she has not gone to the bathroom since at least 8:30 am Friday morning. I bring her out of the bedroom and when I put her down she sits like a lump and won't move. Other than that she seems ok...she purrs when I pet her and she greets me with a pleasant chirp. Is it just a matter of wills at this point? Will she eventually adapt and get moving around? Will she get up and use the bathroom? This is supposed to go on for 5 more days. I am afraid to take the collar off, because I'll never get it back on when I have no help from another person. Does anyone know what will happen if she does lick the Surolan...will she get sick? PLease any advice....

Thanks


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## GJ's Mom (Nov 29, 2004)

Dont take the E-collar off unless the vet. says its ok to do so.Im not sure about the stuff on what it will do. All in all she'll be ok.


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## Meowmie (Jun 4, 2005)

Since this is an antibiotic-antifungal-antiinflammatory medication, it could not do what it was intended for if the cat licked it off.

However, I believe you should think carefully about why this medication was needed in the first place. Something is wrong somewhere and you may have to do some things to correct problems that made the use of this medication necessary in the first place. 

It's hard for most cats to adjust to the e-collar. It makes resting, navigation, eating, drinking, and using the litter box very difficult. 
Bandaging the area involved is one option you can think about and explore to make it possible to remove the e-collar. Otherwise, if you can supervise, you can remove the collar for shorter or longer periods and then put it back on.
It's not difficult to figure out how it works, you can practice while it's off and then put it back on without any problem.

If you remove the e-collar, make sure the cat can't go into a hiding place and just lick off the medication.


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## jennifer2 (Mar 5, 2005)

Well, it's only for a few days so maybe not worth it but there are alternatives to the e-collar.

One version is a soft e-collar, but the collar doesn't extend past the head so the animals can still see and hear. Most animals take better to these since it is the blocking of sight/hearing that animals freak out about.








http://www.bonafido.com/page6.html

Otherwise you can get a neckbrace type of collar which also leaves the head open.








http://www.bitenot.com/cat.html


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

The soft elizabethan collars look great. 
I just sent this web page to friends of 
mine who went thru 11 weeks of **** cuz 
their cattle dog had a broken leg. It was 
miserable and the plastic collar made 
it worse but he had to wear it. Thanks for 
sharing it with us.


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## jennifer2 (Mar 5, 2005)

I've never tried the soft one, although I've heard good things about it, but I do have the cervical type collar for my dogs. I've only used it once.
It's much better than the normal e-collar, but they still don't "like it", it won't let them bend their neck, so for a dog who likes to curl up it's a little uncomfortable. With the traditional e-collar he totally panicked and was running into walls until he finally got to the point where he didn't want to move. With the cervical collar, he was fine until he tried to lay down and it took him awhile to get comfy.

Jennifer


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## Nash (Jul 30, 2005)

Thanks for the feedback so far........unfortunately, since I am so useless when it comes to my fur babies and their comfort, I buckled last night and took off the e-collar. Pig was so happy and she had a real good long pee. I will do some research and get the brace type of collar. I will also watch her activites alot closer this week... I also have to give Pig eyedrops, so that will be our focus this week until I can get a better collar and then back to the skin irritation. I just don't understand how an indoor cat can develop a skin problem, I am beginning to think it might be a food allergy. I am feeding them Nutro Natural CHoice Indoor Cat dry and Nutro Natural wet packs. My other cat, Baby is very healthy and has no issues. jennifer2...where did you get your cervical type collar?????

ps. I am so thrilled to have stumbled onto this cat forum and surprised that I didn't find it sooner....I trust your expertise......

thanks,
ccn


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## Meowmie (Jun 4, 2005)

> I also have to give Pig eyedrops


Could you possibly give some information about the nature of the eye problem?

An eye problem and a skin problem going on somewhere else on the body at the same time....something is going on here that requires special attention.

If the skin problem is the result of an allergy, the topical ointment will do nothing to fix that. 
You'll have to focus on food and environmental allergens to get to the bottom of the problem and clear it up. 

Did your vet do a skin scraping to identify the cause of the problem and to rule out certain possible causes?



> I just don't understand how an indoor cat can develop a skin problem,


Unfortunately that's easier than you imagine.

If your vet hasn't done a complete chemistry profile and CBC, you should ask for one as soon as possible because a lot of things need to be looked at. 

The need for eyedops is something you really need to think about. The condition you need to treat is very important here.

I wonder just how thorough your vet is when it comes to looking for underlying health problems. You need to think about this as well.

If it turns out that the cause of the skin problem is allergy, it will be absolutely necessary to change the diet. 
Unfortunately, when there is more than one cat, usually only one has food related problems and the other one is just fine. So the options are changing the diet for both cats, or feeding two different diets and making sure the cat with the problem has no access to food it can't have. (The first option is the easier and safer one.)


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## jennifer2 (Mar 5, 2005)

I got mine from my vet.
Here is a link to the suppliers.
http://www.bitenot.com/suppliers.html

Also, for the soft e-collars, you can order them from the website
http://www.bonafido.com/page7.html


I like the bitenot collar, but you do need to have a good fit. It's easier to get these through a vet where they can be fitted properly.
For buying on your own, you might want to try the soft e-collar. Soft is a misnomer. They are as inflexible as the regular e-collar, so they'll do the job, but they have a soft lining on them.

Jennifer


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## Nash (Jul 30, 2005)

Big thanks to all who have replied to my post. Special thanks to Meowmie for all the support. I have decided to change Pig's diet as I am sure she has as food allergy. I am on the prowl for food without alot of the additives not recommended for cats and will locate the collar from the link that jennifer2 sent me, there is a Canadian distributor......unless there is someone who lives in Toronto who has one that I can borrow! (lets share hee-hee). I will post as this process goes along. I am so happy to have found this forum and can't believe it took me so long to find. 

Thanks,
ccn


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