pet connection

Tired of the plastic veterinary “Cone of Shame,” or seeking an alternative to lampshade jokes? Want to avoid getting bruise marks on your legs from when your four-legged friend looks up at you, e-collar bumping the floor and your shin, and seeming to beg, “Take this thing off”?

Traditional veterinary “Elizabethan” or “E” collars mean pets end up with tunnel vision because they can’t see through the plastic, they bump into everything, and their necks get sore from being jarred all day. It’s pathetic and hilarious all at the same time.

Some dogs and cats barely tolerate the e-collar, named after the huge white collars made famous a few centuries ago by Queen Elizabeth I. The veterinary plastic version of the Queen’s finery is meant to prevent the pet from reaching and thus aggravating a spot or incision that is healing, getting worse, or exuding something unpleasant.  Protecting incisions, rashes, and sores is often required so that the pet doesn’t keep aggravating the problem, and thus allows it to heal without interference.

Enter the ProCollar, a kinder, gentler option to the necessary evil. It looks like the kind of air-filled inner tube you use to float with down the river.  You close the zipper, then pucker up and blow some air into it, and close it with a plastic doohickey (technical term) the same way you close an air mattress. Your pet’s regular collar fits into the loops on the neck side. The air remained in the tube far longer than I would have imagined; a few weeks later, it was still inflated.

It’s much shorter than an e-collar. The medium size that 20-lb Ginger wore expands about 3.5 inches from the neck. That means she didn’t slam into doorways, her vision wasn’t obstructed, she could eat without a problem, and she wasn’t as anxious as she was in an e-collar. When she did run into the furniture or door frame with it, it didn’t hurt her neck. She was clearly far more comfortable in the ProCollar than in the lampshade.

The problem with the ProCollar is that it may not prevent access to the spot you’re trying to protect. It all depends on where the incision or sore is. Ginger (shown in photo at right) was dealing with a significant corneal ulcer that arrived simultaneously with the onset of a severe case of dry eye, so I needed to protect her itchy, dry eye.

Because the ProCollar is set so far down, she had easy access to her eye and I had to go back to the e-collar, which she ended up wearing for 4.5 weeks while the ulcer healed (without dry eye, corneal ulcers usually heal in a week or so).  I don’t find it useful for protection on the face or eye.

The vinyl inner piece is protected by a pliable plastic outer jacket lined with a durable canvas material to resist bites and scratches. It doesn’t scrape furniture. G & B Marketing says it’s covered with a canvas material, but it doesn’t feel like regular canvas; it feels more like vinyl. It’s easy to wash. The ProCollar is available at Petco and major retailers. It is from $20-36 depending on size.

If the problem area is located where your dog can’t reach it while wearing the ProCollar, it’s an excellent alternative. However, given the variety of builds in the dog world, one dog could reach his privates with the ProCollar while another could not, and the only way you’re going to know is to try it. If your pet can’t reach the area to be protected, this is a good choice for comfort.