Comfortable cone after eye surgery?

[dottiesyrky]

Hi All:
As I posted sometime ago my dear little (only!!!)2 yr old 9 pound Yorkie male has cataracts and will have to have surgery soon. :-((
I was wondering if anyone has any such item for sale or knows of a cone that will shield his eyes but be comfortable and not choke him at night? The horrible plastic things the Vets use would not be good, especially for long term wear - and I need help. A really soft one would not protect from him rubbing or scratching his eyes I think???
Thank you.
By the way if anyone has personal experience of cataract surgery and the aftercare I would like to hear from you too.
Marge

[Maximo]

I'm sorry your baby has to have this surgery. Look at PetSmart for the plastic cone that has the softer edging band. You are correct that immediately following eye surgery, a completely soft cone is risky because your dog can "mash" his head into the floor or a bed in an effort to rub his eyes. I used the plastic cone first for Max and when it was safe, I switched to the Kiss-E Collar made by YT member Mom to Hot Rod. (he had laser ablation on the underside of his eyelid for misplaced eyelashes).

Your dog will be okay in the plastic cone. Give him lots of shoulder rubs and massage and loving.

Sending prayers for a safe and successful surgery and a speedy recovery for your boy.

[BabyGirl Rosie]

I just ordered one of these to keep on hand just in case.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...ne-collar.html

[alaskayorkie]

I've tried several soft cones. They don't work for Eddie or my Lab, but they did work for Jillie. My advice would be to err on the side of functionality. Try something soft, but keep a close eye on your dog to make sure it deters chewing and scratching. Have a hard one handy for backup.

Here's one a YTer made for Jillie after her spay surgery. She was stylin', and it worked great -- for her!

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...ed-jillie.html

[Maximo]

Jillie looks adorable in her matching collar and jammies!

I just wanted to caution Marge that while the soft collar prevents pawing at the eyes, it is still possible for the dog to drive his head into the floor or some surface and "mash" his face and potentially harm his eyes. I worried about the hard collar choking my boy too, but he was fine. Once we were beyond the danger point, he was happy to switch to the soft collar. It is definitely more comfortable.

[dottiesyrky]

Hi Maximo and other helpful TY members:
Thank you for your kind words and good wishes for my baby and his surgery.
I am so sorry Maximo that your little one had to have the laser surgery on his eye and hope all is well now. It is so scary when these things happen to the innocents.
I am grateful for your experience with cone collars and will certainly look at Petsmart to find the one you mention. It is probably the best idea to go for safety at first and then one can be go for the softer collar that you and others mentioned in your posts. I will look into a soft one, Kiss-E, too.
Thank you all for your interest and help. WTG YT-ers!

[dottiesyrky]

Sorry about typo, should be YT and not TY. My bad!

[Ahis_Mama]

Originally Posted by alaskayorkie

I've tried several soft cones. They don't work for Eddie or my Lab, but they did work for Jillie. My advice would be to err on the side of functionality. Try something soft, but keep a close eye on your dog to make sure it deters chewing and scratching. Have a hard one handy for backup.

Here's one a YTer made for Jillie after her spay surgery. She was stylin', and it worked great -- for her!

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...ed-jillie.html

Mike...she looks absolutely adorable! Does yorkiepup2 still make those jammies?

[Mom to Hot Rod]

Originally Posted by dottiesyrky

Hi All:
As I posted sometime ago my dear little (only!!!)2 yr old 9 pound Yorkie male has cataracts and will have to have surgery soon. :-((
I was wondering if anyone has any such item for sale or knows of a cone that will shield his eyes but be comfortable and not choke him at night? The horrible plastic things the Vets use would not be good, especially for long term wear - and I need help. A really soft one would not protect from him rubbing or scratching his eyes I think???
Thank you.
By the way if anyone has personal experience of cataract surgery and the aftercare I would like to hear from you too.
Marge

Hi,
I am so sorry you little one is going thru this. I agree with Kristin (Maximo) about the safety factor of needing to make sure your little guy is safe from being able to get to his eye.

Once the eye has had a chance to heal over, a soft collar would definitely be much more comfortable for him. I offer what I call a Kiss-E Cone Collar. It is soft and will be much more comfortable for your little one.

Feel free to send me a private message if you have any questions concerning my Kiss-E collars. Hugs and lots of kiss-es for your little one and best of luck with his upcoming surgery.

Bo

[alaskayorkie]

Originally Posted by Ahis_Mama

Mike...she looks absolutely adorable! Does yorkiepup2 still make those jammies?

Unfortunately, I haven't seen Gina around here in a while You might try PMing yorkiepup2. She may get email notification.

[nychelse]

How cute is this matching set... She is precious!!!!

Originally Posted by alaskayorkie

I've tried several soft cones. They don't work for Eddie or my Lab, but they did work for Jillie. My advice would be to err on the side of functionality. Try something soft, but keep a close eye on your dog to make sure it deters chewing and scratching. Have a hard one handy for backup.

Here's one a YTer made for Jillie after her spay surgery. She was stylin', and it worked great -- for her!

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...ed-jillie.html

[ArmaniMan]

My little guy is dealing with eye problems at the moment- the hard plastic was so terrible to watch him in, yet our trusty kiss e cone still allowed him to rub his eye. So I went to petco last night and found a cone called the "comfy cone"- four paws makes it and it is black with grey trimming. It is softer then the hard plastic cones but works just as well. Might be something to look into.

[QuickSilver]

I have seen a new style recently that I liked: it's basically an inner tube around the dog's neck. It's nice because it doesn't require any kind of tie that could catch on something, and it doesn't block peripheral vision. I believe they are sold at PetCo, etc.

. . . .

Sorry, after reading your post more carefully, I'm not sure that an inner tube collar-type would prevent a dog from scratching his eyes. I guess it might if it were big enough. However, I think they are more designed to prevent dogs from tearing out stitches.

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

I have seen a new style recently that I liked: it's basically an inner tube around the dog's neck. It's nice because it doesn't require any kind of tie that could catch on something, and it doesn't block peripheral vision. I believe they are sold at PetCo, etc.

. . . .

Sorry, after reading your post more carefully, I'm not sure that an inner tube collar-type would prevent a dog from scratching his eyes. I guess it might if it were big enough. However, I think they are more designed to prevent dogs from tearing out stitches.

I looked at those at Petco before I discovered Bo's Kiss-E Collar and I have to say the Kiss-E is much better because it is much lighter weight, more comfortable. The ones at Petco remind me of the ankle weights I used to wear for exercise, lol.

Soft collars prevent pawing, but I found with Max that when he was still in pain, he drove his head into the floor and was able to potentially do damage that way. The plastic collar prevents that.

[dottiesyrky]

Thank you all, I will check out all of the suggestions.