Bite Not Or Comfy Cone Collar

[Guest wickedliz]

First, to everyone who sent well wishes to Jackson for his surgery, thank you so much. All the happy thoughts and prayers meant more than I can say during this tough tough few days.

 

He went in for fracture repair on Wednesday. Things went well, and he is now home and resting (ten weeks of essentially bed rest!!), with a pin, a couple of screws, and this flexible metal figure 8 thingy putting the bone back together. He continues to be a champ about it, and, after fighting me on his meds a bit, we've worked out a routine. Now it's just a matter of resting and healing -- the two biggest concerns being keeping him off of it even after he starts to feel better, and keeping out infection. They were a little worried that once they got inside there might be more ligament damage that didn't show on the x-ray, but luckily there wasn't more damage inside.

 

I was going to post pictures, but I apparently am just not understanding how to do it...

 

Anyway, the first couple of days he was pretty zonked and in pain, so he left the bandage alone, but last night he started getting interested in it and trying to lick. I am really uncomfortable with the standard Elizabethan collar (although I will use it if I have to), so I've been looking at the alternatives -- specifically the comfy cone and the bite not. Has anyone had experience with either of those? One of my concerns is that since the wound is on his back leg, and those beautiful hound legs are just so long, I worry that he would figure out how to get at it...

 

Any advice/reviews/recommendations would be great. Thanks!!

[Guest remarvin]

Glad your surgery went well. I have had several friends that used the Bite-Not collar and now swear by them. I do not have any experience with the Comfy Cone, so I guess I would lean towards the Bite-Not as an E-collar alternative.

Edited June 12, 2009 by remarvin

[Guest Greensleeves]

We LOVE the Comfy Cone!! I was just saying this morning that I think it's absolute GENIUS, and the person who invented it should become a multi-millionaire. I like it so much that when I couldn't get more after they first came out (apparently they oversold the stock because of the great response)... I made some more myself! I actually prefer my home-made version to the original, particularly for very long-term use (mine is a little sturdier + completely machine washable), but the original is still one of the smartest things ever invented for pets.

 

We did not have luck with the Bite-Not, although obviously YMMV, and we didn't have a chance to give it a long-term test (since Jenny ate the latch on it ). I would first try Mangomom's instructions for a home-made cervical collar from towels (should be in the first few pages of H&M, since I just asked about it on Tuesday!), to see if that shape will work for you... and then decide if you need a permanent version.

 

One of the things I like about the Comfy Cone over the Bite-Not is that sizing is more flexible. You have to get exactly the right size of the BN for it to work, and we found that it would fit our larger boy, but none of the girls. You can easily tighten or loosen the CC to fit different dogs, with no loss of functionality.

 

The single caveat I have is that if your dog has to wear it for very long term, I have noticed that sometimes some of them do figure out how to manipulate the flexible shape to allow them access to the wound site (depending on where it is). This can be helped by making sure the collar is situated higher up/more forward on the dog's neck (just give it a tug as the dog walks past you ).

 

I will say, though, that there are times when the good, old-fashioned plastic e-collar is an absolute necessity. When Nelly had ear surgery, the ear flap needed the protection of the rigid plastic to prevent anything from striking it. Neither the Bite-Not nor the Comfy Cone would have provided that. She was in that e-collar for five weeks, and she adjusted just fine.

[Guest wickedliz]

Thank you so much! This is exactly the "review" I was hoping someone would give. I will definitely check out the homemade style and go from there. Thanks again!!!

 

We LOVE the Comfy Cone!! I was just saying this morning that I think it's absolute GENIUS, and the person who invented it should become a multi-millionaire. I like it so much that when I couldn't get more after they first came out (apparently they oversold the stock because of the great response)... I made some more myself! I actually prefer my home-made version to the original, particularly for very long-term use (mine is a little sturdier + completely machine washable), but the original is still one of the smartest things ever invented for pets.

 

We did not have luck with the Bite-Not, although obviously YMMV, and we didn't have a chance to give it a long-term test (since Jenny ate the latch on it ). I would first try Mangomom's instructions for a home-made cervical collar from towels (should be in the first few pages of H&M, since I just asked about it on Tuesday!), to see if that shape will work for you... and then decide if you need a permanent version.

 

One of the things I like about the Comfy Cone over the Bite-Not is that sizing is more flexible. You have to get exactly the right size of the BN for it to work, and we found that it would fit our larger boy, but none of the girls. You can easily tighten or loosen the CC to fit different dogs, with no loss of functionality.

 

The single caveat I have is that if your dog has to wear it for very long term, I have noticed that sometimes some of them do figure out how to manipulate the flexible shape to allow them access to the wound site (depending on where it is). This can be helped by making sure the collar is situated higher up/more forward on the dog's neck (just give it a tug as the dog walks past you ).

 

I will say, though, that there are times when the good, old-fashioned plastic e-collar is an absolute necessity. When Nelly had ear surgery, the ear flap needed the protection of the rigid plastic to prevent anything from striking it. Neither the Bite-Not nor the Comfy Cone would have provided that. She was in that e-collar for five weeks, and she adjusted just fine.

 

[mangos_mom]

I haven't been out on GT too much lately so I missed your posts about Jackson. But I would say if the fracture is on a leg (that sounds dumb to even say it, but I don't want to mislead by not knowing) that the homemade cervical collar wouldn't work. The whole object of that is to keep them from being able to turn their neck far enough to reach an incision. Works well for incisions on the body - not so well on these long-legged, long-nosed dogs.

 

Also a word of advice with the cones, although I've never tried the comfy cones so it may not apply. Mango was smart enough to figure out how to wedge the edge of the old style cone against the floor and stretch her neck beyond it to get to a wound on her front foot several years ago. I had to use a cone a size larger and use a buckle collar fastened tight behind her ears to keep her from being able to push the cone out of the way.

 

Would a bandage cover work to keep him away from the injury? I have to go see if I can find the site I got mine from.

[Guest wickedliz]

Yeah, I went and read the discussion about it, and came to that same conclusion that he would still be able to reach it. One suggestion that I got was to use his muzzle, with either a poop guard in, or some duct tape with holes in it so he can't stick his tongue out. A better option than the cone, for my guy, but he hates his muzzle too, and tries to taking it off by rubbing against stuff. I'm going to try the muzzle first, I think, since I already have that, and see how it goes.

 

I'm not sure what the bandage cover is -- just something that puts another layer between his face and the bandage? Let me know if you remember where you got yours.

 

Thanks!!

 

 

 

I haven't been out on GT too much lately so I missed your posts about Jackson. But I would say if the fracture is on a leg (that sounds dumb to even say it, but I don't want to mislead by not knowing) that the homemade cervical collar wouldn't work. The whole object of that is to keep them from being able to turn their neck far enough to reach an incision. Works well for incisions on the body - not so well on these long-legged, long-nosed dogs.

 

Also a word of advice with the cones, although I've never tried the comfy cones so it may not apply. Mango was smart enough to figure out how to wedge the edge of the old style cone against the floor and stretch her neck beyond it to get to a wound on her front foot several years ago. I had to use a cone a size larger and use a buckle collar fastened tight behind her ears to keep her from being able to push the cone out of the way.

 

Would a bandage cover work to keep him away from the injury? I have to go see if I can find the site I got mine from.

 

[mangos_mom]

Here it is: Clean Break Bandage Protector

 

I used it while I was there with my dogs. It's not good for when you are away, like at work, because it's not chew-proof, so I guess it's not the answer for you. I didn't know about it when Mango had a cyst removed from between the toes on her front foot. That's how I learned the hard way that these guys can reach past a cone collar.

 

Just a word of comfort for you: regardless of how Jackson acts with any of these (except if they terrify him) he will adjust and accept them. Remember, just like skin-kids, we're doing it for their own good, even if they don't like it. I went through all of these options myself with one or the other of my dogs as some point in their lives. I hate making them miserable, too. But I couldn't be with them 24/7. No matter how miserable they seemed, when I came home, or when I gave them a break from their "torture", they were their happy, healthy, loving selves. Jackson will be, too.

Edited June 13, 2009 by mangos_mom