Sporting the Comfy Cone

As many of you know, my humom loves tech gadgets and loves to try new products, including the ones that makes our lives more comfortable, especially when we hurt or get sick.

I have some irritation going on with one of my paws right now. To keep me from licking it, she has to put something around my neck. When she first got one of those huge cones they give you at vet, she noticed how much I hate them. I get depressed and listless when I have to wear them. Furthermore, plus mobility is reduced and I constantly bump into things.

So, she sought better imagined alternatives… So this is the list of ones she got for me and I tried. Here is my take on them:

• Comfy Cone Pet E-Collar (newer version with stays for structure)
  It’s a great e-collar. It’s very soft, easy to clean and makes it easy to move around and sleep in. It’s not transparent like most plastic e-cones, but it does the job. The only drawback is that the collar loops are a bit too small to fit a standard or large dog collar to be used with the cone (for stability)–it will still work fine even if you do not attach the cone to the dog collar via the loops.

• Novaguard Collar
  The is another great one. The design is more compact and has space for my ears outside the cone space so I can hear better. Also, the cone is narrower than the traditional e-collar. The big plus is that it is clear which allows me to see everything around me. The only minus is that my vet said I looked like Hannibal Lecter.

• BiteNot Collar
  In concept it looks good, but when I tried it, I hated it. I felt traumatized. It was like wearing one of those neck braces I see the humans wearing when they hurt their necks. It does limit my licking mobility and has some comfort (foam inside the collar), but the big drawback is that the plastic corners poked into my neck especially when I ran down the stairs, so it wasn’t good for me and mom didn’t want to use it again. They could have added cushioning or rounded the corners, or they could have used the same material as the Comfy Cone rather than plastic.

There are too many options out there, so we haven’t been able to try every single one (unless they were given to us for free to test). Here are some other alternatives humom has read about but we have not tried:

• Hager Collar
  It looks like a cross between a BiteNot and ComfyCone combined. The great thing about it is that is can be cut and adjusted to fit as stated on the Web site.

• Trimline Recovery Collar
  It looks similar to the Comfy Cone, but from seeing the videos, they looks too thin and too flimsy to keep me from getting to my paws. It doesn’t seem to have the structure other collars usually have. Might work better for some depending on how you are with boo-boos.

In the end, between soft and not being able to see or having a clear compact collar that allows me to see around, the two best ones I’ve tried have been both the Comfy Cone and the Novaguard.

I’d do the Novaguard for outside walks even if I look like Hannibal Lecter and the Comfy Cone for inside the house.

Have you used any of the other alternate e-collars? What are your thoughts on them?

Too many storms for my taste this weekend!

My mom helped me get together a small list of links for those interested in donating to a charity (or charities) of their choice to help fund relief efforts in Japan.

There certainly was a strong urge to immortalize @shibainuhawaii’s insomniac and cute holiday-inspired familiar rhyme on December 21 in the wee hours. Happy holidays and enjoy…

shibainuhawaii

(Shiba Inu Hawaii)

Ah...it's December 20th and all through the web, not a #Twiba was stirring, not even @Snick_the_Dog's Mom.

On 21-12-2010 09:04:52 from HootSuite

Dangerkitty2020

(Noelle)

@shibainuhawaii @snick_the_dog well @phineastheshiba's mom is! 3 month olds dont care what time it is when they're hungry!

On 21-12-2010 09:40:07 from Twitter for iPhone in reply to Shiba Inu Hawaii

shibainuhawaii

(Shiba Inu Hawaii)

The #SecretShiba Presents were sent to the #Twibas with care, in hopes that a special Shiba would receive it nicely (and not tear).

On 21-12-2010 09:06:34 from HootSuite

shibainuhawaii

(Shiba Inu Hawaii)

The Shibas are all sleeping (some snuggling, some not) while dreaming of the future cheese blocks that they got.

On 21-12-2010 09:10:42 from HootSuite

shibainuhawaii

(Shiba Inu Hawaii)

I'm the only one up, and on Twitter there's no peep; so I was about to head off to a nice long sleep--

On 21-12-2010 09:13:59 from HootSuite

shibainuhawaii

(Shiba Inu Hawaii)

When an alert "PING" from my iPhone--it was such a loud sound, that I jumped back on the computer to see who was around!

On 21-12-2010 09:15:36 from HootSuite

shibainuhawaii

(Shiba Inu Hawaii)

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but Tweets from the #Twibas and their humans so dear!

On 21-12-2010 09:16:42 from HootSuite

shibainuhawaii

(Shiba Inu Hawaii)

There's @_tar0_ and Zuko (@demondogsports) and Yuki (@WalkingYuki) and Roux (@Roux_The_Shiba)!

On 21-12-2010 09:20:47 from HootSuite

shibainuhawaii

(Shiba Inu Hawaii)

Kaiju (@iamkaiju) and Leah (@LeahShiba) and Phineas (@PhineastheShiba) and Snick (@Snick_the_Dog)!

On 21-12-2010 09:22:41 from HootSuite

shibainuhawaii

(Shiba Inu Hawaii)

Type away, Tokyo (@tokyoshiba) and Hoshi (@hoshishiba) and Miracle & Copper (@Hockey4416 @msicefan8)!

On 21-12-2010 09:24:42 from HootSuite

shibainuhawaii

(Shiba Inu Hawaii)

Play on, Misaki (@mynwexperience), @secret_shiba, Mika (@mika_shibainu) and Sinjin (@SinjinTheShiba) you too!

On 21-12-2010 09:29:11 from HootSuite

shibainuhawaii

(Shiba Inu Hawaii)

And @dangerkitty2020 @pinkeandbrowne @tli330 @blueleath don't think I forgot you!

On 21-12-2010 09:31:25 from HootSuite

shibainuhawaii

(Shiba Inu Hawaii)

All you "Tweeting Shibas" (I hope no one I forgot) Santa Paws is coming and #SecretShiba presents that we bought!

On 21-12-2010 09:33:50 from HootSuite

shibainuhawaii

(Shiba Inu Hawaii)

I say to you all, as I head off to bed, "Happy Holidays to all! We've enjoyed being your friend!" ~Katsumi & Kuri Firefox

On 21-12-2010 09:34:36 from HootSuite

Zzzzzzzzz…

Woo hoo! Shibas are featured on Dogs 101 on Animal Planet…

Got caught smoking yesterday… Later, I looked at mom with a face she’ll never forget.

I’ve had this great burst of energy and now my family wonders how is it that my wild puppy side decided to come out in full force after 9 months of relative calm… It’s adolescence! Now I’ve started to jump and chew on the leash on every walk and I try to chew on mommy’s coat. I want to eat every acorn, piece of plant, and dead leaf that I see. I jump on people in excitement and playfully mouth hands when someone wants to say “hi.” I vacuum my bowl and try for Shiki’s when I finish–I still don’t understand why she is not into food like me. She just leaves her food there most of the time to tempt me. My family struggles constantly to get her to eat something. Me, no problems. If they let me, I’ll eat her food too.

Hey, what can I say… All in all, things are great! Does that make me wild? I dunno, but I am ethaving a great time. And lately, I’ve been king of grandma’s bed too, so it’s a big plus.

I thing I am pretty obedient, because when they tell me to “leave it,” I do for a moment and then try again, but I am at the stage where I need to test my boundries a lot.

Hoshi likes to play with the old towelie