He really is being such a brave little boy. I’ve been so impressed with him. I know wearing this collar is not a comfortable thing and he does not like it. Yet he has not whined or pouted or seemed grouchy about it. He’s just dealing. There was a moment yesterday when I regretted the whole thing. When he looked up at me with his head poking through that collar and I could see in his eyes that he’s feeling tired and cooped up. I wished that I could take it all back. I just wanted him to be able to relax as usual and run and jump and play and clean himself as he likes.
Last night I had planned to let Derby sleep on the floor of my bedroom thinking he would be unable to jump onto my bed with that lampshade around his neck-considering that he’s still mastering even getting up onto my bed on the first try. I made him two pallets on the floor and brought in plenty of toys. I got him all set up. But as I lay in bed reading Blue Like Jazz a furry little head popped up, followed by a body, that lay down beside me. He stayed on the bed all night, lying close to me, which I found comforting and I’m sure he did, too. During the night I awoke and took the collar off for a few minutes to give him a breather. After I had removed it he began to lick my hand as if to say, “thank you”.I know this will be over soon. In nine days he’ll have his stitches removed and we can get back to normal. In the meantime, I am trying to focus on the positives. He is a healthier pup without a hernia. We can anticipate his life expectancy and quality of life to be increased by being neutered. He should be a well tempered young man. And, thankfully, the vet trimmed his nails really short and cleaned out his ears while he was sleeping. Wearing the e-collar does not seem to make his grouchy. But grooming does.
3 comments:
Could you cut little holes in the sides for his ears to flop out of? (Like holes in hats for ponytails).
At least the collar is clear and not the white plastic that they used to be, so there's some peripheral vision for him and you can still see his face.
That would be a great idea. However, it's on loan from the vet's office. Otherwise, I'd take to scissors to the thing ASAP.
oh wow. poor derby. i know how he feels. or, rather, how you feel. my ESS had a huge fatty lump removed from her shoulder and they sent her home with an e-collar. it threw her completely out of sorts. she's so despondent while wearing it, but that was just the first few days. thought i'd get her stitches removed wednesday; that's the 2 week point, but vet said to give it another week. will be so glad when our household can go back to normal.
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