I love my neck pillow for long-haul flights, but will my cat love hers too?
Recently, poor Yoda got bitten by something outside. We do always supervise our cats when they are outside. On this particular occasion, we heard a scuffle, Yoda returned to the door to come in, we noticed that her chin was bleeding. No doubt she had become victim to some sharp teeth. Revenge of the Chipmunk perhaps? We cleaned up her chin.
Sadly her chin began to swell. We the made the stressful journey to the vet. Yoda singing loudly all the way along in the car. Curbside check-in meant that we had to wait in the car, while Yoda was in the capable hands of the vet.
The vet provided antibiotics (which we disguised as tuna when hand-feeding Yoda her medication first thing in the morning and then later before bed). The vet thought that maybe she had been punctured by fangs, not teeth. No chipmunks plotting revenge then.
A few days into the course of antibiotics, the swelling went down. However Yoda started to scratch her chin. She scratched it so bare, she removed her fur and caused a multitude of scabs. Which, disgusting as it sounds, she kept picking. Her chin kept bleeding, it was a mess.
The Vet Suggested Using a Collar…
Well yes, back to the vet. This time the vet recommended a collar. The dreaded Elizabethan collar no less. The other part of the treatment was to apply some astringent (special cat formula), in the am and then the pm.
Oh my! Poor Yoda. She went nuts. She kept running into everything. Loud crashing sounds could be heard around the house. It didn’t stop there. Yoda decided to scream, yell and moan. She kept banging her head and wrestling with her paws to remove the offending plastic collar. She caused more damage to her chin. It started to bleed all over again.
Following a recommendation, from the lovely Cat Man Chris and his other half Jess, we went and purchased an inflatable collar.
Yoda was cool with this. It was easy to put on, no fuss. It was light-weight. There was a small gap, which we made sure was at the front of her neck, so she could swallow and did not feel any pressure on that spot.
Yoda did pluck it off a couple of times. This is because this style of collar is designed to attach to your fur-ball’s regular collar. Our furry-kids don’t wear collars, so the inflatable one did slide a little.
We can’t comment on this brand of inflatable collar, compared to any others on the market, as this is the only we’ve tried. Yoda seemed happy enough to wear it. No growling, whining nor any struggling.
Verdict
We love this ZenPet collar. We would suggest using an inflatable collar over the plastic one. We are sure that the clear plastic one, may be more useful at protecting a really badly mangled injury around the head. The bottom line: Yoda used it and didn’t cry. We thought Yoda looked exceptionally funny, yet adorable wearing it!
Here is the website of the manufacturer:
