Ted's Blog

Austin had a growth removed from his backside last week. So that he won't pull the stitches out, he has to wear an e-collar for 11 days. I already had one that I had gotten for Clio, but it was too hard for her to use, so I didn't make her wear it. Thursday Austin had just come back from the vet and was pretty out of it from the anesthesia, so it wasn't a big deal. Friday he kept running into things and would get the edge of the cone stuck on door jambs and just stop, waiting for me to get him unstuck. But by Saturday he was wandering around the house like a champ and avoiding (for the most part) running into things. By Saturday night, he actually broke it when I let him outside (I wasn't supposed to let him out without a leash, but it was the middle of the night, so I just let him out; mistake). I was able to make repairs though and he wore it all day today while I was at work without a problem. I don't make him wear it all the time, just when I can't watch him and at night. The vet said a dog can pull the stitches out in a minute, so I don't want to take any chances.

He looks kind of miserable in the picture above, but he actually doesn't mind. The cone attaches to his collar so when I take it off, he gets concerned, just like he does when I normally take his collar off. And then he wants it back on, just like normal. Wikipedia tells me that the E is short for Elizabethan since apparently Queen Elizabeth also could not be trusted not to pull her stitches out.