Inflatible collar

The day after Maia's surgery, a friend happened to mention reading about inflatable Elizabethan collars (e collars) for dogs. Of course! Makes so much sense. I Googled the term inflatable collar, and discovered that most pet stores carried them. For $39, it seemed a reasonable expense to make Maia more comfortable. I bought one the next day.


Maia modeling her collar, bandaged left leg and shaved right leg. What a sight.

After a few days, I took off the bandages to check the incision and let it breathe a bit. While not a pretty sight, I was pleased with the progress I saw. Healing nicely.

Past surgeries for the same thing (removal of a hygroma from the elbow) involved a drain made of surgical tubing that protruded a quarter inch through her skin, allowed fluid to leave the surgical sight and seep out into the bandage. No drain this time. Just the expected sutures. Hmm. Progress. Much nicer for Maia, and for me.

On August 16th, we moved to our new home. Poor Maia - surgery a few days earlier, then the stress of a move. Just packing things in boxes and suitcases wigs her out. The new place is a townhouse. I was concerned how she'd feel about the stairs to get to the bedrooms upstairs. While she spends most of her time downstairs, she seems fine with the stairs. (Finn has turned them into his personal playground.)

The day after the move, Maia and Finn enjoy the sunshine on the deck. I plan to put a dog door in the slider, so that the girls and have access to the small fenced yard when Finn and I are at work. The inflatable collar, by the way, works well. Maia did manage to puncture it the first day in our new home, though; there are mature rose bushes in the small yard and she managed to catch the collar on one. Exasperated, I got an inspired idea: I used my bicycle tube repair kit to fix the leak!

Finn's clearly trying to comfort big sister Maia, guard her in the new yard. For Finn, the move and new home is just one more adventure. The girls took a little longer to accept things.