Dognut

Ranger had to have surgery on her butt yesterday and that’s about all I’m going to say about it. Seriously, the doc was all beckoning us to follow him with “let me show you something” and a bit of a mad-veterinarian’s gleam in his eye when we came to pick her up and I was like “that’s totally not necessary.” He seemed a bit disappointed that I didn’t share his enthusiasm for whatever piece of her butt he was going to show us.

But anyway…

She came through the procedure fine, but of course with accessible stitches she came home with one of those effective but torturous post-surgery funnel collars that just make everything suck so much more when factored in on top of basically having you ass excavated.

I’m pretty sure it was Slackmistress who once mentioned something on her blog about far more humane collars available so I googled alternatives and found a couple options at Petco. One was the inflatable ring you see Ranger sleep-modeling above and the other was a shaped cone but made with a nylon covered foam so it was much more flexible and forgiving for the Dog Who Bumps Into Everything After Getting Its Butt Excavated.

I got both but we opted for the ring (after secretly watching her with it on fail repeatedly to reach her butt with her snooter), and it’s working out great. It’s easier for her to nap (see above pic) and move about with, doesn’t impede her peripheral vision, and bounces softly off any solid objects it comes in contact with, such as table legs, couches, people. Plus there’s the total cuteness factor that never comes with a big piece of semi-translucent plastic.

PS. The vet charged us $26 for the plastic cone. This was $33 (for the large size) at Petco (cheaper if you order it online). I’m getting a couple extra-small ones to have onhand for any future cat emergencies that may arise.