Pet product review of Trimline Veterinary Recovery Collars

As a veterinarian, I’ve prescribed a lot of Elizabethan collars (aka “funnel hats”) in my lifetime. These collars are designed to protect pets – not torture them – by preventing them from biting, licking, or scratching certain areas of their body that may be affected by a disease or by a veterinarian’s well-intentioned hands (i.e., a surgical incision, a bad infection, a feeding tube, etc.). Over the past few decades, these Elizabethan collars (or “E-collars”) have steadily improved in quality, color, and patient comfort. E-collars used to be difficult to assemble and opaque. They then improved to clear hard plastic with Hook-and-Loop fasteners (i.e., “Velcro”), making them easy to remove and clean. The newest addition to the e-collar world: Trimline’s blue, soft, flexible collars.

There are several pros and cons of Trimline collars, and in general, I have used them successfully… although mostly in cats. The pros are that Trimline e-collars are soft and comfortable, and easier for pets to maneuver around hard-to-navigate spots (like the covered kitty litter box!) without banging around loudly (scaring the pet in the process). They are also relatively easy to clean – they have a water resistant (read: NOT WATER PROOF), laminated fabric that allows for a quick wipe down (with a damp terry cloth or sponge). The cons: they have a draw string, and some owners don’t apply these correctly (i.e., either too loosely – where a pet can get their jaw, mouth, or paw stuck in the opening or completely remove the collar themselves – or too tightly!). The other con: for serious conditions, these collars may not always cut it (i.e., post-abdominal surgery), but this is highly dependent on the individual animal. Their last con: the fabric, while soft and light, does have a “crinkling” sound that can frighten cats – although it’s much improved over the hard plastic sound of your cat’s head and collar hitting a wall or the kitty litter box lid.

Some pets will leave their incision completely alone – never licking, scratching, or irritating the area, while some pets will constantly lick and chew to the point that they have opened up their incision (spilling their intestines on your carpet). Likewise, certain e-collars work on certain animals. Having clinically used these quite a bit, I find them most useful for mellow, sick cats. Cats typically hate hard plastic e-collars, and I find that they tolerate these relatively well for short periods of time (i.e., not for more than a few weeks!). I typically use this when I have put a temporary feeding tube into a cat’s nostril (going down into their esophagus). Cats, who are very agile and flexible, need some sort of e-collar on AT ALL TIMES if they have a feeding tube in place – even removing the e-collar for a few minutes can result in one swipe that removes a hard-earned and placed feeding tube. In the hospital, I use Trimline blue e-collars in sedate or mellow cats, or those cats with feeding tubes. I don’t use these blue e-collars for any blocked cat (with a feline urethral obstruction), as I want to be 110% positive the cat doesn’t get that urinary catheter out (which then requires yet another expensive sedation!).
In dogs, I haven’t found these collars to be as successful. Often, dogs can bend or flex the soft plastic, eventually figuring out how to access their intended target. Nevertheless, these collars are worth checking out – but your pet should still be closely supervised while they are on to make sure they are 1) appropriately applied, 2) aren’t getting around to their incision or affected area. My general experience is that if you absolutely cannot afford to get that e-collar off (i.e., for the health of your pet, it must 100% stay on), I’d stick with a more torturous clear, plastic, hard e-collars. For more laid back pets with something more “inconvenient” (i.e., “stop licking at your hot spot on your leg”), this blue e-collar is more comfortable. That said, if your pet figures out how to get out of it, a permanent plastic e-collar is a must in the future. These blue e-collars worth a try though, particularly if you’re of the feline persuasion!

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