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Paws and Effect: The Secret Life of Ivie W.

Confessions of A Conehead

Since Ivie has yet to master the English language, allow me to tell this story from my limited human point of view. The other day we discovered a raised, bright pink rash hidden in the crevice where her belly meets her leg. Yesterday we went to the vet and discovered that Ivie has dry skin and was itching so badly in that spot that she was chewing herself apart. Long story short – the kid had to be coned. I got so nervous when the doctor recommended the cone. I mean, I’ve seen these alien looking dogs walking around town with what looks like a satellite dish around their neck, a humiliated look in their eyes. No! Not the cone! Anything but the cone! But, alas, the cone it was. Luckily for Ivie there was a cute lab on our way out who had also been coned, they looked at each other as if to say, “I feel you my brotha’!” I was happy to see that contrary to my fears, Ivie did not seem to fight the cone. She struggled a little when she walked, bumping into things, but didn’t seem to hate it too much. I had to run a few errands and left her alone in my bedroom since I didn’t want her struggling to go up and down the stairs in her awkward conical device. When I came home an hour and a half later, all seemed okay. But later that night, after my husband and I came home from dinner with friends, we opened our bedroom door, only to find Ivie, CONELESS, and claw marks all over the carpet. Lord only knows what went on. Our little Houdini found her way out of her cone. Not wanting to further traumatize her we decided to keep her out of her cone for bedtime. She did well, but early in the morning she was going at her wound again, so we put the cone back on. The bizarre part was, she appeared all too happy to wear the cone. Her tail was wagging like crazy, a big smile on her face. When we woke up several hours later, Ivie was fast asleep next to our bed and once again, she was coneless!