Novaguard, Optivisor, & in background, traditional Elizabethan collar.
I love it when people care for their pets so much they’re not willing to settle for a crappy status quo. Tasi Stampoultzis developed the Optivisor to protect his dog, Billy’s, eye after surgery when it became clear the traditional Elizabethan collar (E collar, lampshade collar, cone collar) was terrible. Elizabethan collars interfere with a pet’s hearing and vision, they make it difficult or impossible to eat or drink, and pets are always running into furniture or walls with them. Stanpoultzis was a contestant on New Inventors and although he didn’t win, I think the Optivisor is a great invention. Don’t miss this video of Billy showing off the Optivisor.
Other alternatives like the Neck’s Best Thing, the BiteNot Collar, and body socks have addressed the need to keep pets from fussing with stitches, bandages, or wounds on their torso, legs, or tail, but so far nothing has addressed keeping a pet from scratching at their face or eyes. The Optivisor and the Novaguard do just that. Cool! It may seem silly to be excited about this, but anyone who has watched their pet suffer from wearing an Elizabethan collar understands.
The Optivisor protects the eyes and the upper part of the face from scratching.
The Novaguard protects the whole face.
Both leave the ears free so the pet can hear, but that also means the ears are not protected, so if your pet is scratching its ears these won’t stop it. (Note: the sizing is for dogs, but I wonder if the smallest size would work for cats.) It looks like they should be available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and soon New Zealand. But, it’s not clear if you can order them. I’ll see what I can find out and let you know. (Thanks to John, who let me know about the Optivisor.)
Check out these other alternatives to Elizabethan collars:
- the Neck’s Best Thing
- the BiteNot collar
- the DIY Body-Sock
Did you ever find out how to buy an Optivisor? Please let me know.
Thanks Cat
try this company
aventix.ca
they should be able to put you onto a practice who can supply you with the product in the states
Please help my cat: Somehow, he received two puncture wounds (Vet thinks it might’ve been a spider.) on his hind leg. The area swelled with fluid and was hot before it burst on its own–or my cat expedited the process. Vet had to lance the area and then put in sutures, which my cat’s not supposed to lick. My cat had a stroke a few years ago during a tornado (weird, I know!), and ever since then his equilibrium has been off when he walks. With the E-collar, it’s much worse. He fell down the stairwell, in fact, the first night with it on. I ended up putting on loose dressing around the wound (gauze and then that rubbery self-stick “tape”–something I was taught to use on hens’ bumble feet last summer at a farm-animal sanctuary) and then encased the foot in a “boot” of a footie with a secure but loosely knotted rope around the top. I woke up to find that he’d kicked the whole shebang off his foot and began licking/pulling at the sutures.
I looked at your alternatives here and wish I could use the body sock–but it doesn’t cover the foot. Anyone with a cat used the other options? How do they fare with eating/drinking?
At a loss . . .
–E.
Try a 3 or 6 month long sleeve infant sleeper. Cut the footie out and snap up the back. You may have to trim the arm lenth as well.
This is Great! I have been chatting off and on for more than a year with my gal about designing an alternative to the traditional Elizabeathen Collar. Here it is. . . the Novaguard, designed and produced by someone else. Kudos to you! I will find one and order it.
Johnny J.
I would like to buy a opti visor but can’t find a site that sells them
I would like to buy a Opti Visor but can’t find one. Help
My advise would be to contact your local Vet, the product can be ordered by thewm though Aventix in North America.
My tiny ancient dog had emergency eye surgery 5 days ago. The University put an e-collar on him and sent him home with instructions to “never ,ever let him touch his eye” as it could blind him permanently. The minute I got him home he began to scream and cry because of the e-collar, of course increasing the pressure in his eye. He then began to ram himself into furniture trying to dislodge it, which has to be a contraindicated activity . Beside myself, I logged on and looked for an alternative to this primitive device, thinking that there would be many. I was wrong. I eventually found this blog, which led me to the Optivizor. After 5 days of simply holding my dog 24/7 (I showered once, never mind going to work) it arrived (it was over the weekend so I couldn’t get it any faster). I am ecstatic! The device protects my toy dog’s eye and lets him lick his paws (which comforts him) and lets him actually WALK around ( which made him finally poop after 4 days). I now can return to work !
Thank you for your informative blog, and thank you , Optivizor
The U.S. distribution for this product is current and moving fast. Jacks mfg Inc based out of ohio distributes these Optivizor and Novaguards in the wholesale channel to vets and retailers. They primarily deal distribution in the horse industry but have now expanded into the small animal/pet industry with these products from provizor. If you know a vet or retailer interested in the Optivizor or Novaguard pictured above please refer to Jacks Mfg Inc. Big Dee’s is also a current retailer supplying and selling these vizors in house and via web. If you wish to see more on the product itself visit the manufacturers website at http://www.provizorinternational.com.
hope this helps everyone that loves these new elizabethan alternatives 🙂
You can buy them at http://www.bigdweb.com/
I purchased both the optivizor and the novaguard after my dog had cataract surgery. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find a size that fits him properly. (He is a 15 lb Boston Terrier with a short snout.)
Love the idea though!
Will the novaguard work if my dog has a hotspot on her from leg? She keeps ripping through the traditional and alternative cloth cones. So will this restrict her from her front leg? She is a germanshepard
Any ideas for protecting my pitties ear? She had a tumor removed and whips the comfy cone off no matter how we anchor it. She uses her back leg.