Freedom!

Aston was neutered last Wednesday (the poor thing) and had to have one of those Elizabethan collars - which we call a lampshade - to stop him from licking his stitches and getting an infection. He was not a big fan of it. He kept bumping into things and trying to get through spaces that were too small for him. Mum has bruises on her legs from when he would run up against her. He was getting frustrated with not being able to hold his chews and toys with his paws to chew on them, so we had to hold them for him. One day he was playing with his ball, which is a sort of mesh of rubber so that he can carry it around, and we have taught him to drop it for a treat. Well he did try to, but the ball got stuck in his lampshade and he had to swing his head around to try and get it out. It ended up looking like he was doing a very big flourish to get the treat!
Yesterday was his first full day without it. Previously we had just been taking it off him for walks and when we were sitting next to him to make sure that he wasn't licking. So he enjoyed himself being able to do all the things that he normally could. And we enjoyed him not running into us or the walls with the lampshade!

Here are some pictures of him with his collar on: