Instructions
Raise the bowl so the animal can reach it without having to lean over. Use old phone books, a low stool or an inverted bowl to help your pet reach the food. Watch the animal attempt to eat the food to determine if it needs to be raised or lowered.
Offer the pet canned food in the bowl. If there are no food restrictions on the animal, he may eat better if offered canned food. The food is softer and easier to manipulate; the animal can even lift the food into its mouth with the tongue if necessary. Hard food is more difficult to lift off a flat surface with the tongue or mouth when there is an obstruction such as the Elizabethan collar.
Remove the collar to allow your pet to eat if steps 1 and 2 don't work. Watch your pet eat and drink, then replace the collar as soon as the animal is finished with the meal. The important part of this step is to attend to your pet while it eats because if it realizes the collar is gone, it might harm the veterinarian's work or itself.
How to Help Your Pet Eat or Drink With an Elizabethan Collar
An Elizabethan collar is a collar placed on an animal when a veterinarian has performed surgical procedures or the animal has a wound or rash which needs to rest while it heals. An animal will try to lick or dig at areas which are bothersome, so the collar helps the animal avoid making a sore area worse through nibbling and licking. The problems arise when the animal tries to eat. The collar is very obtrusive; it rests just below the chin, preventing the animal from reaching into the bowl with its mouth.