Recently, my cat suffered an injury to her paw; after an examination, the veterinarian recommended she wear an e-collar (recovery cone) for a while to allow the paw to heal. While waiting for the vet to finish the treatment, I pulled up a pet supply store's app to order a cone, and found a large number of options. Naturally, each different cone's description professed that it was "the best version for these reasons," frequently in conflict with the reasons on other options, i.e. "Ours is the best because it's opaque and helps the pet relax" compared to "Ours is the best because it's transparent and doesn't restrict peripheral vision."
This raised a question for me: What are the actual pros and cons of each variety of recovery collar? Including the classic plastic e-collar, "soft cones," "comfy cones," inflatable rings, plush stuffed rings, and any other options that may be out there, what advantages and disadvantages do each of them carry? Note that I am not looking for opinions on which one is best--I can get that from the advertising copy on sales listings. I'm interested in both the good and the bad of each option, in order to make an educated decision on which version to purchase, and which versions might be ill-suited to protecting certain injuries ("This version only restricts access to these areas") or could even pose risks to the animal ("This version is too easy to overtighten").
