I'm glad to hear that the surgeries were a sucess!

Yes you can take the collar off when you are there to supervise, potty time, eating, etc...

It's too late now as you already have your collar but this may help someone in the future, they now offer more styles of e-collars, some are much mroe comfortable than the older e-style collar.
soft e-collar
bite not collar


Raustyk had to wear one when she had her first cruciate repaired and boy did she hate it, but it was much better than her ruining the incision which could cause a lot more damage than good.