Urgent ! I just got my female cat spayed, and the vet told me she had to have a cone on so she wouldnt scratch

Question

down at her surgery . well my cat has taken it off twice ! and when we tried a 3rd time, she looked like she was about to attack us, so we just let her be- she's coming out of the anastesia ( i dont know how to smell it sorry ) The vet said it was important for her to have it on for 8 days , so what should i do ? I plan on calling the vet tomorrow morning and ask- thanks !

heres another thing, i cant watch her all night , to make sure she has it on- ived been watching her since 2 pm today -
I need to sleep., so thats was concern as to what to do , until i can talk to the vet about it - i mean is it seriuos if she dosent have it on ? thanks

um just to get this right, for a female is called spayed or neutred ? i get it wrong all the time , thanks again for the great advice, ived been stressing out about it !

Answer 1

You might have to tape the edges together to get it to stay on. Really, you tape the edge to the side of it, where the edge overlaps. I had a female cat spayed and she didn't have to wear one of those. Neither did my male cats when they got neutered. Maybe yours is a special situation.

Answer 2

I have 8 cats and all have had their little surgeries. None of them have had cones put on them to prevent them from getting to their surgery sites. I have used more than one vet, and it just isn't a usual practice here. As a matter of fact my vet told me that it is natural for a cat to lick the site, and sometimes they will try to remove the sutures, but that they were put in in such a way that the cat cannot pull the suture out. My last cat had neon green color sutures and where my other cats had been shaved in such a large area, my last cat to have it's surgery only had a very small area shaved. My cats have all done fine. It sounds like that the cone is causing your cat more stress at a time when it needs to be calm, and quiet and comfortable. Was there any special reason that your cat needed to have the surgery site protected? I would definitely make my cat comfortabe, and, yes check with your vet, too, to see if the surgical site for some reason is more fragile, or their is an urgent reason to use the cone. I can't imagine why? Maybe you could call another vet to see what they do in your area. I have always put a blankie under the edge of the bed, and left the room dimmly lit, and quiet when my cats are trying to recover from surgery, and anesthesia. I check on them frequently and offer water, but I'm especially careful to let them get up slowly, and not be disturbed by other pets, or others until they are ready. Your Kitty is dependent on you to take care of it while it is recooperating. ( I would not put the cone on my kitty.) cokoko

Answer 3

I've had two spayed and neither one required a collar, but if yours does start chewing at the stitches you'll have to put it back on her. I think that's the only reason the vet gave it to you---to make sure that she wouldn't pull out the stitches.

Keep her calm and quiet, in a dark room if possible (the anesthetic makes their pupils stay large and light hurts then). It's called spaying for a female. Neutering is for a male.

If she's leaving the stitches alone, leave the collar off. It may be too loose if she's getting out of it that easily.

Answer 4

I just recently had my two females spayed on the same day (plus the 8 puppies I had spayed within 2 days), so hopefully what I learned can help you. Your main priority shouldn't be the cone unless your cat is scratching, gnawing, or licking at the incisions. The main thing you should worry about is not letting her jump around too much and risk her ripping out her stitches (or tearing the glue if they used it). Just make sure she has plenty of cuddles if she's in the mood for it (I know my two girls were a bit cranky with me for a day or two after the operation, plus the pain probably didn't help any), and check the incision sight for any signs of ripping or infection. Also, if needed, clean it with a little bit of warm water to help deter her from overzealously cleaning the wound herself.

Answer 5

Yes, it's important that she keep that cone on. The reason for it is because a cat will naturally want to get at the incision. If she licks it her saliva will cause a bad infection. She could also pull out her stitches and that would be bad. At my clinic we use a string to run through the loops of the e-collar which should be snug enough that you can't pull the cone off of the cat's head without first untying it. I would suggest trying something like that for the night atleast while you sleep. I wouldn't leave her overnight without the cone or you might have a mess in the morning.

Answer 6

if you can wrap the straps under her arms it is harder for her to take it off, the reson the vet recommends the cone is to keep her from licking at her incision and either causing irritation to it or possibly pulling stitches out or causing it to come open if they used glue. if she is not bothering the incision, I wouldn't freak out about her taking the cone off ( its called an e collar or elizibethan collar) but since she just had surgery today, it is probably best not to over stress her, she is already stressed out as it is, just try to keep her from licking. then talk to the vet tomorrow, if tying under the arms doesn't work there is another type of collar they can use called a no bite collar it looks a lot like the neck braces people with neck injuries wear to immobilize the neck ( same prinicple)
hope this helps

Answer 7

Your female cat was spayed. And she doesn't necessarily need to have the E-Collar on at all times. Just make sure that she doesn't lick or mess with her insicion and she will be ok. You can just watch her for a few minutes and you will be able to tell if she will mess it. Don't worry to much about it; it's not a big deal. Most cats after surgery don't need the e-collar.

Answer 8

I've never had a cat that needed a cone after she got spayed. Cats usually can't scratch their stomaches since they use their back feet. She might need it to stop the licking. In my opinion, wait it out. Leave it off and keep an eye on her. If she starts to lick, put it back on regardless of fighting. It's for her own good.

Answer 9

It is very important that she keeps the collar on (cone) because the stitches will make her itch and her natural instinct will be to lick and pull the stitches out. Make sure that you are tying it up tight enough. If you can stick to fingers between the cats throat and the cone it is fine. Do you have a crate that you can put her in?

Answer 10

Even when i worked at the vet clinic did we ever put a cone on the cats after they got fixed... i really wouldnt worry about it too much, nobody can possibly watch their cat for 8 days to make sure they dont take it off, people do need to work. so sweety do not worry about it if the cat gets the cone off, cats were not meant to wear cones nor have stitches for a long period time =) its like if you were to put tape on their feet, it wouldnt take any time for them to get the tape off =) I hope this was helpful!!

Answer 11

I couldn't keep a cone on my kitten, it was just too heavy for her little head. She wouldn't leave her stitches alone. I took her to the vet and he gave me something called "bitter orange", she had a few licks and foamed at the mouth, and that was the whole point, that she didn't like it. She left her stitches alone for a while, then got back to chewing, I had to reapply the bitter orange several times throughout the day. The bitter orange label says it's only to be used for dogs, but my vet assured me it was ok to use on cats. Your vet may have a similar product. If she gets to really chewing on those stitches you may want your vet to examine the site, they can pull them out and that's big trouble, they can but usually they don't.m EDIT Oh, duh, she's SCRATCHING not BITING, sorry, I wasn't paying close attention.