Alternatives To E-collar Cone For Kitten

[Treapalmer]

just brought my 6-month old kitten home from being spayed. The vet kept her overnight, said she was doing great, she's acting happy to be home etc. The only issue is she will NOT keep her cone on. She got it off in the crate on the way home from the vet. I've tried 2 types of collars -- the plastic one the vet gave us and one that's made of velcro ish material on the inside and nylon on the outside (very structured). She managed to get both of them off in mere minutes after struggling around violently.

What else can I put on her? I think the plastic cone would work well if she wasn't so tiny for her age. She wriggles a paw inside it, got her jaw stuck inside it, etc, and then nearly choked herself trying to get it off the rest of the way. :|

I've seen sweaters and that kind of thing for pets -- do they work? Anyone have success? What else could I do to maybe modify the cone for her size and see if that works?

I'm able to watch her quite a bit so she doesn't need to wear it all the time but I know as soon as my back's turned she'll be licking those sutures.

 

[Caoimhe]

I've used bodies for my female kittens when they were spayed and it worked very well both times. I find it bothers the cat a lot less, as their movements are not hindered. It's good to remove the body at least once a day so that the cat can do some cleaning (not of the sutures, of course).
I bought mine from the vet, but I've also heard of people who have used baby bodies and alternated them to be suitable for the cat.

 

[epona]

One of my cats got on well (or rather as well as can be expected) with an inflatable donut collar - it tends to be accepted better because it doesn't obstruct peripheral vision like a cone does. On the downside, they can be a bit heavy and restrict movement of the front legs a little (so jumping can be difficult). Better that than them pulling out their stitches though.

 

[white shadow]

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Treapalmer - if you'd like to see more of what Caoimhe was talking about, Google exactly this: "onesie for cats". There are how-to videos too!
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[Antonio65]

View attachment 259783

It is exactly what my sweet Lola would wear when she had a PEG-tube inserted.
Eventually I removed the vest because I saw she wasn't "distubing" the tube or the bandage..

 

[Treapalmer]

thank you all! Tried modifying a baby onesie but that didn't go well. lol This kitten is being very bratty about every option!

I was able to fix the plastic cone they gave us. Wife and I finagled it so it's more to her proper size (she's probably an XS, which of course no pet store near us had lol), and we got a kitten collar to help keep it in place. She slept with it throughout the night and though she doesn't LIKE it, she's not tearing it off and she's able to do everything normally.

On the downside, our older male cat thinks she's the devil when she wears it and won't stop hissing and growling. Sigh.

 

[SiameseMummy]

Is she messing with the incision without the cone? I had my girl spayed a couple weeks ago and the cone lasted a couple hours before she got her leg stuck in it. At that point I decided to just take it off and keep an eye on her. She was super stressed out and so was my other cat who kept hissing at her with it on.

The vet had only said to keep it on for a day anyway. However, I'm in the UK and she had a flank (rather than midline) incision which was small (less that 1cm - maybe quarter of an inch in US terms?) and had glue so no stitches for her to tug on.

We watched her and she didn't mess with the incision and was far less stressed without the cone or any clothing.

Did the vet say how long to keep the cone on?

This is my girls incision just after she knocked the scab off a bit early - it is totally healed now with no infections or other complications

 

[Treapalmer]

Is she messing with the incision without the cone? I had my girl spayed a couple weeks ago and the cone lasted a couple hours before she got her leg stuck in it. At that point I decided to just take it off and keep an eye on her. She was super stressed out and so was my other cat who kept hissing at her with it on.

The vet had only said to keep it on for a day anyway. However, I'm in the UK and she had a flank (rather than midline) incision which was small (less that 1cm - maybe quarter of an inch in US terms?) and had glue so no stitches for her to tug on.

We watched her and she didn't mess with the incision and was far less stressed without the cone or any clothing.

Did the vet say how long to keep the cone on?

This is my girls incision just after she knocked the scab off a bit early - it is totally healed now with no infections or other complications

View attachment 259898

I wish it was that easy. She has stitches that need to be removed in 10-14 days, so ideally the cone should stay on until then I don't think we or she will last that long. We're basically just trying to keep it on when we can't watch her because yes, she goes right for the stitches once we let her free.

She's doing much better now that we figured out how to resize it for her. Still hates it but she only has to wear it when we can't watch her.

 

[SiameseMummy]

I wish it was that easy. She has stitches that need to be removed in 10-14 days, so ideally the cone should stay on until then I don't think we or she will last that long. We're basically just trying to keep it on when we can't watch her because yes, she goes right for the stitches once we let her free.

She's doing much better now that we figured out how to resize it for her. Still hates it but she only has to wear it when we can't watch her.

Ouch! Sounds like you're going to be stuck with a very grumpy cat for a few more days then. They do hate those cones.

At least you've found something that will work and hopefully it's not the whole 10-14 days!

 

[epona]

Honestly, my Jakey would NOT tolerate a onesie after he had abdominal surgery a few years ago - I tried one that I made from an old t-shirt, and a purchased one, and it wasn't going to work - it may seem like because it isn't a cone or collar that it is going to be an easier option, but all cats are different, and he is a big strong cat that acted as though I was torturing him when I was trying to put a onesie on him. The inflatable collar was a far far better solution for him, he tolerated that better - I put it on him and he accepted it right away, which was a surprise after all the fuss over a onesie, but there you go.

 

[RCM mom]

My Charlie had a abcess on tail and had to wear cone for a month. One from vet, hard plastic, was just not working so I found a soft one on Amazon by Sun Grow, comfy cone, looks like a big flower, worked out wonderful!! Soft and easier for eating, bends back, and better all the way around. Don't know if it comes small enough for your little one but worth looking at to see.