Cat Won't Wear The Cone Of Shame

[mycatsmom]

My cat Eli just had a mast cell tumor removed from his ear. The vet did a beautiful job, once his fur grows back you won't even know anything happened. But the little bastid was able to get the Cone of Shame off of his head IN THE CARRIER (!!!) and he will NOT tolerate me putting it back on him. It is the hard plastic kind so I am sure it is uncomfortable.

I am home all day so there is not an issue with keeping an eye on him, though I do go out sometimes for a few hours.

I have another cat and the two of them are very bonded and groom each other. I know that I have to keep an eye on them so that the one cat doesn't lick Eli's incision site. But even the hard cone is not sufficient to keep him away from it.

The vet is pretty adamant that Eli has to wear the cone, but if he won't tolerate it, or if he won't let me put it on him (he is 15 lbs. and very strong and I am single so I have no one home to help me do it), will "being watchful" suffice? I have ordered about 4 soft cones to see if any of them will work but they won't be here for 2 days.

 

[babiesmom5]

I can well relate to your situation having a cat who underwent "Ventral Bulla Osteotomy" surgery deep in the inner ear and was sent home in the hard cone to be worn for 2 weeks.

Cats absolutely hate those things as they limit their peripheral vision. Surprisingly, she adjusted quickly to navigating around the house without bumping into things. I did take it off of her while she ate, then put it back on afterwards.

This cat had a brother, with whom she was very closely bonded, but he sort of stayed at arms length from her as long as she was wearing the cone. It was foreign to him.

They do kind of get used to the cone after a few days, and don't mind it as much. I would leave the cone on and see if he settles down. Those first few days especially are critical.

I don't know how you can watch him every second. There will be times you cannot. I would keep a cone of some sort on him, especially the first week or so.

After a week, with no healing complications, my vet let me take the cone off being watchful if she started picking or scratching at that ear. She didn't fortunately.

Not this cat, but another cat years ago, had multiple surgeries about the head, ears and neck to remove mast cell tumors, but was never sent home with a cone. Perhaps this is a new veterinary protocol. Once the tumors were removed, they were just carefully stitched up and healed on their own. Fortunately, my cat never picked or scratched them.

Mast cell tumors do have a tendency to re-occur so be vigilant!

 

[mycatsmom]

I cannot even get the cone back on him. He is strong and large and I have small hands. There is no "leaving it on", because it is not on now.

I am also now having aggression issues with the cat who stayed home. He rubbed scent on Eli when he first got home but then got agitated. I am washing the towels that were in the carrier in the hope that it gets rid of the "fear smell".

 

[babiesmom5]

Can you get a friend, family member or neighbor to assist you in putting the cone back on?

I would recommend you wrap your cat "Burrito" style in a large towel with just the head sticking out. Have someone hold him while you put the cone back on.

I would separate the two cats for now. Can you put them in separate rooms or separate them temporarily?

 

[mycatsmom]

I don't really have anyone who can help. He is a bear to get into a carrier and having someone come over to help backfired spectacularly. I tried to burrito him and he wriggled away. I am 4'9" tall and I have small arms and small hands and I have no one who can help me, and bringing someone in will just freak him out further. Maybe when I get the other cones that are not already closed I can put it on, but I cannot get a cone that has a full hole in it over his head. And frankly, I don't have confidence I can do it without hurting his ear. I know that they had 2 people at the vet to do this and I don't have that.

 

[babiesmom5]

I would come over and give you a hand if I were close by, but sans that, I would take him back to the vet, explain what happened and have them put it on him again.

Maybe have them adjust it more snugly this time. You should be able to slide your index and middle finger under the ribbon, but no looser than this.

I really think your vet wants him to wear the cone till things heal up properly.

 

[crunchie]

My cat had a major leg surgery last Feb and needed to wear the cone. I too was home all day and thought that I could "watch" her. It took seconds for her to rip the stitches out which required another trip to the vet to get them restitched. After that the cone stayed on for the recommended period. It is hard to watch them crash around but they do get used to it after a while. My cat got pretty smart with the water fountain. She would put the cone under the water and let it run up the cone to her mouth and she would drink that way. I also "angled" her food bowl so it was easier to get her face into the bowl. At times I would take it off but ONLY if I was there while she ate or I played with her, after the cone went back on.

As for putting the cone back on, my cat would have nothing to do with me just pushing her face through the hole. So I would have to take it apart first, put it around her neck then put the cone back together. Then I put a piece of duct tape along the seam. If you look at the cone you'll probably see that it is adjustable where you slide the tabs into the slots. I also put one of her collars through the loops instead of trying to tie it. It was easier to snap on and I also knew that it was then the right size.

There are different types of collars around that might be more comfortable for your cat. There are inflatable ones and soft ones. But they didn't work for my cat and where she had stitches. She could still get at them.

 

[mycatsmom]

A friend drove 20 miles here to help me do this, and we managed to get the soft collar on. The issue is pushing his face through the hole. But in the time I saw my friend out, no more than 5 minutes later, the little bastid had gotten the collar off. I have asked the house call vet to come tomorrow and help.

My bigger problem is how to deal with the aggression. My other cat (Sam) is OK when Eli is far from him, but he hisses and wants to fight when Eli gets close. Eli cannot understand why his "brudda", whom he loves, is being so mean to him. It is heartbreaking. And my anxiety is not helping. Sammy is easy to pick up, and since he is the aggressor, he is the one I am keeping in a closed room. But tonight I am considering keeping them both closed up in separate rooms and I will sleep on the couch so no one thinks I'm playing favorites. I would sleep with just Sammy in the room and close Eli up separately, but I don't want Sammy claiming the bedroom as territory. It took long enough for Eli to get enough mojo to come in there. He is a very submissive cat and Sammy is a bossy one.

 

[crunchie]

When the vet initially put the cone on did it have a ribbon/string/something that also was put through loops and tied around the neck? You need to make sure that it is also tied on and it needs to be fairly tight so that the cat cannot pull it off. You should be able to put 1 or 2 fingers underneath once its tied. Any looser than that and it will get pulled off.

 

[mycatsmom]

Yes it had gauze and it was tied. And he STILL got it off in the carrier. When we got the soft cone on, we tied it tight enough so just two fingers could fit through and he STILL pulled it off.

 

[adequatenikki]

Hey, don't know if it's much help.. However, when my cats got spayed they HATED their cone. We bought them this: and it gave them a lot more movement. I felt waaay less horrible making them wear that than the cone of shame! lol

Best of luck to you.

 

[adequatenikki]

Hey, don't know if it's much help.. However, when my cats got spayed they HATED their cone. We bought them this: and it gave them a lot more movement. I felt waaay less horrible making them wear that than the cone of shame! lol

Best of luck to you.

Oh, I'm sorry. I am rarely on this forum and didn't know I couldn't like. Well, on Amazon it's called: Suitical Cat recovery Suit - Black Camo, if you wanted to take a look.