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- Dec 11, 2014
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My cat is 12 (I've had her since she was 5) and this is the first time I remember her having to wear a cone. It should only be for a few days. She has a condition called feline hyperesthesia and has been itching and pulling fur out of the end of her tail. The idea is to keep her from doing this for a few days while medication is beginning to work. She had been on prednisolone for two weeks but that didn't help (before the vet reached the current diagnosis), and she'll continue on that while also doing a two-week course of gabapentin. She's having a terrible time with the cone, which is understandable, bumping into things, not being able to settle down. It's only been on for a few hours, so I assume she needs more time to get used to it even though I'm sure she'll never like having it on. I took it off to let her eat, and later to give her medication. I'm thinking about leaving it off overnight because I can't watch out for her while I'm sleeping. I'm worried that she might wander off and get stuck somewhere. She already managed to get behind a couch, and the cone came off. I've since moved it closer to the wall so she can't get back there. I've had other cats in cones but don't remember that I wanted to take it off for an extended time. But with this kitty, I feel it might be necessary, at least the first night or if I have to leave the house and no one else can keep an eye on her. Since the reason for the cone is not an injury or incision but a behavioral issue, possibly stress-related (I adopted her and her daughter together, and the younger cat unexpectedly died a few months ago) she can't really do any harm if the cone is off for a while. The idea is just to help her get out of a cycle. What do you think?