E-collar: I am about to lose my mind.

[Sararainmaker]

Kaylee has gotten out of her e-collar no matter how tight I tie it and no matter if I tie it around her legs and up over her back (like a harness) or just around her neck. I have tied it so tight that I am uncomfortable with how tight it is (almost doesn't fit two fingers under)... after the 5th escape and no sleep last night I brought up the idea of using a recovery suit instead of the e-collar to her vet, but the vet said no and that she wanted the incision site to breathe... so I am at my wits end.

How can I secure her collar to her head so that she can't get it off and I can get some sleep?

 

[Desti]

Hi! I would hope that your vet would be supportive, because you do need to be able to sleep. My kitty Salem was always able to get her cone collar off after her surgery. Luckily, the incision was covered by a flap of her skin which they glued over the stitches. Weird enough, but it worked.

 

[Sararainmaker]

Hi! I would hope that your vet would be supportive, because you do need to be able to sleep. My kitty Salem was always able to get her cone collar off after her surgery. Luckily, the incision was covered by a flap of her skin which they glued over the stitches. Weird enough, but it worked.

They are being supportive, and I have been going back and forth with them all day and night with ideas, it's just so far none of them have worked. I have ordered a cloth collar to try, and if that doesn't work one of the vets recommended using the cloth collar on backwards with the plastic collar on forwards so she can't push it off... Problem is I am not getting the collar until tomorrow, probably early evening, she's able to take the plastic collar off with very little effort now and I can't even risk taking a nap incase she gets it off while I do. The only thing I can think of is putting her in her carrier so I can get a little rest, but it seems so ridiculously cruel, as her carrier doesn't even have enough room for her to turn around in... It's a testament to how exhausted I am that It even crosses my mind. I'm pretty sure the last night of decent sleep I had was last Sunday.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi! If you have a pair of panty hose, cut a leg off and 'squeeze' her body into it. The hose will allow air circulation, and ideally she won't be able to get it off right away. Unfortunately, there is a good chance she will figure out a way to chew through it. However, many of the recovery suits/onsies say they are made of breathable material, so I am not sure why the vet would object to that.

 

[Sararainmaker]

Hi! If you have a pair of panty hose, cut a leg off and 'squeeze' her body into it. The hose will allow air circulation, and ideally she won't be able to get it off right away. Unfortunately, there is a good chance she will figure out a way to chew through it. However, many of the recovery suits/onsies say they are made of breathable material, so I am not sure why the vet would object to that.

I spoke with another vet tech really early this morning, it seems the vets are less worried about the "breathable" aspect of it and more worried that it wouldn't protect from her chewing at it if she wanted to, and she had pretty major abdominal surgery. In a desperate attempt to get some sleep I took her walking harness and tied the cone to that. The cone has stayed on for the longest yet, much to her dismay, and I was able to get 6 hours of interrupted sleep (she's back to about 80% her normal, crazy self, which meant a lot of cone to wall/desk/face action going on)! I'll take it.

 

[Margret]

In a desperate attempt to get some sleep I took her walking harness and tied the cone to that.

Ingenious! Congratulations.

Margret

 

[Sararainmaker]

Ingenious! Congratulations.

Margret

She is not happy with me.

 

[Margret]

She is not happy with me.

No, I wouldn't expect her to be, poor dear. If they'd just listen to reason when it comes to stitches...

Margret