Is The E-collar Necessary?

[MegShort]

Hi everyone. Our 9 month old kitty Isabella was spayed two days ago. We were given an E-collar when we picked her up the next day after surgery, and were told to put it on her immediately after getting home.

She DESPISES it. When it’s on, she runs all over the house, rolling around and trying to get it off, which worried me as we were told to try to restrict her activity. She is also totally miserable with it on. She keeps running into walls, stumbling over it, and has trouble eating and drinking. She won’t relax, and is constantly distressed. She has also succeeded in pulling it off every time we’ve put it on her. We went to the store and got her an inflatable collar instead, but she still hates it and pulls it off within minutes.

I’ve talked to the vet’s office a few times and they insist on putting it back on her every time she takes it off. But after two days of this constant struggle to keep it on her and have her be somewhat comfortable, and trying many different solutions, I finally gave in and let her keep it off. Since then, she has been totally calm and has rested and slept a lot more. She has licked her sutures a few times, but I’ve distracted her from doing so each time, and now she seems to be leaving them alone.

Personally, I feel that it is more important for her to be calm and still so she can heal than to keep the E-collar on, since she isn’t really fussing with the sutures much. However the vet is still insisting that we keep the collar on at all times. Are we doing the right thing by keeping it off and letting her rest or should we be listening to the vet and continuing to put it back on every time she takes it off, even though it’s causing her so much stress and discomfort? This is the first cat my husband and I have owned on our own, and I want to be sure we are making the right decision and not risking complications with her healing. Thank you!

 

[duckpond]

I agree with your vet, i would keep it on. They can cause a lot of damage to a suture site if they lick at it, and it only takes a moment. As she has already shown a likely hood to lick the stitches, i would keep the collar on. she will get use to it. Mine hated it too, but after a few days she was fine with it.

 

[maggiedemi]

I'm not sure, because I would hesitate to go against your vet's advice. But the vets here in Upstate NY don't recommend the collars, I was surprised when I emailed them to ask which collar is best and they said that. When I was a kid we got 2 females and 3 males fixed, and they were fine without collars. But I wouldn't want to recommend taking the collar off and then your cat gets hurt, I would feel bad.

 

[missmindy]

Would the vet let her wear some kind of "onesie" or other type of clothing that would cover her suture location? Otherwise I agree with the others to leave the collar on. My kitty had to wear one too for 2 weeks after eye removal surgery, and she hated it as well

 

[Timmer]

I never had a collar put on the one cat I had to get spayed (the rest of my cats were already spayed when I got them). I had taken her to a low cost spay/neuter clinic and was never told to put one on her and never given one. I grew up with cats and we never had collars on them.
Like your cat, she licked them when she was grooming herself but never bothered them. Are you home a lot and able to keep an eye on the cat?
The collar is a precaution. You are taking a gamble. I'm not going to tell you one way or the other. It's your decision.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Hi everyone. Our 9 month old kitty Isabella was spayed two days ago. ...
She DESPISES it. When it’s on, she runs all over the house, rolling around and trying to get it off, which worried me ... hates it and pulls it off within minutes.

I’ve talked to the vet’s office a few times and they insist on putting it back on her every time she takes it off. But after two days of this constant struggle to keep it on her and have her be somewhat comfortable, and trying many different solutions, I finally gave in and let her keep it off. Since then, she has been totally calm and has rested and slept a lot more. She has licked her sutures a few times, but I’ve distracted her from doing so each time, and now she seems to be leaving them alone.

Personally, I feel that it is more important for her to be calm and still so she can heal than to keep the E-collar on, since she isn’t really fussing with the sutures much. However the vet is still insisting that we keep the collar on at all times. ...

Some cats may never get used to an e-collar, and sometimes their wild behaviors trying to remove the thing can be worse than wearing one (running, squirming, flinging themselves around). This happened with my cat after surgery. I tried hard to follow the vet's advice and get her to wear a few different e-collars, to no avail. Since your vet keeps insisting on the wearing of one, you should always try to understand the reasons why the vet is insisting on this, and try to follow the vet's advice. You can always also keep trying to let the vet know how much Isabella is struggling with it, and causing more movement to the area, and yet is much calmer and not really bothering the area when she is calm. The only time I'd personally recommend not trying to get them to wear one would be if you were home 24/7 during her recovery and could keep your eagle eye on her at all times, ready to swoop in when needed to prevent her from chewing/gnawing/ overly licking the suture area. You always want to prevent possible infection, from the cat's saliva, etc. My cat did well leaving her sutures alone. She only began licking or grooming the area a bit more weeks later, when the sutures were removed and the (closed) wound was scabbing and tightening and healing (it was feeling itchy to her). My vet said that was fine, as she was just cleaning and grooming the area, not gnawing or biting (and the wound was closing and healing well).

 

[MegShort]

Just to clarify, she only licked the sutures immediately after I left the collar off for good the last time, which was yesterday afternoon. After I discouraged her from doing it a few times, she hasn’t bothered with it since that I’ve seen, and I’ve kept a very close eye on her.

I’ve done some research and there seems to be very mixed opinions about keeping a collar on after spaying. From my personal experience, my parents had three cats spayed during my childhood, and none of them wore collars afterward with no complications. All 3 were even done at the same vet’s office that my current kitty was spayed at, and no one ever recommended a collar, oddly enough.

I do honestly feel that when she has the collar on, the constant struggle to get it off and frantic movement is more of a risk to her incision not healing properly than the risk of her licking the sutures and causing issues, but obviously I’m not an expert and I do hestitate somewhat to go against the vet’s advice. I do work from home, so I am able to keep a close eye on her most of the day.

If I do decide to keep trying the collar, does anyone have any suggestions for keeping it on her? With the inflatable collar, she pulls it off within minutes of putting it on her. The soft cone collar they gave us at the vet stays on for longer, but inevitably she pulls it off eventually too no matter how secure I think it is. At the vet’s advice, I had put her in a small room in our house yesterday with nothing to stimulate her or jump on to encourage her to rest and sleep, but after about 45 minutes I heard her practically throwing herself against the door. When I checked on her, she had managed to get one leg through the neck hole of the collar, and was nearly strangling herself, which greatly concerned me.

Thank you all for the advice so far! It definitely upsets me to see my kitty in such visible distress and discomfort with the collar, but I am trying not to let my feelings about seeing her like that sway my decision!

 

[MegShort]

Would the vet let her wear some kind of "onesie" or other type of clothing that would cover her suture location? Otherwise I agree with the others to leave the collar on. My kitty had to wear one too for 2 weeks after eye removal surgery, and she hated it as well

I really like the idea of some kind of clothing to cover the suture location. However I did already look at my local pet stores to find something like that and couldn’t find anything. That’s definitely something I could bring up with my vet and see if she has any suggestions though! Thanks!

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

TCS has an article on the e-collar, or cone, but it may or may not aid you at this point.
The Cat Cone: A Complete Owner's Guide

You can also search the site for "cone" or "e-collar", and scour the threads. Maybe some input from other members over the years could be the key to helping you?
Search Results for Query: cone | TheCatSite

I know how frustrating the e-collars are (although I've not worn one, lol!)

 

[Timmer]

I would think all the contortions she's doing to get the collar off would be more damaging. My gosh, you don't want her strangling herself.
The vet doesn't live with her and the vet isn't taking care of her. The vet has to tell you to keep the collar on because if they don't and something happens, someone would probably try to sue them. I'm sure it is for the best to keep it on, and again, I'm not telling you what to do. It seems to me that you are basically asking us for permission to leave the collar off. If you are watching the cat that's great but you do have to go to sleep and go to the bathroom and so forth, so I don't know what else to say.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I seriously think someone should submit a Cat Cone Emoji idea to the unicode people... we need a smiley with a cat wearing a cone!
Submitting Emoji Character Proposals
Emoji List, v11.0

 

[Kieka]

The medically sound and proper advice is to follow what your vet desires. There are inflatable collars that are highly recommended and cats tends to have less trouble with. There is an increase risk of infection and complications without a collar.

That said, I personally did not use a collar on my girl after her spay. She just didn't like it and the stress of it was making her sick. I was with her for the first 72 hours and kept an eye on her incision. I also inspected the incision each day and was ready to take her in if there was any problem. I had a rabbit neutered and the vet also wanted us to keep a collar on him. He also was stressed and he couldn't eat well with it on; so for him we built a yoke that wrapped around his neck and along his tummy so he could groom everywhere but his incision. He did need it because rabbits will nibble right through stitches and the risk was too great.

 

[MeganLLB]

The e-collar was an extra $25 on top of my already expensive vet bill, so I didn't buy it. Both cats were fine- a spay and a neuter.

 

[Chizzy90]

My cat just got neutered 2 days ago and they recommended the e-collar stay on for 7-10 days. My cat was so miserable with it on I decided to try and take it off 24hours later. He immediately started biting it, licking and then crying because he hurt it. I put it back on. Better safe than sorry. I just feel so awful for him.

If your doesn't seem bothered by the wound or picking at it why bother with the e-collar?

 

[MegShort]

I would think all the contortions she's doing to get the collar off would be more damaging. My gosh, you don't want her strangling herself.
The vet doesn't live with her and the vet isn't taking care of her. The vet has to tell you to keep the collar on because if they don't and something happens, someone would probably try to sue them. I'm sure it is for the best to keep it on, and again, I'm not telling you what to do. It seems to me that you are basically asking us for permission to leave the collar off. If you are watching the cat that's great but you do have to go to sleep and go to the bathroom and so forth, so I don't know what else to say.

I’m not asking for permission from anyone to do anything! Just looking for opinions and experiences of others to help me make a decision, since this is the first cat I have ever been responsible for after a spaying. Thank you for your input!

 

[MegShort]

My cat just got neutered 2 days ago and they recommended the e-collar stay on for 7-10 days. My cat was so miserable with it on I decided to try and take it off 24hours later. He immediately started biting it, licking and then crying because he hurt it. I put it back on. Better safe than sorry. I just feel so awful for him.

If your doesn't seem bothered by the wound or picking at it why bother with the e-collar?

I agree, I honestly don’t really feel like it is necessary if she’s not messing with the incision. I’ve left the collar off for almost 24 hours now, keeping a close eye on her and the incision, and she hasn’t been fussing with it at all. In fact, she’s been sleeping pretty much constantly. I just know that if I put the collar back on she would get really stressed out again and not rest at all. Thank you for your input!

I’m so sorry your kitten is having a hard time with the collar too. It’s really upsetting to see them so miserable. My vet told us to keep the collar on for two weeks! Poor kitties. I hope your kitten has a smooth and speedy recovery!

 

[Candybee]

I've had about a dozen cats during my lifetime and never had one wear a collar. Nor did I have a vet put one on the cat or recommend one. They all did just fine. Every single one.

I am the first one to tell people to follow your vets recommendations but at the same time I don't find every vet to be the end all to every situation. Sometimes you have to go with what feels right to you or get another opinion.

I can definitely see the advantages to wearing a collar after surgery and agree that it is a very good idea and most cats should do fine with it. But what to do with that one cat that goes bonkers wearing it and is more apt to endanger herself and cause more injury wearing one?

If I am in a situation that allows me to keep an eye on my cat while she is healing and if she is much calmer without the collar I personally would take it off. I take a cat's stressing out seriously and find its a very important part of the cat's well being.

 

[Yodasmom]

When my second kitty Elmo had surgery to remove what turned out to be benign lumps, they sent him home with a soft collar. For the first two days, it was fine. He didn't bother the stitches at all. On the third day, I went back to work, and when I came home, he had ripped his stitches apart. I ran him to the vet, where they put staples in instead, and explained that the stitches had started to heal and likely started to itch, which caused Elmo to go after them. They said there was NO WAY he would get the staples out. So I took him home with the soft collar still on. I left him for 20 minutes to go start dinner, as he appeared to be napping. I came back to a blood bath. He had used both his mouth and the NAILS IN HIS BACK FOOT to pop those stitches right out like a damn staple remover. We ended up at the vet again in the same night! They stapled him back up, wrapped it in a bandage, wrapped the foot he used to pull the staples out, and sent us home with a hard e-collar. He hated it but he eventually learned to endure it.

The moral of this story: If you are leaving the cat alone for any length of time, use the e-collar. Trust me on this one.

 

[1 bruce 1]

We had a cat (yes, a cat) that had double CCL or ACL tear (can't remember which) surgery, both legs done at once (personally, I don't recommend that) and he was terrified to the point of panic with a cone....he was an adult cat, so he wasn't really active, and we did opt out of the cone for him. (This cat also had a heart condition and heart problems + panic = not good.)
We were lucky enough that during all this, working from home wasn't an issue so he could be monitored.
It's a tough call. They DO make those softer cones (not hard plastic, but allows for better movement and easier resting periods) for dogs. Maybe ask your vet or check online?
Either way...this too shall pass =)

 

[lalagimp]

We sterilized Samus, Ashley, Yue, Stewart and no one wore a cone. Tommy came home from the shelter two days after his neuter, and he didn't have a cone either. No one messed with anything. We ended up keeping Stew in a big kennel for a day or so after his neuter so we could see how he'd take it because he was kind of feral. He never messed with it either, so we let him out. None of the clinics ever mentioned anything about a cone, so they weren't upselling me either.
Tommy did need a cone after reassignment surgery from his blockages last year. Fortunately my bub took it like a champ. He just navigated the entire house by swaying his head back and forth.
In medical opinion it's better to be safe than sorry, but I've never found them necessary with a neuter or spay.