My Cat Will NOT Wear Her Cone, PLEASE HELP

3kittybuns

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Mar 2, 2021
Messages
14
Purraise
9
My 11 month old cat just got spayed today, and everything has been fine up until she had to take her medicine. She completely went ballistic and started jumping and running around the room, and her cone ripped off. I’ve been trying to get it on her but she REFUSES to put it on and every time I try she gets aggressive or tries to jump away again. I’m scared to try anything since I don’t want her stitches to open, but I have no clue what to do. Right now she’s just sleeping normally without her cone on. And has shown no interest in her surgery site but I rather be safe than sorry.
 

Attachments

silent meowlook

TCS Member
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Nov 10, 2014
Messages
3,413
Purraise
6,405
Hi. So, you never want any treatment to hurt the cat and her jumping around and freaking out is way worse than skipping a dose of medicine.
What is the name of the medicine?
If she is sleeping, I would leave her alone. Just watch her to be sure she doesn’t pull her sutures out tonight and call your vet in the morning and ask what you should do.
I can’t advise if she is okay with the cone or not because I don’t know what kind of sutures they used or the pattern.
So, call in the morning. No more fighting with her tonight. You don’t want her to hurt herself or ruin your relationship with her.
Do keep her inside.
 

Catwoman1985

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 23, 2021
Messages
27
Purraise
23
Do you have anything to wrap her up like a tiny shirt not all pets like clothes but if she tolerates it be good to keep her from messing with the stitches I use to have a cat name nacho who loved to wear clothes and sunglasses lol but if you keep a eye on her she probably won’t mess with the stitches
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

3kittybuns

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Mar 2, 2021
Messages
14
Purraise
9
Hi. So, you never want any treatment to hurt the cat and her jumping around and freaking out is way worse than skipping a dose of medicine.
What is the name of the medicine?
If she is sleeping, I would leave her alone. Just watch her to be sure she doesn’t pull her sutures out tonight and call your vet in the morning and ask what you should do.
I can’t advise if she is okay with the cone or not because I don’t know what kind of sutures they used or the pattern.
So, call in the morning. No more fighting with her tonight. You don’t want her to hurt herself or ruin your relationship with her.
Do keep her inside.
Hi! She’s currently taking liquid gabapentin, I got a small amount in her. I also just got the cone back on, but how do I keep her from freaking out and breaking out of it again? She has it on but she’s still walking backwards and shaking her head around.
 

Catwoman1985

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 23, 2021
Messages
27
Purraise
23
My nacho did the same thing with his cone when he had to get his eye removed years back poor thing had a hard time with using the litter box and all he got poo everywhere I just let him have it off it was like a plastic cloth cone not sure if your is the hard plastic one or not so what I did was I let him have it off and watched what he did closely for a good 3 hours and he didn’t touch his face not one time he just slept and cuddled With everyone and that’s how I knew he would not touch his stitches but I constantly checked on him to see if his eye and stitches were good from time to time I know I have a cat now that I adopted last year and she had been spayed and came home with no cone she never touched her stitches it all depends on the cat and if you still feel uneasy talk to your vet about this issue they may get her a different cone or give your kitty a type of calming medication by the way they have calming collars if your interested in one you could ask your vet for one as well
 

Neko-chan's mama

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Jul 13, 2019
Messages
1,002
Purraise
1,764
Location
New Jersey
Neko-chan refused to wear her come too after her spay. I bought a 5 pack of onesies and cut a hole in the bottom for her tail and so she could use the litter box. She didn't love it, but when we tried to take it off, she went for her stiches.
 

di and bob

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
16,582
Purraise
22,957
Location
Nebraska, USA
I have had MANY cats spayed and have not had a cone on any of them. They never had pain meds either and acted tired but normal. If she ignores the site and just licks it occasionally, ask your vet if you can leave it off. The pain med is probably not necessary either if she doesn't show signs of pain, like hiding and not eating/drinking. Monitor her movements. If you want to continue the meds or have an antibiotic, get some liquid cat treat in the pouches, like Hartz Delectable Lickables in the stew flavors, and mix it in a small portion of that, or some tuna juice.
 

ArtNJ

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jun 1, 2017
Messages
5,485
Purraise
6,957
Apparently in Europe they don't do the cone at all apparently. Getting the darn thing back on is an age old problem. You mostly just need to monitor how focused the cat is on licking and especially biting at it, and check the incision for problems.
 

susanm9006

Willow
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 20, 2011
Messages
13,152
Purraise
30,219
Location
Minnesota
Back in the years when I had cats young enough to spay, vets never required cones and never gave pain meds. I would never deny a medication to keep the cat out of pain but if it stresses them or makes them fight too much it may not be worth it. I would give her a breather, let her rest and see how she is when she wakes up. I have had to remove a cone from cat that just went insane with it on. That left it up to me to be the preventer of too much licking but it did work out okay.
 

Astragal14

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Jun 19, 2021
Messages
239
Purraise
300
We had success using a baby onesie, which our cat didn't like but he also didn't completely hate it as much as the various cones we tried. Plus, his dislike of the onesie kept him from moving around and jumping too much.
 

Hellenww

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Mar 5, 2018
Messages
1,036
Purraise
1,533
Location
South Jersey, USA
My youngest is almost 15 so never had to deal with a cone. Our Yoshi takes Liquid gabapentin for arthritis. I just put it in his wet food. The liquid meds are usually meat flavored so it's not a bad smell. You can just put down a spoon of food with the meds in it, then give her the rest of her meal.
 

silent meowlook

TCS Member
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Nov 10, 2014
Messages
3,413
Purraise
6,405
I have had MANY cats spayed and have not had a cone on any of them. They never had pain meds either and acted tired but normal. If she ignores the site and just licks it occasionally, ask your vet if you can leave it off. The pain med is probably not necessary either if she doesn't show signs of pain, like hiding and not eating/drinking. Monitor her movements. If you want to continue the meds or have an antibiotic, get some liquid cat treat in the pouches, like Hartz Delectable Lickables in the stew flavors, and mix it in a small portion of that, or some tuna juice.
Cats have the same pain receptors that people do. They just don’t demonstrate pain the same way. So if something is painful for us it is painful for them regardless of us being aware. Give the pain meds. The Gabapentin will also keep the cat calmer. I wouldn’t bother with the cone provided you can watch the cat. And please don’t use any Harts product ever.
 

Aunt Elainey

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Jun 27, 2021
Messages
6
Purraise
1
We had success using a baby onesie, which our cat didn't like but he also didn't completely hate it as much as the various cones we tried. Plus, his dislike of the onesie kept him from moving around and jumping too much.
 

Aunt Elainey

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Jun 27, 2021
Messages
6
Purraise
1
No flames, please!! I had my cat spayed a week ago and she wouldn't wear the cone either. For 2 or 3 days, every time I saw her scratch or bite at the incision, I put a little Neosporin or Vicks Vapor Rub on the site, and after a few days, she seemed much less interested in poking at it. That may or may not help but it worked well for me!🙂🙋‍♀️❤
 

Cat McCannon

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Mar 28, 2021
Messages
919
Purraise
2,233
Every situation is different. When we had Belle spayed, the cone lasted thirty seconds. Her fighting it would have caused her more harm than licking the cut. We kept her close and discouraged her from licking. After awhile, she left it alone and it healed fine. The vet used Superglue instead of stitches.

There are substitutes for the cone. One is the onesey mentioned earlier. Another is an inflatable collar that's much more comfortable for a cat or dog than a cone.
 

silent meowlook

TCS Member
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Nov 10, 2014
Messages
3,413
Purraise
6,405
No flames, please!! I had my cat spayed a week ago and she wouldn't wear the cone either. For 2 or 3 days, every time I saw her scratch or bite at the incision, I put a little Neosporin or Vicks Vapor Rub on the site, and after a few days, she seemed much less interested in poking at it. That may or may not help but it worked well for me!🙂🙋‍♀️❤
Hi, not flaming you. But.....menthol is toxic to cats. Also the fumes from it could burn her eyes and inflame her nasal passages.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #17

3kittybuns

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Mar 2, 2021
Messages
14
Purraise
9
We had success using a baby onesie, which our cat didn't like but he also didn't completely hate it as much as the various cones we tried. Plus, his dislike of the onesie kept him from moving around and jumping too much.
IT WORKED! We ordered her a recovery suit off Amazon, and she loves it.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #18

3kittybuns

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Mar 2, 2021
Messages
14
Purraise
9
Do you have anything to wrap her up like a tiny shirt not all pets like clothes but if she tolerates it be good to keep her from messing with the stitches I use to have a cat name nacho who loved to wear clothes and sunglasses lol but if you keep a eye on her she probably won’t mess with the stitches
I have been cutting up some of my old shirts to make her a recovery suit, her new one from Amazon came in today!
 

DreamerRose

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 11, 2015
Messages
8,744
Purraise
11,085
Location
Naperville, IL
I'm so glad you found something that worked. I agree with everyone about the cone. They are the pits. When Lily had one because of the claw she tore off, it was so heavy she couldn't lift her head and had to walk backwards, dragging it behind her. I was so grieved for her I took it off and the claw healed just fine.
 
Top