I just rescued two cats whose owner passed away last month. They had been alone in the house for 6 weeks after the owner was rushed to the ER, and died a few weeks later. The neighbor had a key and so was coming in daily to change food, water and scoop box, but the cats were hiding from her.
One of the cats has completely denuded her belly, under the tail area, and has done quite a job on her tail and four legs. I'm giving her calming botanicals (which she loves - she laps it up right out of my hand!) but she was still chewing away. No doubt she's stressed and at this point, it's a HABIT, like chewing fingernails. My coworker suggested a cone. What a genius! I had one at home and put it on her - she got it unlatched in under five minutes (we suspect she's had cone experience previously) and so I used pieces of duct tape over the tabs when I re-applied the cone. That was Friday - I plan on removing it tonight for a bit to see how she does. She will have to wear it while unsupervised, I figure, for a while. I know she's been through a lot - 6 weeks alone after her mom died, a LONG trip to her new home (they lived in Florida - they made a trip to Maryland in 2 days last weekend) and I have four resident cats, so there's an adjustment challenge there.
The cone doesn't really seem to bother her - she can eat, drink, and I have a great stool with a cushion she has taken to resting on. It's said that it takes 3 weeks to break a habit...in the meantime, her hair will have a chance to grow back! Better than having a bald kitty.
One of the cats has completely denuded her belly, under the tail area, and has done quite a job on her tail and four legs. I'm giving her calming botanicals (which she loves - she laps it up right out of my hand!) but she was still chewing away. No doubt she's stressed and at this point, it's a HABIT, like chewing fingernails. My coworker suggested a cone. What a genius! I had one at home and put it on her - she got it unlatched in under five minutes (we suspect she's had cone experience previously) and so I used pieces of duct tape over the tabs when I re-applied the cone. That was Friday - I plan on removing it tonight for a bit to see how she does. She will have to wear it while unsupervised, I figure, for a while. I know she's been through a lot - 6 weeks alone after her mom died, a LONG trip to her new home (they lived in Florida - they made a trip to Maryland in 2 days last weekend) and I have four resident cats, so there's an adjustment challenge there.
The cone doesn't really seem to bother her - she can eat, drink, and I have a great stool with a cushion she has taken to resting on. It's said that it takes 3 weeks to break a habit...in the meantime, her hair will have a chance to grow back! Better than having a bald kitty.