Stray kitty with a broken tail

OwnedByScout

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We recently came across a stray kitty with a broken tail. We started feeding her and then yesterday we finally got her operated, for the severed tail and her spaying. We are doing the post-op care for her at home since the hospital was full and didn't have space in their facility. As of now she is isolated in one of the rooms in the house. We tried putting a cone on her but she stopped eating right after. Without the cone, she tends to lick the wounded area and even bit off some of the stitches. How important is the cone? the stitches have not come off.
 

Norachan

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Hi OwnedByScout OwnedByScout Thank you so much for helping her.

Yeah, if she's trying to pull the stitches out it's better to keep the cone on her. Cats can lick a wound until it opens up again, and then she'd need to go back to the vet, so it's best if you can stop her from doing this.

It is difficult for cats to eat with the cone at first. What I've found is that when they lower their heads to eat the cone touches the floor and then they can't get their mouth low enough to take a bite. Could you try offering her some food in different bowls? Try an elevated bowl, balanced on top of a can or something, or a very wide flat bowl.

Is she tame enough to hand feed? If she'll accept treats from your fingers or canned food from the end of a spoon that might work.

Keep us posted, I hope she recovers from her surgery soon.

:vibes::vibes::vibes:
 
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OwnedByScout

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Thank you. With the cone on, she kept loosing her balance and she stopped eating. I raised the bowls to a height where she can eat by sitting in front of it, but she did not take to that. Since she is on antibiotics and she needs to eat well, I finally gave in and removed the cone. The vet has also asked us not to remove the cone, but she is miserable in that.

I think my stress and fears started rubbing on her so I'm taking a break and my wife is watching her now. A few minutes after I left the room, she came out and ate. I'm the bad cop today :(
 

CarmiesMom

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try taking the cone off let her eat drink go potty then after say an hour put the cone back on do this 3-4 times a day it might work cant hurt much but the more imited time with out the cne will encourage her to eat and then the time in the cone will keep her from licking incisions.
 
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OwnedByScout

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Yes that's the plan. She again attacked the incision stitches so the cone is back on.
 

shadowsrescue

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I had a stray cat a few years ago that needed an extensive surgery. He too had to wear a cone. It was so very very hard. The cat was very stressed out by the cone and my emotions made it worse. I had my DH take over. Things greatly improved!

I also bought a soft sided cone for him. It was like a blow up donut. He was much more comfortable with the soft side cone. The down side was that he could get it off. I only allowed him to wear the soft side cone when one of us could watch him. At night the hard shell cone from the vet was put back on. My DH also slept in the room with this cat for 2 weeks.

I used to take the cone off completely while he was eating. I just had to watch him carefully. If he tried to get towards his back end to lick, I gave a warning and then next time the cone went back on.

I also found it helpful to take daily pictures of the incision.

Cones are very difficult, yet on the flip side, surgeries are not cheap. It's better to endure the few weeks with a cone then have to take her back to the vet for more care and then also start all over again.
 

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Cones are so awful! A short time ago, I helped a friend who adopted a cat that underwent entropion surgery which entailed stitches under his eye. This cat got the plastic cone off at the vets when we went to pick him up. Two seconds after they put him in the carrier to go home, he had the cone off again. When we got him home and put the cone back on, he got his arm caught through the opening in an attempt to get it off. If we had not been right there, he would have been in trouble as he couldn't walk.

We tried a soft cloth cone after that without luck, and were about to purchase a donut-shaped cone that shadowsrescue mentions in the post above, but worried that he could hurt his eye trying to escape from almost any cone as he worked so hard to get it off over his head.
Because my friend and I are both retired, we decided to give up on a cone and we took turns watching him almost 24/7! The vet had asked for the cone to be on a minimum of a week and we were able to monitor him carefully for about that long. He just had his follow up visit and all is well.

I know cones are important after surgery and I realize we were very lucky to be able to avoid one in this case. Perhaps a cloth cone or a donut-shaped blow-up one would be worth a try. Some are carried in pet stores and many are available on Amazon and Chewy. Good luck with your cat and hopefully the days with the cone will pass quickly!
 
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OwnedByScout

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Cones are very difficult, yet on the flip side, surgeries are not cheap. It's better to endure the few weeks with a cone then have to take her back to the vet for more care and then also start all over again.
So true! For now, she seems to have taken a shine to my wife. During the day she spends the most time with her. Today is day #2, only 5 more to go! When she starts mewing, we let her in our balcony to get some fresh air (without letting her jump since she is also freshly spayed). Then she comes inside by herself and then we remove the cone, let her eat and use the poo box. Then my wife gives her lots of pets and scritches :) and then the cone goes back on.

Feeding her meds has been a challenge. Its liquid meds and she hates the taste. And she is strong!! Hoping we get through this okay 🤞
 
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OwnedByScout

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Cones are so awful! A short time ago, I helped a friend who adopted a cat that underwent entropion surgery which entailed stitches under his eye. This cat got the plastic cone off at the vets when we went to pick him up. Two seconds after they put him in the carrier to go home, he had the cone off again. When we got him home and put the cone back on, he got his arm caught through the opening in an attempt to get it off. If we had not been right there, he would have been in trouble as he couldn't walk.

We tried a soft cloth cone after that without luck, and were about to purchase a donut-shaped cone that shadowsrescue mentions in the post above, but worried that he could hurt his eye trying to escape from almost any cone as he worked so hard to get it off over his head.
Because my friend and I are both retired, we decided to give up on a cone and we took turns watching him almost 24/7! The vet had asked for the cone to be on a minimum of a week and we were able to monitor him carefully for about that long. He just had his follow up visit and all is well.

I know cones are important after surgery and I realize we were very lucky to be able to avoid one in this case. Perhaps a cloth cone or a donut-shaped blow-up one would be worth a try. Some are carried in pet stores and many are available on Amazon and Chewy. Good luck with your cat and hopefully the days with the cone will pass quickly!
Cones are awful but the one that the one I got from a nearby pet store was even worse! It had some weird hook and loop thing which wouldn't go or be removed quickly. I got another one that has velcro and that is much better. It fits her neck size better and is really easy to put on and remove it.

As long as the cone is off, we don't let our eyes off her. She eventually reaches the tail to bite off the stitches. Apart from the medicine feeding, she has realised that the cone isn't too bad. Though she still hates it, its better than when we tried putting it on the first day. I think the absence of the tail and the cone completely threw her off-balance.
 

Joelle and the kittens

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Kittens seem a lot more adaptable to cones than adult cats for sure. After Grey Kitten's enucleation her biggest cone struggle was that it was almost too heavy for her little neck to lift up, plus it was deep enough that it would drag on the floor if she lowered her head at all. Here she is the first day playing with a new mouse wand toy:

She did seem to get the hang of things in a couple days and even improvised using the cone to "shovel" things (like the mouse toy which was quickly separated from the wand).

Still had difficulties with coordination though lol:
 
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OwnedByScout

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It took a day for my foster to adapt to the cone. She is okay now. Took her to the vet again yesterday. The stitches are almost dry though he asked my leave the cone on for another 3 days. Thanks to your positive energy, she is doing much better now :thanks:
 
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