When Do Cats Need An E-collar?

[notmoose]

I got my cat spayed yesterday and she's been chewing on the longer threads of the stitches every now and then. It's not constant, I've been keeping a close eye on het and seen her do it maybe twice?

Im not sure whether to put an Elizabeth collar on her. Everything I've read about cats and e-collars make it seem like it's a last resort - when the cat is always irritating the wound. That's not the case with my cat. It's just sometimes (that I know of) and the incision site or whatever it's called looks fine.

 

[abyeb]

According to this article: The Cat Cone: A Complete Owner's Guide, vets do usually like to use an E-Collar on cats as only a last resort, because it’s uncomfortable and can be stressful. It’s okay if cats lick the incision, as long as they’re not pulling out or chewing on the suture.

 

[Stinky15]

When my cat had surgery I used an E-collar when I wasn't around but when I was where I could watch him I cut up an old T-shirt in the shape of an H and tied it around him. That worked for a pretty good while, then he figured out how to take it off. I tried a "suitical" recovery suit but it was too small.

 

[duckpond]

Personally i advise keep that collar on for the first 14 days or so. A cat can do a whole lot of damage to a spay site, very quickly! Only takes a few minutes. They dont like it, true. But they do adjust, and its honestly a lot safer for them.

 

[amethyst]

I've never had to use an e-collar on any of my cats (I currently have 10). Although I'm with them all the time, a couple of them I even slept in the room with them. If you can keep an eye on them I don't think an e-collar is needed unless the cat is really bothering the site, actually pulls stitches, or the area is getting red, swollen, or is oozing. Most cats will lick a little, which is normal it's itchy as it heals, and they are keeping the area clean, but they shouldn't be allowed to lick a lot.

 

[lalagimp]

I have only used an e collar on my pets twice. Once, when my rat had a growth removed on his tummy, and even then I put velcro on it and would take it off for Go Be Yourself supervised time and routine grooming until he would start to fuss with it, and then I could put the collar back on. I did this with him several times a day. The other time was when Tommy had PU surgery to reassign his urethra. I have never had it on a kitten/cat after a spay or neuter. Even with Stewart, who was semi feral and nearly full grown, pulled from the streets. I left him in the kennel for the first day after his neuter to see how he was taking it, and then I let him out. No one has ever messed with it, and never has a clinic recommended the collar. Make sure though that you do get pain meds. Some places make it optional, and it really shouldn't be an optional cost.

 

[calikitteh]

I know ferals do fine healing from these surgeries all the time but my sister's cat pulled out her stitches after spaying...scary, gruesome, and expensive... so when our 1st foster started licking her spay incision we put a collar on her. She went wild for about 10 minutes trying to get it off and then settled down.

We recently had one of our foster fails neutered. He had some kind of bad reaction to the anesthesia and we were afraid he would hurt the incision site so we put the collar on him as well. He went BONKERS, throwing himself against walls etc to try and get it off but calmed down after 20 minutes. Every time we would take it off, he would go straight to lick the tattoo or incision site so we kept it on for the better part of 5 days and then monitored him.

One more surgery coming up for our 2nd foster fail and I am really hoping she does not continue the trend of going insane with the cone. I'm too scared to risk that she will injure herself at the incision site to go without it.

 

[lutece]

It depends. For a spay (or other abdominal surgery), if there are external stitches I always use the cone. Nearly always, spays will be fine without a cone... but there is always the possibility that they will suddenly decide to rip out stitches. A motivated cat can do this very fast, and in the case of abdominal surgery, this is not something I want to risk.

If there are internal stitches with just glue at the surface, without any external stitches for the cat to mess with, I don't think it is so easy for them to remove their own stitches. So in this case I watch the cat like a hawk, and as long as they seem to be leaving the area alone, I might only put on the cone if I have to leave them alone for a while.

I don't use a cone for neuters unless they start messing with the surgical site. If they mess with the site (occasionally a cat will do that), then I take them to the vet to get cleaned up, and then they must wear the cone until it is healed.

I have a bunch of different cones that I have used... Some cats go nuts with certain types of cones but not others. Some are really good at getting the cone off, or getting around the cone. A different type of cone can help. I actually prefer the simple clear plastic cones, but some cats do ok in a soft cone.