Elizabethan collars on Kittens

perhaps they're blaming each other!

they've now decided they hate the sight of each other...lots of hissing and growling when they catch sight of each other ,so seperate rooms for sleeping today in case they decide to fight and damage their wounds.Its harder work than a baby ....lol

Sounds as if they are out of the huff, at least! Hope the improvement continues.

As I said, I haven't ever had cats but family members always have - I can see one of those collars working on a dog but cats always appear to be contortionists, could they get to the wound anyway even with a collar?

long haired

I've been feeding them off a wee butter dish that sits inside the collar with me and OH holding it up ,one is happy to eat from it like that the other not so much .We'll just have to keep trying.Our Tortie kitten is recovering well,she's even quite playful tonight.The white kitten needed a hernia fixed as well as spaying and she's not so good.She's long haired so I'm brushing her every hour and it seems to calm her a bit.Both asleep for now so catwatch can relax

Mine already had his cone off when the vet went to get him for me to take home and there was blood all over the place where he had loosened the stitches and licked the wound. They cleaned him up and put the cone back on. The next week was memorable - I took a week's holiday from work and stayed with him day and night. That cone was off ten times a day - one night I was so tired as I tied it back on for the umpteenth time, strangely he just gave me a puzzled look instead of going straight to the furry kitten tree he was using to get purchase for removal. As I looked again, I saw that I had put it on upside down in my exhausted state - he looked like Tim McInnerny (?) from Black Adder with the really long thin neck ?
Finally the week was over but the lovely pink and blue kitten tree had to be discarded because it was covered in blood stains ?
All in all an experience I have no wish to repeat!

I've been told by my vet that a cat’s mouth harbours one of the highest concentrations of bacteria, and its saliva is far more likely to cause an infection than to treat one.

We do take the collar off when we are sitting with them, to let them eat easily and to wash a bit after, but NOT near the wound. If they are sitting on our laps we keep it off. But back on for bed time. If they get a chance they are likely to bite the stitches out, and then they might need a further op, so it really isn't worth that risk.

One of ours had the baby gro, we kept the bottom bit undone in the day so she could go to the loo. It is a difficult time, some cats are worse than others.

I had a foster dog who self harmed as a result of being locked in, she chewed the end of her tail. Our vet fashioned a cover but she was good at getting it off and resuming tail chewing. The vet suggested I put some Vix around the tape holding the tail protector on - he said dogs hate it and won't go near it. It worked, a slight smear of Vix around the tape holding the cover and she left it alone. Tail healed, dog adopted, happy endings.

Even if they wear collars, would they lick each other anyway?
I'm not sure, I've never had a cat.

pets.thenest.com/cats-tongues-antiseptic-10786.html
Her tongue contains 'antiseptic', and apparently licking encourages blood flow and healing (according to this article)

We had a cat that injured his tail and had to have most of it amputated. I collected him, still groggy, from the vet, took him home with his collar on but then had to leave him to collect my husband from work. We came home to find him going absolutely frantic, staggering around and desperately trying to escape the collar. He was so distressed that we took it off immediately and didn't put it back on. We watched to make sure that he didn't lick the wound, mainly so that he wouldn't pick the stitches out. He loosened one a bit but by then it was more or less healed.
His brother later had to have his whole tail amputated due to a tumour. He was a bit more tolerant of the collar, but we gave him a smaller dish to eat from and made sure that the dish fitted inside the circumference of the collar. We started taking it off much earlier than the vet had said and he took very little notice of the wound.
Covering the wound with a babygro might have suited them better, but a bit of a problem when it would have had to cover the tail area!
Both cats recovered well and the lack of tail was no hindrance to their quality of life - better without the pain, I think.

Cats will survive being in a huff, they may not survive an infection they contract. Listen to your vet's advice.

Collars both been off twice today ,cats in a huff! Wont even look at each other never mind me .I may take the collars off ,as someone else said cats never wore these years ago and didn't get infections .I'll give it to the end of today before decidingOn a positive note the scars are clean and look as if they are healing well .
We took them back to the vet this morning after the great escape and she was very firm about the collars staying on

I would try bandaging the operation scar with a soft elasticated crepe bandage until I could get hold of the vet.

I haven't had a female cat neutered for years, back then nothing was put on them and there was no bother with the scar either.

You certainly don't want to risk the kitten strangling herself overnight be wriggling half out of the collar.

I suppose you could try making a soft roll out of disposable dishcloths and tying it round her neck instead of the collar.

Good luck. And yes, she will forgive you in time, but be prepared it can take up to three weeks to obtain a determined cat's forgivness!

DH, retired vet says he NEVER used these collars on cats he had spayed. Mind you, he prided himself on his operating technique - only needed one stitch!

As a former cat owner, can I say how much I'm enjoying this thread. The discussions are interesting and the photos are brilliant. Thank you!

If it's any consolation, many years ago we had a female kitten spayed, no collars were issued in those days. She pulled her stitches out within a few hours of getting her home. Emergency visit to the vet who tried to close the wound with steristrips but she had them off pretty quickly too. Vet then said not to worry! The wound healed very fast and was absolutely fine; never caused any problems. I wouldn't worry too much; animals, especially young ones, have great self healing powers. Licking the wound will help to keep it clean.

Not the same animal , of course, but I have a horse who managed to cut himself very deeply (you could practically put a hand in the wound) on his chest where it was impossible to keep it covered. We cleaned it daily, he licked it furiously all the time it was healing and, apart from a scar, it healed beautifully with no ill effects at all.

thanks ladies,Houdini one and two both had the collars off this morning and even escaped the cage I was advised to put the in to sleep.they were in hiding and it took me lierally an hour to find them both.One needed the plinth removed from the kitchen cupboard to get at her .Collars back on,we've been to the vet to get the wounds checked and they're fine.It will be a very long week.Might have to find a shop that sells very small babygrows

When my cats were 'done' the vet supplied a bitter substance to paint around the scar so that they wouldn't lick it. Worked fine!
Depending on the position of the stitches you could buy a dog T shirt which covers them. My Bugsie had a gash stitched on his side and wore one with no complaint, but it would need to be longer to do the job for your cats.

Maw Gracie .
How did you keep that lovely carpet clean?

My kittens were spayed and neutered in October. Lupin collar was off by the time we got home! Tried several times to get her to keep it on no luck. Keep her quiet they said!! Again I had no luck with this as she leapt like a gazelle off my bed. Her wound check went absolutely fine no swelling so I’m glad I reduced her stress levels by keeping it off bless her.

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Dear Gracie wore the cone of shame on more than one occasion and long pointy noses are even more difficult to restrain so it had to be huge She was exceedingly unhappy.
Your kitten not being able to wash herself is of course the point of it , or she could worry her stitches. The babygro option is generally popular for small animals or the soft inflatable version. She will forgive you, eventually !

Lol Iam64 , cone of shame ! That’s what we call them ... Disney’s Up ??

We have always used t shirts or in one case of a tummy op, their walking coat as it totally covered the tummy !

I feel your pain Paddyann when he was done Sam , our little dog , kept falling over because he couldn’t judge spaces with it on. Hope you find a solution that works for the kittens .

Go back to your vet. My big dog had to stay in the plastic cone of shame because she could get her head round the more comfortable ones like the one in the pic Anja posted. With smaller dogs, I've found baby grows work well to prevent them scratching at wounds