ecollar

So Cloud, my male cat, just got neutered. He stayed overnight and came home today with the cone of shame.  It is bugging him like crazy which I can deal with. What I can't deal with is him putting the cone into his poop.  It's bad enough that I am often having to clean his bum.  And I certainly don't mind cleaning his bum while he recovers from the neutering.  But I do not like finding him with his cone covered in poo.  Anyone been there, done that? Any suggestions? Vet says the cone will be on for 10 days.  Ugh.

Of course I would follow what the vet said but...
10 days seems a long time, especially for male cats. Did you ask him, why so long? Was the neutering complicated? (I've TNRd a number of male cats and, granted, these are feral/stray cats, but male cats can be released the same day or at the most the next day. Obviously, self-dissolving stitches and no cone.)

Yeah that seems to be a very long time. I'd call the vet back to verify those instruction and tell them of the hygiene issue. They will probably tell you you can remove it as long as you watch him and not let him mess with the wound. I've just has food issues on my cats e collar luckily no poop.

My cat has had an e-collar on and off since april  due to a ongoing issue, but I've never had issues with poop on the collar. If you know his habits such as he always goes after he eats, or you see him heading for the box take the collar off if you can.

I agree that 10 days is an awful long time for a male neuter to wear a collar. I'd say 2-3 days at the most unless they the vet didn't use dissolvable stitches.

Again this morning, poor little Cloud got poop all over his collar. We took it off and disinfected it and let him have some time to stretch and clean under watchful eye.  He was so happy to have the darned thing off and fell asleep.  We called the vet and the vet said 10 days.  We put it back on when Cloud woke up.  I ordered a few other ecollars (one soft, one rigid but shorter).  Will try those on when they arrive.  No way I'm going to make it 10 days.  It just seems absurd to me.

Cats do adjust. At least mine has, he's had his on for 3 weeks in a row after one of the surgeries. Now he has his on for 4-6 weeks! Long story but if you're curious why theres a thread here.http://www.thecatsite.com/t/282195/theodore-has-taken-a-turn-for-the-worst-advice-please That explains why he has to have it on so long.

Unless he was cryptorchid, I don't see why he would need one on for so long. In my experiences they don't even use sutures in cat neuters. This is a male cat right? Anyway, won't tell you to disregard your vets advice but do make sure you talk to your vet yourself and make sure the vet knows the situation because often the cat can be released by a clueless tech. So, talk to your vet. Also mention the feces on the cone. If you must keep a cone on him get him an inflatable one. They sell them at various pet stores. They are like inflatable donuts that come in a variety of sizes that Velcro on. Also if you use a covered litter pan take the cover off.  

Thank you for all of your advice.  We are on day 3 since Cloud has come home and he has had feces on his cone every day.  I did get another smaller cone that at least allows me to take off the larger cone and disinfect it. He prefers the smaller cone and so far hasn't been able to lick his wound with it but he did get it off once. So we are using the smaller one when one of us is around and the larger one when Cloud is by himself.  I have just come to expect feces on the cone and I will just deal with it. He is still quite swollen and will lick it when we give him a break from the cone so we plan to keep it on for 7 days (but probably not 10). 

To help anyone else out reading this, the shorter cone we got is this: We got Cloud a size small which just fits him.  He is just 6 months old.