e-collar help

I just brought my 5.5 month kitten home from being spayed. She's pretty groggy but the biggest problem is the cone.

I've had her home a half hour and she's already gotten her mouth stuck twice. She's lies down and puts all her weight in her paws, pushing it to get it off. She gets it stuck in her mouth so her jaw is forced open.

Each time I took it off to fix it, she started licking at herself right away.

I really don't feel comfortable leaving her in this cone. I work tomorrow and nobody is home to supervise. What if she gets it stuck in her mouth again? The vet told me it's best to leave it on but I'm freaking out over the thought of something happening to her when I'm gone.

Can I cut it down a bit so more of her face is out bug she can't lick? Because she can't walk in it either.

If she is licking, it is imperative that she wear something to keep her from bothering her incision site (licking, biting and/or chewing WILL cause the area to get infected.)

Have you tried tightening the collar? Perhaps it's a bit too loose.

Some people have made their own collars out of strong posterboard. There are also inflatable e-collars available at some pet stores (usually in the dog section.)

As to can you cut the collar...it's not something I advize. The vet fit her to that particular collar for a reason.
But, if you do, you would need to make absolute certain she could not contort herself in some way to lick her stomach. Kittens are extremely flexible and limber, so you would need to bend her over and make *absolute* certain she cannot reach.

Also, make sure there are no sharp edges.

And, it's likely she can't walk in it because she is still groggy and is having trouble getting her bearings with the collar on.

I just went through this with my boy Tripper!  What worked for me is using a tape measure and measure the neck size.  Then fastening the collar to that size.  Prior to that, my boy got out of it at least 3 times, 2 of the times with his paw stuck in the neck area.