E-collar consideration after spaying operation?

dr. doolittle

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Try raising her dishes up a little. Use an empty margerine container or other empty dish turned upside down underneath her regular dish. You can secure them together with duct tape- (good ol Red Green eh?
). Also keep her water dish full to the brim. Doing this will make it easier for her to eat and drink.
 
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bikeman

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Originally Posted by Dr. Doolittle

Try raising her dishes up a little. Use an empty margerine container or other empty dish turned upside down underneath her regular dish. You can secure them together with duct tape- (good ol Red Green eh?
). Also keep her water dish full to the brim. Doing this will make it easier for her to eat and drink.
Yup, and thanks! We do keep the water full, and it is up off the floor 4 inches. We began doing that a couple years ago when we noticed our senior cats straining a bit to lean down for water. One of them also used her paw.

but.....

We have noticed just yesterday that the area below her stitches, there is a grape-sized bulge. She might have had that when we brought her home a week ago, but just noticed it now. Called the vet about the bulge. They were clueless. That vet is always clueless, which is why we're changing to another one.

Could that be swelling from the operation 7 days later? Should we be overly concerned? She seems perky as normal (except for her disdain for the stupid collar), and is in no more pain (probably). They see her to remove the outer stitches in a weeks time.

Do they fold over the inner area before they stitch up the incisions? Could that be what's causing this bulge?
 

g&g's mom

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In 23 years we've had over 20 cats through our house at one time or another (not including kittens) and never had to use the collar, in fact most of our cats would disown us if we made them wear the things.

The bulge might be a few things, and you definitly need to get it checked out if for no other reason then it could be a small tumor. I've never noticed my cats having a bulge after being fixed.
 

pat

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Originally Posted by Bikeman

We have noticed just yesterday that the area below her stitches, there is a grape-sized bulge. She might have had that when we brought her home a week ago, but just noticed it now. Called the vet about the bulge. They were clueless. That vet is always clueless, which is why we're changing to another one.

Could that be swelling from the operation 7 days later? Should we be overly concerned? She seems perky as normal (except for her disdain for the stupid collar), and is in no more pain (probably). They see her to remove the outer stitches in a weeks time.

Do they fold over the inner area before they stitch up the incisions? Could that be what's causing this bulge?
It is best to call your vet, but in my many years of owning cats and seeing them through their spays, I have seen this kind of swelling at either end of the incision or even more central. In the cases where I've seen it, it has simply been bruising postop.
 

kiaira

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Depending on the situation, I am a fan of E-collars.

We don't send E-collars home with all animals; however, in some cases it's necessary.
After a surgery is completed, we monitor whether or not an animal is licking (and to what level) or biting the incision site. Based off our findings, if we feel it's necessary for the safety of the animal to wear one, we send one home with the owner.

However, even when we don't find that an animal has been at his/her incision site at the clinic, we will still mention the option to the owner if they feel concerned about their cat's personality regarding the incision site. It may be based off of previous experiences or that they feel their cat may be a "licker/biter" when it comes to things such as that. They know how their animal reacts in his/her own environment and may feel more comfortable having one at home just in case. At that point, we allow them to take one home and keep it on hand in case a problem arises.

Generally, if we feel an animal needs to wear an E-collar due to harmful licking/biting, we recommend the owner keep it on at all times (until the sutures are removed) unless they can carefully supervise the animal and quickly stop harmful behaviour if it should arise. If an animal can have the collar removed to eat without incidence, it's great for him/her. However, if that's not possible, raising the dishes (as others have mentioned) can help.

Again, we don't send a lot of animals home with E-collars as we generally find they aren't needed; however, there are definitely cases when they are necessary. Although most animals recover just wonderfully without an E-collar, I have seen a few cases where it became an unfortunate problem when a recommendation for one was made but declined by the owner.

Anyway, sorry for the long post. Bikeman, I hope your kitty makes a speedy recovery.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by Bikeman

We have noticed just yesterday that the area below her stitches, there is a grape-sized bulge. She might have had that when we brought her home a week ago, but just noticed it now. Called the vet about the bulge. They were clueless. That vet is always clueless, which is why we're changing to another one.

Could that be swelling from the operation 7 days later? Should we be overly concerned? She seems perky as normal (except for her disdain for the stupid collar), and is in no more pain (probably). They see her to remove the outer stitches in a weeks time.

Do they fold over the inner area before they stitch up the incisions? Could that be what's causing this bulge?
Cable & Java had this, too, but my vet said it was normal. i can't remember how long after the surgery it showed up, but their tummies were still naked....
 
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bikeman

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Thanks Par & Alix and laureen227 for commenting on the bulge. It is good to know that the situation is fairly normal. I hope the grape-sized lump will go away eventually.

She has been wearing the e-collar 24/7 for eight days now, and has learned to use it to intimidate the elder cat. And she's used to it. It also help keep her warm on these cold nights when we have the heat turned down. On rare occasions, we take it off so she can groom herself. We just don't want the chance of disrupting the area - or the cost of getting it all fixed plus the extra time for additional recovery.

Six more collar days remain. Poor thing.
 

loraandjeff

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Hi Bikeman, my little girl Cosmo got one of those lumps too nearly a week after her spay, the vet told me it was totally normal (since it wasn't red) and would go away. And it did, I seem to recall it took a couple days, but it did go away.

And just so you don't feel bad....I've had cats my whole life and never had to put Happy Hats on them (that's what my vet calls them LOL), but Duke & Cosmo were both done at 4.5 months when Cosmo went into heat early. And BOTH of them had to wear the hats because they just wouldn't leave their incisions alone.

Here's a pic of them "consoling" each other when they got home.


Lora
 

dr. doolittle

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As long as that swelling is not hot and red, and as long is it is firm and not squishy, it is normal. It is probably just a reaction to the suture material. It should go away over time.
 
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bikeman

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Junebug reluctantly was crammed, e-collar and all, into the carrier this morning and went on the dizzying snowy drive to get her stitches out.

The stitch removal was quick, with a little cleaning up with alcohol required. The lumpy swelling is mostly down. She needs some medicine for a possible infection at the wound area, but all in all, her (and ours) ordeal is behind her.

We have a normal jumpy and happy kitten again.
 

faithfor4

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I realize these are very old posts, but I appreciate that they are still on the site! Just spayed my mama cat and they sent her home with an e-collar. She hates it and keeps taking it off! I am worried she will mess with her stitches but after reading these posts I am thinking I will just keep an eye on her. Its causing her too much stress.
 

flowerdew

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The emergency vet here told me I could try putting a clean, soft cotton thing like a t-shirt on my kitten when she kept fighting with her cone. They recommended a baby's onesie. I didn't have one handy, and I suspected that my kitten was too small for that anyway, but I did make her a kind of tank dress out of the sleeve of an old long-sleeved cotton t-shirt. I cut little holes for her front legs and she looked very stylish for about two days, and was relatively happy that way. After that, she figured out her way around the dress and so the cone had to go back on, and she had to keep it on for around two weeks or so. But if your cat is a little determined but not a lot about getting to her stitches, this might work for you.
 

faithfor4

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That's a great suggestion! I will try that if she messes with it. Thank you!
 
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