post-spay help

I'm living in Russia. I just had my rescued cat (apx. 8 months now) spayed yesterday. The procedure seems much more difficult to recover from here--she's really cranky and really sore. The incision is on her hip rather than on her stomach. The vet gave me...a cat hospital gown for her to wear for the next 10 days. She hates it!! She cannot walk when it's tied properly.

How can I keep her from licking her stiches? I just put a gob of neopsporin on them in hopes that she wouldn't lick it off...

Please, please help. My "koshka" in not a happy kitty.

If you have an old sweater, perhaps you can cut off a sleeve and make it into a bandage just to cover the wound? Or, use a cereal box and make a cone for her to wear so that she cannot lick the incision. My girls were spayed last week and they had to wear cones to stop them from licking their incisions. Have a look at this post to see what the cone looks like http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78128

My daughter had her 5 month old ,Misty,spayed. She went so spastic flipping herself around with the collar on that the vet decided it was better to take it off.
When my daughter got her home the next day after the spay, Misty acted as if nothing had happened and wanted to be as wild playing as ever (there would not be a way to keep this cat quiet if you tried. If you put her in a 2' x 2' room she`d turn flip flops just to have something to do) ...but she kept messing with her stitches and had actually gotten one of them out....so we made her outfit out of a sung fitting sock. We cut the toe end off for her butt to stick out, ...even cut holes for her 4 legs, to keep her from pulling on her stitches. When she put the sock outfit on the cat, the cat ran under the bed and was minus the outfit when she came out the other side moments later. By the 3rd day after the spay she`d finally managed to get every last stitch out and the wound stayed shut.....even with her being so active.
So mainly I`d just watch her if the sock band does`nt work...try to redirect her away from pulling on the stitches...and don`t not fret too much if she does manage to egt one out. Her guts are`nt going to fall out from one stitch being gone. Just make sure the wound stays shut and does`nt get infected.
If she pulls out another one....same thing would apply....if it stays shut and is`nt infected...why worry? At any point you have a question...of course call your vet.
Linda

Thanks to you both! I'll try making a cone and a sock bandage. The link was a big help! I've only had one cat who "worried" her stitches. Hopefully this one won't be a "worrier".

The problem with calling my vet is my VERY limited Russian. ;> When they asked why I brought her in (a friend had made the appointment) I mimed an incision across my stomach and said, "nyet mama". They understood!