E-Collar Woes

Sadie was spayed on Friday and she wouldn't stop licking her incision. So, today she's sporting an e-collar. Needless to say, she hates it! I've tried everything to get her to calm down, but nothing seems to be working (including her pain medication and bitter apple). Since she will be home alone tomorrow and there are many stairs in the house (not easy to maneouver while wearing an e-collar, I'd imagine), I've put her in a dimmed room but she just won't relax. She's pacing, crying and simply wants out of the room and the collar NOW. It's even worse when I take the collar off so she can eat as she doesn't want it back on her head. Does anyone have any suggestions?

When I had one of my girls spayed ...... she immediately started eating her stitches ........ the vet advised we put a sock around her .... she went ballistic jumping all over the floor ........I deemed that to be dangerous for her ....... we then got the e collar ....... again she went ballistic ......trying to knock everything down around her ...... the vet advised we take it off and see what she do ..... she pulled her stitches out ..... we then had to take her back to the vet and they put staples in her ....... she pulled her staples out !!!!!! We then had to leave her at the vet for a week while she healed because the first 2 days the had to keep putting in more staples she would pull out .....

Perhaps some kitties are like that ....since I didnt have that problem with the other female ..
feliaway may help in calming her ...... since kitties heal so quickly ...... Im not sure .....but I can sympathize with your situation perhaps try the sock .......

I tried the sock but she destroyed it! While Ocicats may not have wild blood in them, my sweet baby Sadie is indeed a real wild child!

Tonight I'll try putting her in her carrying case in the same room that I'm in, so please keep your fingers crossed that it works.

I read back over your post ....that she had been spayed on Friday .......she should be healed alot since then ...... since they do heal very quickly .......does her incision look closed and clean ? ..... I cant remember its been a while but dont they remove the stitches after 5-7 days ? .... if so ...... u may be able to take the e collar off .....

Originally Posted by Pami

I read back over your post ....that she had been spayed on Friday .......she should be healed alot since then ...... since they do heal very quickly .......does her incision look closed and clean ? ..... I cant remember its been a while but dont they remove the stitches after 5-7 days ? .... if so ...... u may be able to take the e collar off .....

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Unfortunately the collar went on today -- 4 days into the healing process Sadie decided to lick, lick, lick. According to my vet, the stitches will stay in for 7 - 10 days. Her incision is clean, but because she's so incredibly active and started licking, the stitches began to open and I feared infection would set in. So, the vet gave her the collar to ensure she doesn't lick -- thankfully she didn't need to be restitched. She will, however, have a scar on her belly the vet said. I take her back into the vet on Friday so hopefully that will be her last visit and the stitches will come out (keeping my fingers crossed).

I'm confused. What are you using bitter apple spray for? To try to keep her from licking her stitches? I think it's a detterent, and if you sprayed it on her it would stress her out if she doesn't like the smell...

I tried the sock thing too and it didn't work for me either, but she didn't bother her stitches too much.

Trim the e-collar down so she can eat without you taking it off. It should be just long enough to keep her away from the stitches, no longer. Then you won't have to take it off so she can eat and she'll have time to get used to it.

Oliver just had an e collar on for about a week cuz of a foot lac... he was not happy about it either, although he was not that bad... he also couldnt eat or drink with it on (well he could, but it was weird for him) and he was also uncomfortable going potty with it on (he's a major digger)... I would give him collar breaks and he was just fine, but your kitty seems way stressed by all this...

Here's my suggestion and you should ask your vet: my vet loves to go homeopathic before pure meds first (not that she wont use meds, etc...) and she gave me about 3 (I think) Traumeel tablets to dissolve in water (she gave me a dropper bottle to do it in)... the Traumeel calms, helps with pain and is an anti-imflamatory.... I was able to give him several drops 2-4 times a day and he seemed really chill (without the Traumeel, he'd constantly walk backwards, trying to get out of the collar.... he would slink around "normally", haha, with the Traumeel and didn't bother his foot much during collar breaks)... I think it worked really well and would give it a shot, it wasn't all that expensive either - I gave my vet 10 bucks for the tablets and a sub-q injection of it (the homeopathic stuff at the hospital is her personal inventory and not the hospitals, so I just paid her for it).

Oh, I just thought of another option for kitties that hate e collars.... I saw in petco last week an alternative e collar... instead of a lampshape type deal it's an inflatable collar that inflates thick enough that the cat cant reach around to lick or bite at areas they shouldnt, but it doesnt really affect their sense of their surroundings and they dont knock everything over while they walk... I'd like to eventually purchase one to keep with all the first aid stuff, but for now I'm just hanging on to the regular e collar from the vet (the inflatable one is just easier to carry around and store because it'll collapse flat when not in use).

http://www.petco.com/Shop/petco_Prod...ID_100555.aspx

Has anyone used these by any chance? I'm curious about a cat's reaction and functioning with one on... I just assume it'd be better than an e collar

Thank you all very much for responding to my query.