Sore skin post blood sampling

[Antonio65]

My cat Giada had a specialist visit on December 2nd, and the vet wanted to take a blood sample, and he said the best way was to take it from the jugular.
He and his assistant shaved Giada's neck and took the sample, but I believe, I'm sure, that they shaved her in the wrong spot, at her collar bone down the neck, rather than closer to her jaw, am I right?

The result is that Giada started licking the naked spot once we were home and the skin got sore. I had to put her in the cone, which I really despise. The aim was to keep her in the cone for a few days, but I noticed the area was getting worse by the day, so a couple of days later I started applying a cream with gentamicin + betamethasone, which I already used on her a few months back, when her paws got sore following the shaving for a blood sampling. It seems she's sensitive to having her skin naked. I talked with the specialist vet about this reaction, and he said that the cream I was using was the right thing to do.

Well, a week later, things aren't going any better. She can't reach the naked spot on her collar bone because of the cone, but the other cat, Freya, is helping her, and I caught her in the act of licking her friend's sore spot. Now, I reckon she's been licking that spot for days, licking off the med cream as well.

How the spot was on December 7th, Wednesday

How the spot was on December 10th, Saturday

As you can see from these photos, the naked area is a little larger a few days later, and has less hair despite the cone.

Two questions:
-Why is Giada so sensitive to having her skin shaved/naked?
-How can I help her now?

 

[platty]

How is your pet now?

 

[platty]

How is your pet now?

Sorry I didnt realise this was a fresh post! I hope she gets better poor thing

 

[Antonio65]

This morning she was just a little better than she was on Saturday.
She wears the cone all day long, I only remove it when she's eating the wet food. She's sad, I'm even more sad.

 

[Furballsmom]

It may be that the shaved area could be itchy or possibly even got a little abraded from the clippers.

Other than what you're doing, I don't know of anything else except possibly chamomile tea, or coconut oil.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Next time, I would ask the vet why shaving is needed for blood work, and why they don't use the method my vet uses, which is drawing blood from the inside of a back leg, where it is just as easy - if not more so, than the jugular - and there is less hair in that area to begin with.

 

[Antonio65]

It may be that the shaved area could be itchy or possibly even got a little abraded from the clippers.

Other than what you're doing, I don't know of anything else except possibly chamomile tea, or coconut oil.

I think she's very sensitive on her skin, because the vets were very delicate when they shaved her.
Last night I concluded that Giada has to wear a post-surgery suit for a few days, rather than the cone, because the other cat keeps licking the spot. We will never get out of this, unless that spot goes back to normal someway.
I ordered the suit on Amazon, I'll have it tomorrow.

 

[Antonio65]

Next time, I would ask the vet why shaving is needed for blood work, and why they don't use the method my vet uses, which is drawing blood from the inside of a back leg, where it is just as easy - if not more so, than the jugular - and there is less hair in that area to begin with.

Shaving is needed before sampling for a safety and hygiene reason.
And the jugular is among the largest veins (if not the largest one) in a cat's body. This allows to use a larger needle, hence a quicker time for taking te sample and reduced chance of degrading it.

My vets always took the blood sample for this kind of blood work from the rear leg, but the vet at the University told me it isn't the correct procedure.

Then I looked on the internet and found several articlaes, and one of this matches what this vet told me
Jugular Venepuncture - Get the best sample with these tips for VNs

 

[Antonio65]

This is how the area looks like today

It seems that she's growing some more hair, but I need to protect the area, or she will never fully recover.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Shaving is needed before sampling for a safety and hygiene reason.
And the jugular is among the largest veins (if not the largest one) in a cat's body. This allows to use a larger needle, hence a quicker time for taking te sample and reduced chance of degrading it...My vets always took the blood sample for this kind of blood work from the rear leg, but the vet at the University told me it isn't the correct procedure.

From a vet perspective, I guess 'to each his own'. But, for a cat who has issues being shaved, maybe the jugular isn't the most correct way to do it.

 

[Antonio65]

I ordered the post-surgery suit for Giada, it arrived Wednesday. It was the right size for her, but she couldn't stand it. She would walk weird, with her bottom close to the ground. She wouldn't sleep fine. She nearly stopped using the litter box, and also urinated at the end of the corridor, on the floor, something she had never done in her life.
Moreover, she looked depressed, sad, so I removed it a few hours later.

The first thing she did as soon as she was free, was to lick the sore spot, and kept on licking it for 45 minutes!!!

Well, today she seems she doesn't care about that spot much. Here is how it looks like today.

More hair is growing.

 

[Antonio65]

Four days later, the situation has worsened a lot. The cone was doing a great job, but she was so sad and I removed it. The suit didn't help at all. Now that she's free, she can lick her spot over and over, all day long, and the result is this:

There are even some tiny scabs. The yellowish hair is from her saliva, I think. Not good at all.