Spayed pets

Heroditas

Well anyway, we got the two cats neutered this morning. They're both very miserable at the moment.
The male is sprawled on the couch flaked out, feeling quite miserable but the female is in much worse nick - curled up behind the stereo away from us.
She has the "collar" around her neck so has difficulty eating and also even walking through doors because she keeps catching the collar on the wall. Heartbreaking watching them.

Anyway, the vet said she needs to have the collar on for 10 days. 10 whole days? How will she eat? Is there a chance she may get it taken off earlier?

The Sweeper

Heroditas

The collar is to ensure she doesn't go for her stitches. Was the spaying incision made in her belly or in her side? Try taking the collar off her. If she goes for the sitches, she'll have to have it back on.

The stitches need to stay in for 10 days, but the collar doesn't need to stay on her unless she's at the stitches.

What age are the cats?

If the elizabethan collar is upsetting her and she repeatedly goes for her stitches when you take it off her, there are two other options. Try making your own collar out of a piece of foam and a piece of velcro - you need something around her neck that stops her turning her head to get her stitches.

Alternatively, depending on her size, buy a babygro, cut the legs and arms off it and button her body into it so she can't get at her stitches.

Still - just try taking the collar off. None of my cats or the cats I foster have needed collars when they're neutered. It's not a major injury so it doesn't itch as much as it heals, and they leave the stitches alone.

Heroditas

Minesajackdaniels wrote: »

Heroditas

The collar is to ensure she doesn't go for her stitches. Was the spaying incision made in her belly or in her side? Try taking the collar off her. If she goes for the sitches, she'll have to have it back on.

The stitches need to stay in for 10 days, but the collar doesn't need to stay on her unless she's at the stitches.

What age are the cats?

If the elizabethan collar is upsetting her and she repeatedly goes for her stitches when you take it off her, there are two other options. Try making your own collar out of a piece of foam and a piece of velcro - you need something around her neck that stops her turning her head to get her stitches.

Alternatively, depending on her size, buy a babygro, cut the legs and arms off it and button her body into it so she can't get at her stitches.

Still - just try taking the collar off. None of my cats or the cats I foster have needed collars when they're neutered. It's not a major injury so it doesn't itch as much as it heals, and they leave the stitches alone.

Hey, thanks a million for the advice. I'll give it a go later on.
They're 6 1/2 months old (we think. we adopted them from another poster who had rescued them)
When my parents had their female cat done, the vet didn't even bother with the collar.
The incision was made in her side.

GeturGun

Hi OP, I posted here a few months back when my 2 were spayed [both female] and were pretty miserable too. They too were catching the collars on everything and - as you say - it's heartbreaking to watch.
But it's only the first day - your kitty was probably feeling really groggy last night and sore apart from anything else.
After advice I got on here I took the collars off after 3 or 4 days to see what would happen and one of them went straight for the stitches and the other didn't seem that bothered. I didn't leave them off when they were unattended though as I would have died having to go back to the vet with torn stitches. Maybe take if off for short periods and watch her like a hawk.
She will get used to the collar after a day or two I promise, my 2 were even climbing the curtains with them on after a couple of days http://www.flickr.com/photos/checkerchick/2994301529/

I know it's a really crap time and you are feeling guilty and they are feeling miserable but it will get better really quickly. I brought them back after 9 days and the stitches were ready to come out and we haven't looked back since. It's 4 months ago now and I can't even remember the finer details of how bad it was!!!!

Oh, and on the food thing, I put their food on plates while the collars were on, so that they weren't catching the collars on the sides of the bowels

planetX

hi, i just had my little female cat spayed and was never given a collar. She licked a bit at the stitches but it wasn't a problem - i'd take it off, it probably causes more distress. Ours was in bad pain for a couple of days, and then seemed to recover really fast - trying to climb things on the third day!

Heroditas

She seems in a lot better form today. She's finally got the hang of navigating closed spaces with the collar. She's also eating a lot more now.
I have to bring them back for their post-op examination tomorrow so I'll see if I can get the blasted thing removed then.

sorella

We had never seen these collars before we came to Ireland.

When we had our two cats done, the female came back with collar; after a few days she was so depressed by it we took it off.

Incidentally male went straight out and killed a bird and ate it!!!

We had our two bitches spayed last year; both came back with collars which freaked them out so much we took them straight off.

Just went ballistic.

And never any trouble.

They were slightly down for a day then fine. And they can be such drama queens!!