Help!! Elizabethan Collar on Cat!!

[AndyRosse]

I need your help and advice fellow dog and cat owners! My cat needs to wear an e-collar until Wednesday and boy is he being a pain in the butt! I feel so bad, but the vet really doesn''t want him licking a wound he has (another long story), but he doesn''t seem to be adjusting well to wearing it. He gets confused when he picks his head up too far, but keeps whacking the collar on the carpet when he keeps it too low. Plus, I''m not quite sure how he is going to eat with this cursed thing on, but the vet insists that he can.

So have any of you guys had to make your pets wear this dreadful thing?? How did it work out? Any advice? I would appreciate anything at this point! Thanks guys.

 

[Libster]

Hi Stretch4,
I just had to have our new dog wear an e-collar for 7 days!!! It''s a very strange sensation for them to have this contraption on, and they do bump into everything....but I promise after a few hours they do adapt and will eat and drink the with the collar on. It really only took a few hours for it to become tolerable to the dog, and after a day he was accepting and adjusting to it just fine. Soooooo hang in there and I think your kitty will do just fine with it

 

[Kaleigh]

My youngest Bichon Callie has had to wear them for two bladder surgeries. The first time she really went nuts, but got used to it. The second surgery she just gave into it. They get used to it, but it is awkward at first. Good luck and let us know how your kitty makes out.

 

[AndyRosse]

Thanks guys, I guess my biggest concern is that he can eat and drink. The vet said that he could, but the vet tech said that she wasn''t so sure. But if I take off this thing, trust me, it will never make it back on. I guess I''ll call my vet tomorrow morning (this was an emergency kind of thing) and see what he suggests if Rascal continues to hate this thing.

Thanks again!!

 

[moremoremore]

Open up a can of wet food and watch and see if kitty eats. I think if he gets hungry enough, he''ll eat.....I would definitely not take it off. Poor little kitty. Wednesday! Is there a way you can ask the vet to wrap the wound instead?

And more importantly, can you please post some pictures. ... I''m a die hard kitty lover and feel really bad for kitty...but I GOTTA see this

 

[AndyRosse]

Date: 6/19/2005 9:20:32 PM
Author: moremoremore
Open up a can of wet food and watch and see if kitty eats. I think if he gets hungry enough, he''ll eat.....I would definitely not take it off. Poor little kitty. Wednesday! Is there a way you can ask the vet to wrap the wound instead?

And more importantly, can you please post some pictures. ... I''m a die hard kitty lover and feel really bad for kitty...but I GOTTA see this

I have wet food down for him, along with his usual dry food. He is willing to eat treats out of my hand, but tried to eat the wet food and that darn collar pushed it all onto the floor. But we will keep trying. I definitely don''t want to take off the collar because he can almost already lick the wound with it on!

No, I can''t have the vet wrap the wound because it is right under his tail, next to his, hmm, butt. He apparently had an abscess on his anal sac? and they had to drain it and it must stay open.

Poor kitty, nothing seems to be going right for him right now

. Everytime we go to the vet, there''s some kind of bad news lately...

Oh well, I must cook a belated dinner (I''m not very hungry but the fiance still is) and then I will post some pics of my poor baby with the collar.

Thanks for the advice everyone!

 

[Kaleigh]

Stretch,
Can you hold the plate of food up to him so he can get to it more easliy?? Hang in there. I was a wreck when Callie had hers for the first time. It gets better, I sware.

 

[Mara]

have you taken the collar off to see if he even licks the wounds?

back when P was fixed, we got a collar for her to wear (they have soft ones now too, that is what we got), but we decided to see how she fared first, if she left the wound alone then she wouldn''t need to wear it.

she did not pick or lick at it at all and the few times she went for it, we told her NO and eventually she stopped. so she never had to wear the collar..thank goodness, i always feel so badly when i see animals with it on!

just a thought, maybe see how the cat fares without it and if he needs it at all!

 

[AndyRosse]

Thanks Mara, but even with it on, I have seen him three times tryng to lick it, and he even is able to get in a little lick or two!

And I have tried to feed him with a spoon, my hand, and a dish to his face, but he doesn''t want anything to do with that. But like I said, he will take his treats.

Plus I am concerned about water intake too.

 

[movie zombie]

my cat would take his e-collar off. i used gauze to tie it onto his ''real'' collar so it would stay on which meant he couldn''t manuever it well when eatting. so i cut a small bit out of the e-collar to give him a bit more room to get to the cat bowl.

peace, movie zombie

 

[AndyRosse]

Okay MMM, here is a pic for you especially!

 

[AndyRosse]

Well, after a long night with not much sleep, Rascal still hates his collar, still hates the pain medicine and antibotics that I keep forcing in his mouth, and still can''t adjust very well to walking. But I have managed this morning to get him to eat a bit of wet food and drink a decent amount of water. Our next goal is to use the kitty litter!

Thanks again everyone for your advice!

 

[moremoremore]

Oh no! Poor sweet beastie! How sweet and sad...feel bad for the little man. Well, I''m glad he ate a bit and hope he uses the box. Maybe the vet can trim it down a little so it''s no so long but long enough to prevent licking?

 

[ursulawrite]

My Boston Terrier is currently in an e-collar for a fractured toe, the poor thing.

I do remember, however, that when we spayed her, my vet advocated her wearing a baby Gap t-shirt to cover the wound. Whereabouts are your cat''s stitches?

 

[fire&ice]

My dog adjusted quite well to the e-collar. My cat, however, couldn''t. I took it off. The stress of the collar was too much for him. He recovered nicely. BUT - I don''t know the nature of your cat''s wound & the reason the Vet doesn''t want him to lick it.

As far as the pills, have the vet tech or vet, show you how to "pill" a cat. WIth practice, you can become quite quick with it. Mine NEVER would eat or take the pill on it''s own save the first time w/ cheese. They wised up immediately. I could put it in Liver & they still wouldn''t eat it.

Hope your baby is on the path to recovery! Maybe a little adjustment in the color as per Movie Zombie, may help.

 

[AndyRosse]

Ursula, that is such an awesome idea! (Of course it won''t work with Rascal right now, but I will keep that in mind for the future, heaven forbid anything else goes wrong!)

Well, I took Rascal to our vet this morning (I had to bring him to the emergency vet yesterday), and he took a look at the abscess and said that he felt I could take off the e-collar and let him lick it!!!

He said that he thinks it wouldn''t do anything but help the wound, so yippee!! Rascal is already taking a well deserved cat nap and hasn''t been licking at it so far

.

Now Rascal and I only have to do head-to-head battle re: antibotics and pain meds

Thanks again for everyone''s thoughts and suggestions.

 

[AndyRosse]

Thanks F&I for the advice. Actually both the meds are in liquid form, and the vet said I could put one of them into wet food as long as he eats it all right up. But I still have to corner him, throw a blanket over him, have my fiance hold him down, while I have to open his jaw and get the medicine down. I don''t know what I would do if it was a pill! Fortunately, every medicine he has ever needed has been available either by injection or liquid!

 

[fire&ice]

Date: 6/20/2005 11:35:57 AM
Author: Stretch4

Well, I took Rascal to our vet this morning (I had to bring him to the emergency vet yesterday), and he took a look at the abscess and said that he felt I could take off the e-collar and let him lick it!!!

He said that he thinks it wouldn''t do anything but help the wound, so yippee!! Rascal is already taking a well deserved cat nap and hasn''t been licking at it so far

.

Now Rascal and I only have to do head-to-head battle re: antibotics and pain meds

Thanks again for everyone''s thoughts and suggestions.

That''s exactly what my vet said.

Do call them or go visit to have them show you how to pill the cat. You sort of squeeze the jaw and when they open their mouth you throw it in. It may take two of you. With our one princess (on thyroid medication), if you squeezed her tummy just a tad, she would meow widely - that''s when we would take aim and throw it in. Maybe others have suggestions; but, I''ve never been able to "cover it up" with food.

 

[fire&ice]

Date: 6/20/2005 11:39:51 AM
Author: Stretch4
Thanks F&I for the advice. Actually both the meds are in liquid form, and the vet said I could put one of them into wet food as long as he eats it all right up. But I still have to corner him, throw a blanket over him, have my fiance hold him down, while I have to open his jaw and get the medicine down. I don''t know what I would do if it was a pill! Fortunately, every medicine he has ever needed has been available either by injection or liquid!

Ahh... been there. Done that. What a pain. Mine would never eat the food with it on it. Yeah, we did the towel thing with two people. Dogs are so much easier. Don''t they know it''s for their own good & we aren''t being meany force feeders.

Hope he gets all well soon!

 

[moremoremore]

Thank god for liquid meds. My Scotty would NEVER EVER EVER tolerate a pill. I had to give him ear drops and eye drops and oral meds twice a day. Well, Scotty HATED me for a while, but it's long forgotten.

The easiest way to do it for me was to put him on the corner of the bed on his tummy. I would be RIGHT in back of him, hunched over him with my belly on his back...but not flattening the poor dear.... so he wouldn't wiggle out. Then I'd get down on my elbows around him so he couldn't wiggle out...but a towel would be great too. Then I just gently (ok, not so gently sometimes) held his face with one hand and tilted it and put the syringe (my spelling is horrible) and super quick squirt it in the very corner of his mouth. It's less of a trauma than opening his mouth all the way up and shoving it down the front... He became quite a little trooper!

I would wait for the right time. When he was sleepy or relaxing. I wouldn't chase him around and grab it...that makes it so much worse.

 

[movie zombie]

our vet sells over the counter an item called ''pill pockets''. basically a kitty treat with a ''pocket'' into which one inserts the pill. i roll it into a ball and find popping it into LaHonda''s mouth is a breeze.....she gets a med every day so anything that makes it taste good for her makes my life easier.

peace, movie zombie