Post neuter - cone woes!!!

[goldpendant]

Zig was neutered yesterday morning. Wound looks dry, he cane home last night with a cone collar! I've read that makes rarely need these and he clearly HATES it.

Based on experience... Would it be ok to remove it tonight (36 hours post op)?? We are seeing the vet for check tomorrow eve but I'm out much of the day tomorrow and can't bear the thought of leaving him in the cone while I'm out!

[dementedpixie]

We never got cones when my 2 boys were neutered. They healed up with no issues

[ScreamingValenta]

Same as above - neither of my boys needed one.

It was different when I had my old girl spayed - she wasn't given one, and licked the wound incessantly so it got infected, so I had to go back to get the wound drained and have them put on a cone.

The boys ignored the wounds - I think the vet takes their balls out through a very tiny incision so it doesn't hurt like a female spay.

[goldpendant]

Can I ask how old yours were? He's quite young (4 months), maybe that's why he has it??

[ScreamingValenta]

They were both about six months. You could try taking it off tonight and monitoring the situation. If he starts licking or pulling at the area excessively, you could put it back on - if he's leaving it alone or only giving a cursory wash, you are probably OK to leave it off.

[dementedpixie]

Mine were both 4 months too - no collar

[viccat]

I was a cat charity volunteer and we never made the male cats wear cones. The wound from a standard non-complicated castration is absolutely tiny.

[minniemoll]

My boys were done at five and six months, they really didn't seem to notice - they didn't explore down there at all, just carried on running about like lunatics....

[goldpendant]

Thanks all, we took it off earlier and he has had a good clean and a scratch all over, no special attention paid to the wound so I think we're ok! Thanks, he's much happier!

[Parahebe]

I've had a lot of cats over the years and none has ever had a cone after neutering, not even the females. It is rarely necessary, after a wash they generally forget about it. So I would have removed the cone too!

[thecatneuterer]

We never put a cone on either males or females post neutering. And we neuter many thousands a year.

[Madcats]

I just remember our two just looked really puzzled for a few days.

[ScreamingValenta]

How do those who don't use cones stop females licking the spay wound and trying to pull out their stitches? That's what happened with my first girl kitten (fortunately my next girl was an adult rescue so had already been spayed). It was awful - she wouldn't leave it alone when we got her home and by the next morning it was visibly red and infected so we had to take her straight back to the vet.