My poor baby has to wear the cone of shame.

[Pipbin]

Any advice ladies? She is most pissed off with it all.

What's the reason for it? And is it currently staying on (albeit with a sulk) or is she trying to get it off via belly crawling/furniture wedging etc?

She has an injury and staples on her tummy. It's staying on as the preferred method of removal is reversing out of it.

Is she managing to eat and drink OK ? I think you'll have to leave it on if she's had a serious injury with staples but how long did the vet say it was to be on for? (And when is she due to go back?)

Ten days! Then its back to have the staples out and then she is allowed the cone off. We have built a thing to hold her food at an angle that she can access.

Ah that's good - very ingenious of you! I'd see how she does overnight. My own boys will not wear a collar and it's become apparent very quickly that it's been a resignation issue for them. If she's only (Ha!) sulking and making half hearted attempts to get it off, she might well adjust to it - albeit with bad grace.

I think you need to take it off when she eats. Our cat has been spayed recently, and she absolutely hated the collar, so we took it off and left it off observing her carefuly and she didn't touch her sutures at all.
Could you try this?

if it's one of those huge lampshade looking cones, then you could try Pets at home for a smaller one as my local one has a loads in varying sizes that look a little more comfortable

Be careful with the smaller ones. I took pity on mine and downgraded the cone but she could reach her stitches so it wasn't a good idea.

They do get used to it, as long as they can access food, water and litter tray. Don't be tempted to skimp, much quicker to have a week or so of recovery than to have infected wounds and so on.

An outfit, baby vests fit cats very well and they can get to the sutures. We actually sell bespoke stitch covering outfits for pets who hate the cone.

I think if I bought her a baby vest my friends would stage an intervention. She is my shameless baby substitute. She is coping well.
What about cleaning?

Do you groom her? If so that should help on the fur and you could also help on eg her nether regions with some wiping with a cloth and some warm water. (Eyes and face as well by a very quick swipe or two - if needed.) I seem to recall that you can buy cat cleansing wipes but I've never used them so maybe other posters who have could recommend there if they're any good.

Starting a grooming routine is actually no bad thing in any case, especially as preparation for when they become older. My own Seniorboy, despite his meds, is a bit stiff to groom himself as he would have done years ago so I reckon that my daily grooming these days is crucial to him - as well as being something he loves because of the good feeling and the attention. (When he came to me at 13/14 he'd never been groomed so it can be learned even late in life.)

We do groom her sometimes, but not regularly. We are going to start tonight, and give her a wipe in her delicate areas. She's not had a poo since getting it though.

She won't have eaten before her op and I'm guessing that was only a day or so ago? That can often throw their routine out. Keep an eye on it though.

It wasn't an op as such, it was an emergency job.
She had her dinner when she came back yesterday, then breakfast. I guess the trauma and general change could have thrown out her routine.
She slept on DH's head last night.

On his head?

I'd give it a little longer to see if things start working in case she's been affected by the op but you could always give the practice a buzz if nothing by - say - tomorrow morning/lunchtime. If only to reassure yourself.

www.amazon.com/KONG-Cloud-E-Collar-Collar-Large/dp/B0045Y1JGG

Word of caution, though, these may work on 'long bellied' dogs like Dachsies. Depends on where the incision is.

Oops! May NOT work. We tried one on our Dachsie when he was snipped & he could still reach the incision.

You can get them for cats as well, Across. (And to be fair, I think most collars would be defeated by a Dachshund: they're so long.)

She has pooed. And stunk the house out in the process as not only is she using a litter tray but she can't have the cover on it.
She's getting on a lot better now. She managed to get herself up the stairs under her own steam.

She has pooed. And stunk the house out in the process as not only is she using a litter tray but she can't have the cover on it.
She's getting on a lot better now. She managed to get herself up the stairs under her own steam.

Good. Her innards are all working then. (And she'll feel more herself for it.)

They do adapt surprisingly quickly. The creeping about belly-on the-floor thing I think is because they can feel something touching their ears.

I use Johnson's Pure babywipes on my kitten's ears/eyes and sometimes on his bum because he hasn't learnt how to clean it properly yet They have no scent to irritate "intimite areas".