Post-surgery cat wearing cone... can't groom... SMELLS AWFUL! Advice?

[UpToMyElbowsInDiapers]

Hi everyone,

Our cat had a small piece of bone removed from his leg last week. Surgery went fine, the stitches are holding, and the area doesn't seem infected.

That said, the poor kitty STINKS. I'm pretty sure it's because he can't groom himself with the protective cone around his head. The vet told us to keep it on him until his next appointment in 2 weeks, but I'm not sure the house can take the stench.

Any tips? I believe the smell is a generalized bad smell, rather than anything alarming about the surgical site. Is it safe to remove the cone while supervised for a few minutes, in the hopes he'll groom? Or do you think he'll go straight to attacking his stitches? Anything else we can do for him?

Please help our poor noses, and our poor stinky kitty!

aw, I would let him out to have a wash, it's probably really upsetting him too! when my kitty was very upset at wearing her inflatable collar after surgery I would let her take it off and sit with her while she had a good wash, it made her so much less stressed

Our cat was just in this situation and ended up depressed due to not being able to groom. We:

1. dubbed the cat's face clean with a compress and cleaned the mask a bit.

2. used a brush to groom the cat after meals so she still felt like she was being washed (kind of).

I'd be very careful about removing the cone. We tried it and she immediately scratched herself to bits all over again. Took even longer to heal and cost double in the vet's.

It's a bit odd for him to smell that bad , I would maybe give your vet a call and let them take a look
Could be an ear infection as ears get manky and hot in cones or might be surgical site but cat shouldn't smell that bad just from not grooming

They absolutely can end up smelling that bad from not grooming. The smelly cat food soon accumulates! They cant eat properly so it ends up everywhere.

Look up Simon's cat 'Pug Life' on youtube, sums up the difficulties

I clean my dog with a J cloth dipped in warm water with a dash of baby shampoo, then wrung out until just damp. He enjoys it, and surprisingly it makes him look (and smell) very clean. So simple and easy.

I’ve never been able to keep those cones on my cats after surgery and in the end gave up. Monitored the wound carefully and has always been fine.

You can get pet wipes, similar to baby wipes but formulated to be safe for pets. I know Pets at Home do them, not sure where else.

You could then wipe him down, giving him the grooming he needs and possibly improving his state of mind too.

Poor kitty. 🐈

The jaycloth and grooming brush method seems like it’s worth a try. If it works job done.

If his leg is unbandaged he let you bandage his leg for half an hour so if you did take the cone off he couldn’t bite his stitches out? If he let you he could have the cone off for half an hour in a room with you watching like a hawk so he could groom. Then replace cone and remove bandage to leave would open to heal if that’s what the vet has left it like.

I probably know the answer to that one though . So back to cloth and brush method lol!!

Grooming is really important to cats. If you're able to put the cone on after then take it off to allow him to feed and groom. The cone itself may we'll be grubby and could benefit from a clean.

There's no reason he'd immediately attack the incision unless it's painful

I'd get an old flannel and literally give it a bed bath. Wouldn't risk putting it in the actual bath after surgery.

We have a smelly cat who doesn't groom because he's very old, and I use cat shampoo on him (yes, it does exist!) and bathe him in a big sink with a shower attachment. He is very docile though.

You can also get dry cat shampoo. Cheddar went round smelling of raspberry lemonade, when I first adopted her! I think it was the pet heads brand.

Pets at home do several good brush in shampoos for cats and a pet wet wipe that was good enough to clean up fox poo (🤮).
Both are worth the money imo

I know you said it was a generalised smell, but can I ask you if he's been pooing properly since the op? My cat ended up with really really bad constipation a few weeks ago, and one of the symptoms was a really really bad smell. It took me a bit of time to realise the smell came from the bottom area.