How important is a cone after spaying?

[awkwardd]

My beautiful girl was spayed yesterday and within 5 minutes of getting home had managed to get her cone off.

I spent the whole day following her around and putting it back on, at around midnight I ordered a cat suit on Amazon that will come tomorrow.

I woke up this morning and she had gotten the cone off again and I'm not sure how long she had it off for.

Today I've spent the day trying to get the cone back on and phoned the vets for advice, they said she must wear it for 10 days!!! They asked me to bring her back in and they put the cone back on themselves after she had undone it in the cat carrier on the way.

Is it really important for her to keep it on? Once she gets it off she doesn't go straight to lick the wound but does groom the surrounding area.

I'm sure I'm causing more damage/distress chasing her around the house with a pissing cone and a bag of dreamies.

I know she will get it off in the night tonight too is that really bad if she has it off overnight?

I'm so worried about her I really do want to do what is best for her but I'm not sure the cone is the best thing, although I'm happy to be told that the cone is the best thing and will persevere with it.

Once those stitches get itchy she will start pulling at them I imagine....

@Juneisjoyful that's a very good point I hadn't thought of, thankyou!

I've got 8 cats and had them for many, many years,

If the cat isn't licking the wound, she should be alright without a cone - keep a close eye abs make sure the wound isn't getting red etc.

None of mine ever had a cone and were fine. As long as she isn’t bothering the wound too much.

Does she have stitches? My vet used to spay through a tiny hole that meant no need for stitches at all, this was 20 years ago so I’m surprised more vets don’t use this technique. It was my first girl cat and I didn’t know the vet and wondered if I’d been scammed so asked him to explain how he did it. Beautifully simple and straightforward when you know!

We made our kitten a sort of suit out of a tee shirt. It was comfier than the cone and stopped her licking her stitches. You can find a pattern online.

Mine had cone off after a week or so; then licked her wound open again and it got infected. So re-coned plus antibiotics. Not fun

Mine was spayed two weeks ago. No cone no t shirt. Just watch and make sure it's not red. Stitched dissolved fine. Her older "brother" (they love you had other) didn't lick it.

I made a onesie from a pair of opaque tights. Found instructions on google. She wasn’t overly happy but accepted it.

I've had several girls spayed but several years ago. I was never given a cone but told to watch for them licking the stitches, I kept a close eye and they were fine.

Thank you everyone for your replies you've all given me a lot to think about, she's asleep next to me without the cone I think I'll keep trying with the cone until the suit arrives then hopefully she gets on okay with the suit 🤞🏼

My boy had an op for a retained testicle and came home with a cone. The vet said that most cats don't need them, it's only if they lick the site too much. Problem is that cats have a lot of bacteria in their mouth and too much licking can cause a fatal infection. 10 days seems extreme though, I was told 1 week.

Hi. My girls were done in December at 6 months. I was told cone for a few days. They both got them off so i got inflatable collars and used them just a night for a few days (3 max) - the stitches didn't seem to bother them at all

My girl had her cone off by the time we got home. Big rush to sainsburys for some newborn sleepsuits cut down to size (on vet advice). Those weren't even on before my arms were shredded.

Catsuit ordered from amazon. She was FURIOUS and had escaped through the neck hole within 10 minutes.

At that point I gave up. She was fine.