Surgical suit or cone of shame?

[Schnoodle]

8 month old kitten is booked in to be spayed tomorrow. Never had an issue with boy cats but I'm worried about kitten having stitches so brought a surgical suit for her.

Needless to stay 5 minutes later I was still wrestling a ferocious wild beast. Can not imagine doing this when she has stitches.

So any tips? I was trying to avoid the cone....

She loves having her belly out so really do think she will pick at them!

Cat tax paid.

give it to the vet... the veterinary nurses will have experience- my headstrong mini fluff ball (frankly feral at the time) puppy came back too us in a babygro as he'd got out of the 'surgical suit', they said if he hadn't tolerated that it would have been a cone of shame.

Ours had the cone for 1 day and then got it off. Never bothered with her stitches.
Hate to say it op but your dcat looks vengeful pre op never mind when you get her home...

Ha! Thanks for your responses! Yes she is wild and ensures our 2 older boy cats knows whose boss!

Think we are in for a tricky week!

Let the vet do it when she is asleep?

Neither. Please don’t manhandle her unnecessarily after surgery! High blood pressure and increasing abdominal tension are much more likely to increase risks of wound breakdown.

leave her be, let her rest and relax. As long as her sutures aren’t too tight and she has good pain relief, there shouldn’t be any incentive for her to self-mutilate

We tried a surgical suit - she got out of it. Smallest one they do too!
She didn't have stitches though, the wound was glued.
We've used an inflatable 'cone' for our other cat before, that worked well if she is chewing it.

We went for the surgical suit when our youngest cat was spayed. She hated it and somehow managed to keep escaping it. Fortunately the wound healed ok despite the lack of protection and enthusiastic playing with the other cats.

Soft cone? Do they exist for cats like they do for dogs?

A doughnut collar is the best one for cats in my experience. Ours used to sleep in it well and nit an issue. We had tried the cone and bodysuit before that and they both freaked her out.

Tbh there should be no need for stitches.

over 20 years ago my vet spayed with the tiniest hole, all they do is small incision to get a crochet hook type tool in, hook everything out, remove.

no stitches, no cone, no suit. She barely even noticed.

if your vet is still using a big incision and stitches to spay I think I’d be finding a more up to date vet.

She’s so beautiful 😻

That second pic says
Do your worst b*tch!!

I've had three cats spayed, none of them had a cone or suit or anything, and they were just fine - they didn't seem to notice that anything had happened, and didn't mess with the wound at all.

I’ve just had my kitten (8months old) spayed, I was expecting what you describe.
She came back with half her fur shaved on one side and a single purple stitch, she’s a couple of weeks into recovery now, but it looks absolutely awful.
In answer to the op, I already had a cone from a different cat that I couldn’t for love or money get on her. Didn’t need anything in the end, she didn't much bother with the stitches, although her big sisters tried to clean it for her, had to separate them.

Thanks all!

Think I will see how she leaves the vets tomorrow. We will set up the guest room ready for her return and separate her from the other two and just hope for the best!

Glad we tried a practice run with the surgical suit..... what a learning curve!!!

This is bollocks.

incising through 3 layers of muscle requires stitches. It would be negligent otherwise - there’s no vet in the Uk that would defend a colleague for not suturing after abdominal surgery

your vet may have used an intradermal suture pattern so the stitches were hidden but they will certainly have sutured

not all vets use spay hooks - it’s personal preference and is no better or worse than any other method - certainly nothing to do with being up to date considering spay hooks have been around since the 60s

you really shouldn’t post your incorrect opinion as fact - it’s unhelpful and damaging

I also think a cone will be unnecessary, most cats are far too sensitive to tolerate a surgical suit too.
I'd go without and use a soft doughnut if absolutely necessary. Furandfeathers is right, stress will be a far bigger issue leading to complications

@FurAndFeathers . Thank you for saying that. My neighbour expressed a similar experience to that poster, so I was shocked when my kitten came back with a new hair style and visible scar. The fur will obviously grow back and it’s for the best she’s been spayed, but I did wonder if I’d got the budget version of the op when I first saw her.

Our Siamese , who was very small , came home in a suit and pretended she couldn’t walk in it so we removed it and she was a bloody nightmare . Suit was put back on and after a few minutes she was strutting her stuff in it very nicely and it did help with the sutures as we had her brother neutered at the same time and he was more than willing to help her pull them out . Hope it goes well

For my dog when she was done I got her an inflatable ring that goes around the neck. You can loop the collar through and it stays secure but doesn't really impede them apart from not letting them get the angle to mess with stitches.

Thanks all! She is home! No collar/suit as of yet.

She came home hopping mad and is now curled up under a duvet fast asleep. Feel really guilty for putting her through it!

Thanks for all the replies.

I've had a cat spayed last week, neither cone nor suit - I asked the vet, he said not needed.

In our house, we call it the 'cone of healing' ;)

A quick update! All went well and she has been a star! Hasn't touched them at all and back to demanding belly rubs! (Thankfully her wound is on her side).

Glad she's home and not fussing over it!

Another vote for the inflatable donut collar here, all my cats have treated them like portable pillows and have not been worried by them at all (also it just looks adorable!)