My kitten can't eat with her lampshade :(

suburbanwifey · 21 February 2013 at 10:18AM

My gorgeous little girl Molly was spayed yesterday. I didn't want to get her done as I didn't want her to hurt but Vets said it was better for her as she was a house-cat, wasn't having babies and it was a protection against cancer so better for her in the long run. I took her and left her yesterday morning and it was heartbreaking, she's never been away from me before (she's 11 months old now, had her since 8 weeks) and it was awful till they phoned just after 1pm to say she was out of surgery and recovering well.

Cut to present - Vets gave me some liquid painkiller that I have to put into her food to relieve pain. Problem is she can't eat! The darn lampshade on her head is driving her nuts, she spent almost 3 hours last night trying to remove it. No amount of soothing made it better, she hates it

I feel so sorry for her.

Tried giving her some food on my hand pushed into the lampshade, she can't eat. I'm supposed to start her pain medication today, tried for an hour to get food down her, no luck. So no food since 8pm Tuesday and no painkiller, the shot her gave her under general will now have worn off. Vets said this darn lampshade needs to stay on till he takes her stitches out in 10 days! She'll starve to death!

Very worried and upset. What do I do, any cat lovers with advice out there?

aliasojo · 21 February 2013 at 10:22AM

Two suggestions....

1) Take lampshade off whilst she eats then put on after she'd finished. You would have to stay with her to ensure she didn't pick at the wound.

2) Buy an inflatable 'lampshade'. This is similar to the rubber rings kids use when they learn to swim. It's designed to be more comfortable than the traditional lampshade for the animal and its much less intrusive.

Hollypop_2 · 21 February 2013 at 10:28AM

Hello Suburbanwifey, This may sound really daft advise but it worked for me so thought I'd share.

One of my kittens had to have her leg amputated 18 months ago; and came home with a cone on her head and like you she couldn't eat and just fought to get the thing off. (She was also having trouble with her balance) Anyway in the end I had an idea to turn the cone around (so the wide part went over her body and covered the wound) and the narrow part round her neck so that her head was free. It may not work but got to be worth a shot as it worked a treat for us as she had to have it on for 4 weeks!!

Good Luck, you have done the right thing getting her spade and she will be back to her normal self in no time. x

Slinky · 21 February 2013 at 10:53AM

We did the same as Hollypop, worked a treat

pigpen · 21 February 2013 at 11:09AM

take it off but keep an eye on her to make sure she is leaving it alone.. I've had 6 girls cats and have never kept the collar on once we got them home and the only one that bothered her wound was the long haired one and her unshaved fur was poking the wound so I chopped the fur and she was fine.

The only time I kept a collar on was when my tortie had a severe allergic reaction to fleas and was clawing lumps of flesh off her face.. I did have to cut a section off the bottom of the collar so she could eat though.

When we brought her home after having her eye removed (she was shot in the face) she went insane and was clawing at it trying to rip it off.. I had to tackle her to the ground with most of my body weight so my mother could cut it off.. it was dreadful.

stir_crazy · 21 February 2013 at 11:14AM

I would also take it off while she's eating. If she isn't fussed about the wound and leaves it alone, you could keep it off altogether, as it disorientates a lot of cats. But keep an eye on her in case she does worry it on the sly.

shelly · 21 February 2013 at 11:26AM

I'd recommend a fabric cone if you can get one.
2 weeks ago Pixie came home with an open wound on her belly and after a vet visit to be stitched up she too had a plastic cone. She hated it and wildly kicked about until it came off. I was frightened she would open herself up again so googled for alternatives.
Obviously buying online you have to wait for delivery but I called the vets to see if they had anything I could buy that day and was told they had a fabric cone.
I went and got it and initially Pixie kicked it off but after putting it back on and folding it back over her body she was much happier.
With it folded back she could eat (she too had liquid painkiller in her food), drink, sleep and see where she was going so it didn't really bother her.

I tried leaving her with the cone off completely but unfortunately she went straight for the wound so she had to have something.
She wore it for 2 weeks and admittedly it is a little torn on the inside where she tried to scratch herself but it done it's job and for £5 was well worth it.

Here's a couple of pics so you can see how much it bothered her

krlyr · 21 February 2013 at 11:27AM

I would take it off while you're around to supervise too. If she dislikes it competely, there are alternatives - for example, the inflatable collars already mentioned, or foam versions of the plastic lampshade style that are a bit more accepted by most.
Another option could be a small babygrow or baby's t-shirt adapted to cover the area but a cat may be less tolerant of this than a dog!

islandgirl8 · 21 February 2013 at 11:34AM

I would take it off. I have 3 cats and none of them needed a collar after their spays. Keep an eye on her though to make sure that she isn't scratching the wound. Cats recover remarkably quickly from this surgery.

SavingPennies_2 · 21 February 2013 at 11:52AM

My cat didnt have one. The wound was glued, dont know if that makes a difference but she never picked or scratched at it. Its fair to say the whole thing worried me more than it did her!

antw23uk · 21 February 2013 at 11:55AM

Take it off whilst she eats. Simple

What a strange post!! :eek:

My kitten can't eat with her lampshade :(

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