How can I get my cat to stop licking her stitches from surgery??
Saturday, January 2nd, 2010 at
9:24 am
Hi the vet told me to not let my cat lick her scar/ stitches from surgery and I already see slight signs of irritation, I stop her when i see her doing it, but I’m not always home, I asked the vet about cones, and they did not have any…. any ideas or suggestions please?
Filed under: Cat Behavior
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put something bad tasting on the stitches nothing with acid like lemon tho.
Sorry i didn’t read that you already asked for cones. You could try another vet see if they have any, or you could try making your own, just make sure its not too tight.
put a cone around her neck. like you would see dogs normally wearing
You can use a bitter-tasting solution, like "Bitter Apple". You can buy it from Petco. PetSmart sells a similar product called "Bitter Yuck".
try going to your local petstore for an elizabethan collar. most large petstores sell them. you can use this whenever you arent supervising your cat. i would not put anything on it, it can interfere with the healing process.
good luck!
You can make your own – cut a circle out of cardboard, cut a smaller circle in the middle, cut a slit in the cardboard from the outside edge to the middle circle. Move the two edges together to fit over the cats neck, and tape. Just make sure the cat can get to water and food.
i would try going to petsmart or petco and get a dog cone for your cat but get one that is for a very small dog so that it would fit or the place where she got the surgery could get infected
I’ve used this product on many cats, kittens, and birds!
Go to Petsmart (or other pet store) and get a spray bottle of "BITTER APPLE". Spray that on and around the stitches, and I guarantee she won’t bother them anymore!
This stuff tastes NASTY (VERY BITTER).
I have a cat that used to lick the hair off of her kittens’ ears and back of neck. Once I sprayed the areas with the Bitter Apple, she left them alone and the hair all grew back.
I cannot say ENOUGH good things about this product.
Good luck with your "baby".
You can purchase E cones from PetCo or Petsmart if your vet has ran out. Also call up a different vet and explain that your vet ran out and if you can purchase one from them.
those answers are awful…say u had to lick ur upper lip cause food is there…how would u feel if someone put somthing awful so u wouldnt do it….all u have to do is lightly wrap a sport bandage around the area of the stiches so that its tight enough to stay on but it wont harm her.
Get one of those cones from the vet. It goes around her neck and looks totally ridiculous, but it works.
I think I’d call your vet and ask for advice before I put anything on it or tried to make her a collar. You may end up making things worse if you don’t know what you’re doing and end up with an even sicker kitten!
cut the tounge
I wouldn’t reccomend putting anything that would taste "bad" on the stitches because it could damage her stoach, or liver, or could cause worse irritation, if it did by chance get through the stitches. I would try wrapping gauze around the area, and aroundher torso until the scar went away. cats r curious creatures, so she naturally would want 2 lick herself where she’d aquired a scar.
I wouldn’t recommend putting anything on the stitches that you haven’t been advised to do so by the vet. You can cause her to have infection which in turn would make her ill. I would try like others have suggested getting a cone from another vets or the pet store.
You could buy some gauze and medical tape and cover the spot so that she can’t lick it anymore. She may eventually scratch it off but, it will last longer than leaving it open. If you have another vet in your area maybe you could call them and ask if you could purchase a cone from them. You could even put a small tee shirt on her like dogs wear. It’s sound weird but, people do dress their cats too. Hope these help!