I am typing this in a bit of a sleep deprived stupor, as my 7 month old F6 kitten was neutered yesterday, and not only do I need to keep him from licking the surgical area, which the vet assistant believed he was inclined to do, and they put the same type of cone on him that was put on Moggie, I also need to keep my year and a 1/2 old F7 from licking it, which hasn’t been a problem because the older cat is no longer recognizing the younger cat as their best buddy, and instead of having to worry about overly intimate grooming sessions, I am having to make sure a cat fight doesn’t break out, while still managing to supervise and reassure the kitten.
Oh, and the plastic cone was also freaking me out because if the cat can’t easily pull it off, it seems like it is something that could easily hang a cat, like a collar with no safety release, and several protruding parts to catch on stuff.
But now I have more experience I have figured out a couple solutions that seem to be working well.
When the F7 was neutered I found I could let him satisfy his desire to clean if just used 3 fingers to shield the surgical site. So I did a bit of this today...
And as I can’t supervise the kitten 24/7, today I removed the silly ribbon they use to tie the cone around his neck and instead I attached the tabs of the plastic collar to the neck strap of a simple H harness. It was super easy to thread them through, and snap shut the catch, and the under the armpit strap/belly strap makes it so it cannot be pulled off and is also less stress on the neck and less likely to be able to hang my kitten. And then over this I put on the older cats well used and quite dirty walking jacket, which further secures everything and takes the strain off the neck and as a side bonus seems to have greatly lessened or resolved the non recognition aggression.
Just thought someone might find this suggestion helpful, though I am still keeping a close eye on my goofy kitten, as it may not be totally impossible for him to get hung up on something...
