My boy is home

[Siwsan]

He has one of those collars on and is NOT happy about it. They said to keep him in it for`10 days, although I'm not sure he will tolerate it for that long. None of my other kid cats were sent home in them.

They tried to feed him but he wouldn't eat. As soon as I took him out of the carrier, I had 2 Churu treats for him. He gobbled them down.

They did say to try and restrict his activity level, too, so I brought out one of the pet play pens. Now to find a small litter box for him.

As soon as he settles down I will try to get a photo of him. I do hear him playing with the track ball so I guess he's fully out of drowsy mode.

[SheltieLover]

1. Glad he is eating & doing well, except for the cone of shame.

Poor little Merlin.

[Siwsan]

3. I'm going to see if I can find one of those inflatable ones. They are much more comfortable.

Meantime, I might cut this one back a bit. I honestly don't see how he could possible eat with it on so I'll either take it off at meal time or just spoon feed him.

[SheltieLover]

12. I wonder if it was the same vet & tech who set him up for after care

If a new tech, maybe they put all critters in a cone? My fur kids have always come home in a cone, but I never leave it on and they do fine.

[biophile]

28. I agree- collars make it very difficult to eat and

They cause water to spill so cats can become dehydrated. I hope you can get one of the little inflatable ones. I’ve never had a male cat come home in one, either, though- as far as I can remember.

[3catwoman3]

2. 10 days sounds like a really long time. Collar or "cone of shame"?

Good to hear he is playing with the track ball.

[Siwsan]

4. I agree

The others healed just fine without one, at all. I'm going to work on figuring out something more comfortable.

[3catwoman3]

5. I used to advise parents at the pediatric office...

…when they would ask if they should keep their kids quiet while they were sick, “If you can’t keep a kid down, you probably don’t need to.”

Kids are pretty good at self-regulating, and I suspect the same is true of animals.

[JMCKUSICK]

22. Who is the gentlest with him?

Maybe you can set up time with you Merlin and Arthur? As in lap and alone time in a separate space?

[Siwsan]

23. He's adjusting.

Any time there's a tussle it is started by Merlin!

Hopefully he will snuggle up with me. He did that last night, for the whole night.

[JMCKUSICK]

24. Why that little trouble maker lol

He knows where his safe space is and I'm sure he'll still have some pain. I hope you get that great benefit of an extra nights snuggles

[Siwsan]

25. I just had the first round of snuggles

His purr machine was LOUD.

[JMCKUSICK]

26. Yay

I love that little boy and I smile ear to ear when you give good news like that.
Makes my heart sing.
Thank you.

[BattleRow]

19. Glad his name isn't Roy..

[Permanut]

6. Sounds like he's going to be fine..

We just went through that with Bijou, six months old. He had to wear the party hat for a week - glad that's done! He had the operation in February.

He's back to doing zoomies at a hundred miles an hour.

[Polly Hennessey]

7. No one likes hospital food. Glad he is home. Seems he will heal quickly.

Never used a cone on any of my cats and never had a problem. Guess it’s best to be cautious though.

[Walleye]

8. Excellent, I understand the relief you feel

[CentralBlueTexan]

9. Siwsan

Glad Merlin is home and eating.

My Sanjay (Siamese) just does not like going to the vet.

[Karadeniz]

10. Ive probably had 500 cats neutered....NEVER had one collared, much less to

wear one for 10 days.... take it off!!!

[TNNurse]

11. I agree.

We have recently had feral cats neutered. We kept them in one night. No collar and no other restrictions. We had two females done as well. All did fine and have become almost our cats. We can pet and feed them but no picking them up. The clinic we used had a grant and ferals were free, but we paid the normal fee anyway. Seemed the right thing to do.

10 days seems ridiculous.

[Siwsan]

14. I've gotten all of my kid cats 'fixed' at this clinic and the never put a cone on any of the

The place has been here for over 60 years but one partner bought out the other and there have been some changes. Most are great. They also have vet techs, undoubtedly some on an internship, who probably tend to be overly cautious.

I'll just keep checking on him but he seems to be adjusting MUCH better to this collar.

[Ziggysmom]

13. Never had any problems with boys bothering their surgical site. Now the girls are another story!

Had one start to eviscerate from chewing and tugging the sutures. Not sure how she could do that; when I had surgery I could hardly touch my sutures the first few days!

[Siwsan]

15. I never had problems with the others

Both male and female.

He doesn't have stiches so I'm guessing they used surgical glue. He's still so small, the incisions will likely heal pretty quickly. I'll just keep an eye on him try to keep his self maintenance to a minimum.

[Jean Genie]

16. Welcome home, little guy!

Happy to hear the ordeal is over and he's home - safe and sound. Except for the doggone collar! Ten days?! I can't picture him going for that!

[Arrgh]

17. Be careful about removing a cone.

I myself have removed them, but my sister had a cat chew her stitches out after a spay with potentially fatal results had she not gotten her back to the vet quickly.

Depending on the site and the temperament of the cat/dog, onesies are available on Amazon that can work rather well. We got one for Dexter after he had a large section of colon removed when we discovered cancer. It made him much more comfortable. We still miss him terribly.

[Siwsan]

18. Now he is wearing a soft, inflatable collar

He's done a pretty quick adjustment to it. It's so much easier for him to eat and drink.

I'm sure they used a surgical glue on him. His nuggets were still pretty small so I'm sure the incisions are, too. I am going to keep a close watch on him.

[BattleRow]

20. Nuggets..that is so charming..never heard that before.

[JMCKUSICK]

21. Yay

Does he get that because he's such a small boy? And is he on the younger side of the snip age scale?

[Hotler]

27. I had a cat in for a wound and he was sent home with a collar, he didn't like it one bit. I went to Walmart

and got him a onesie, trimmed it some and he was happy. I was happy too.

Pro Tip: Wash the plastic collars really good you can reuse them as cutting boards in the kitchen.