# Cat with cone on head not using litter box



## cat owner again (Dec 14, 2012)

Sunday my cat got the cone of shame due to an injury on her tail. This is an indoor/outdoor cat who usually does not like to use the litter box. So I am concerned that she is not going. I just added pumpkin in case she gets constipated from the medicine. I hope when I go home tonight there is something in the box, pee or poo. If not, what can I do to make her go?


----------



## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

Aw, is this Mama? I'm sorry about the tail injury. I hope it isn't as awful as the one my stray had. 

If she's not peeing, that's worrisome. If it's a pooping issue, you could try adding some Miralax - start with 1/8 tsp dissolved in a little water and mixed into food. It has no smell or taste - even Celia never fussed. 

Torbutrol may not cause constipation issues in the same way as a full opioid. But if you suspect it is (or maybe even if you don't), you might ask the vet about switching to buprenorphine, which is far more commonly prescribed, and seems to be the most effective pain med for kitties (the fact that Marie's Cali got that post-amputation says a lot!). We were always afraid to use bup with Celia because of her constipation issues, but when we finally did towards the end, it actually made her stool very soft. And I could have kicked myself for not trying it earlier...

It doesn't seem like Torbutrol is generally prescribed for long-term. This is from the World Small Animal Veterinary Association World Congress Proceedings, 2007. Maybe things have changed since then, but bup was recommended: 

Butorphanol: The efficacy of the oral formulation for treating pain has not been evaluated...For the injectable form, efficacy is of short duration and limited to mild pain. Because of the short duration of action observed from injections of butorphanol, analgesic effects from an immediate-release oral tablet are expected to have limited effectiveness.

Buprenorphine (Buprenex): In animals it is reported that the duration of analgesia is longer (for example 6-8 hours) compared to the duration of action of morphine...In cats, buprenorphine was injected at a dose of 0.01 mg/kg with a duration of action between 4 and 12 hours...The oral (sublingual) dose for cats is 0.066 mL per kg (Robertson et al. 2003). Absorption was complete with plasma concentrations as high as the analgesic levels observed from injections.

https://www.vin.com/apputil/content...31935&id=3860838&ind=303&objTypeID=17&print=1


----------



## Nuliajuk (Oct 25, 2014)

Could it be that she can't see the litter box properly? You could try some sort of body suit for a few hours a day to give her a change from the cone.
I made one out of a baby onesie from a thrift shop when our female cat was spayed. She never stayed in it for long and managed to wriggle out of it even while sleeping, but it gave her a break of at least a few hours a day.


----------



## cat owner again (Dec 14, 2012)

Thank you for the replies. Mama finally went to the bathroom pee and poo but she better because it was a few days without. The cone is a real hazard and I now realize that although I thought I had a lot of open space, she is bumping it everywhere. It is sad. I can't wait to get it off her! She is healing nicely and I suspect her son did this when they were both trapped in the house but she does go out so who knows. She sure seems to indicate it was him although she just may feel more vulnerable with that cone.


----------

