# Be prepared! Be scared! King Cone is coming!!!



## yingying (Jul 19, 2011)

OK, I lied... It's Queen Cone actually. But no less ferocious! :twisted:

Got meatball spayed last friday, and she came back with this hilarious cone  Meatball now has a nickname "Bulb", because my mom thinks the cone looks like a lampshade, and we all know what goes inside a lampshade. ;-) 14 days to go, by princess!

PS: I'm very tempted of drawing some comics on her lampsh... er, cone. But I doubt I will get Meatball's approval...


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## Sophie123 (Jul 13, 2011)

haha bless her!
That is so cute!!

You have two gorgeous kitties!


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## Jan Rebecca (Oct 14, 2010)

Awww - my Tuffy hated that cone.

Cute photos!


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## konstargirl (Feb 4, 2011)

Aww!! Cuteness! The Cone looks like of funny on her though even though you said that she just gotten spayed. lol


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## its.alice (Jun 15, 2011)

I love your photo stories! I can't imagine Alice having one of those on... I put a new collar on her this morning and she just about flipped out. XD


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## Rebbie (Jul 11, 2011)

You have the best story pictures! :lol: Awww, poor Meatball. But she looks _fab_, she really pulls it off. A regular Lady Gaga of cats.


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## Des_Esseintes (Nov 27, 2009)

Aw, poor kitty!

Why does she have to wear that awful thing? Was she licking her sutures too much or something? 

When Artemisia was spade, she didn't have to wear anything like that.


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## cooncatbob (May 27, 2011)

2 weeks, that's a long time.
When Samantha was spay they didn't put a collar on her, they did shave her from chest to tail for a tiny incision and she's was indignant about that.
It was January and I think she was just chilly.


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## MissyCat (Mar 7, 2011)

great pictures - and captions! haha too funny the two of them in the fridge...


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## littlesushi (Jun 8, 2011)

adorable pictures as always! i agree 14 days is a long time! poor thing, although it does make for some entertaining photo opportunities


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## yingying (Jul 19, 2011)

Des_Esseintes said:


> Aw, poor kitty!
> 
> Why does she have to wear that awful thing? Was she licking her sutures too much or something?
> 
> When Artemisia was spade, she didn't have to wear anything like that.


She was wearing that cone immediately after the surgery, so we don't have chance to figure out if she will lick the wound too much 

My vet is a very precautious guy. He said usually wound will heal after ten days, but it varies per individual, so 14 days is a safe bet.

My mom insist on having the cone on all the time, and absolutely no wetness (either from licking or from playing in bathtub) on the wound. She said if the wound gets infected, it is a lot harder to treat and takes a lot longer to heal, so it doesn't worth the risk. Well, I guess she is a bit overreacting, but since she is a doctor (for human), I guess she just saw too many bad examples :cool

And Meatball isn't on pain killer. Because Meatball's breeder is against the brand of pain killer (I think it's Metacam) that my vet uses. She said there are cases, though not many, reported that cats kidney being destroyed by Metacam, so NO NO Metacam to Meatball. 

Well, I guess that's what happened when too many people care about Meatball... I am the one with the least knowledge and experience in spaying and taking care of a spayed cat, so I just follow everyone's order... Poor Meatball, I know 14 days is tough, but she will make it... She doesn't seems to mind the cone a lot, and she gets LOTS of attentions. I wipe her face & mouth after every meal, brush her every day, and even scratch the ear back for her!


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## yingying (Jul 19, 2011)

Oh, I guess I should show you her wound  The caption is lame because I cannot come up with a good one :?

BTW, the redness on the wound is not blood/infection, it's the iodine alcohol my mom applied on Meatball. Mom took such good care of Meatball. Thanks mom!

There will be a revisit to the vet tomorrow. My vet want to see how well the wound heals :cool


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## konstargirl (Feb 4, 2011)

OH wow! IT looks like someone just cut her belly open. Weird. lol


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## Sinatra-Butters (Aug 9, 2010)

konstargirl said:


> OH wow! IT looks like someone just cut her belly open. Weird. lol


Because they did! :kittyturn


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## konstargirl (Feb 4, 2011)

^I know:kittyturn lol IT just looks so big though.


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## littlesushi (Jun 8, 2011)

thats quite a large incision! i hope it heals well and she recovers soon! i think aster's incision was about half that size when she got spayed.


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## yingying (Jul 19, 2011)

littlesushi said:


> thats quite a large incision! i hope it heals well and she recovers soon! i think aster's incision was about half that size when she got spayed.


Ah, don't let the "redness" fool you guys 
It's actually not that large, only half of what you see on the pic. My mom put extra iodine on the surrounding area, so it looks twice the size.

Can't get a more closer pic of the wound. Meatball doesn't let me and mom will scold me whenever she sees me "playing" with Meatball's wound :?


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## konstargirl (Feb 4, 2011)

Oh I can see that. I was going to say.. that is so big. ><


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## yingying (Jul 19, 2011)

Got a better shot (Meatball and Metoo are taking afternoon naps )
Only the area within the blue lines are the actual wound. The rest is my mom's brillant work


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## my5kitties (Sep 13, 2005)

I'm going to be the one who goes against your mom and vet. Meatball doesn't need to wear the cone for the full 14 days. I think it's cruel to have her wear for that long. I think a week should be enough time for the wound to have healed to the point where if she licked it, she would not rip it open. There's being cautious and then there's being OVERLY cautious. I'd call around and ask some other vets what they think about wearing a cone for 14 days. I'm willing to bet that not many of them will agree.


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## littlesushi (Jun 8, 2011)

ah, ok. the incision looks like the size of aster's incision. aster didn't come home with a cone, and yes she licked the surgical site a little bit. the vet says as long as it's not excessive, to not worry. i would say that night she came home she licked it maybe once an hour (until she conked out) . the next day it was less and even less the day after (maybe not at all). she seemed to be pretty much back to normal 2 days after, and the wound never got infected and has healed nicely (it's been a month since the spay). 14 days seems like quite a long time!

not sure if there could be differences in the procedure, but just wanted to share my experience.

hoping meatball has a speedy recovery! the fur takes so long to grow back! aster has some fuzz coming in but i cant wait for her belly fur to grow back fully! meatball seems so obedient with the cone. i dont think aster would have it.


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## Rocky_Raccoon (Jun 7, 2011)

I love your beautiful cat's and their pictures,as well as the humorous little side notes for each pic  You really have a talent for writing captions that accompany the pics so well! I guess that might be an easier task with such beautiful cat's  I love how pale Metoo's fur is, he's gorgeous! i just want to snuggle both of them <3


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## yingying (Jul 19, 2011)

my4kitties said:


> I'm going to be the one who goes against your mom and vet. Meatball doesn't need to wear the cone for the full 14 days. I think it's cruel to have her wear for that long. I think a week should be enough time for the wound to have healed to the point where if she licked it, she would not rip it open. There's being cautious and then there's being OVERLY cautious. I'd call around and ask some other vets what they think about wearing a cone for 14 days. I'm willing to bet that not many of them will agree.


Mom says it's not only about ripping open the wound, it's also that saliva is wet, and germs accumlate at wet places, so the wound may get infected.

I've tried to cut the 14 days to 10, which according to the vet is the "regular healing period". But mom hasn't given in, yet. She can be very stubborn on medical issue... If the vet is on my side, I might have a better fighting chance, unfortunately that isn't the case :/ 

Cannot argue with her on this issue now. I've pushed her to the point of accusing me for "irresponsbly spoiling the cats" :/ I will give it another shot next weekend. If the wound heals well, mom may agree on cutting down several days...

Fortunately Meatball doesn't seem to mind the cone. She is acting as her normal self. I think the only that annoys her is that she cannot scratch back of her ear (which I did for her now)


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## my5kitties (Sep 13, 2005)

yingying said:


> Mom says it's not only about ripping open the wound, it's also that saliva is wet, and germs accumlate at wet places, so the wound may get infected.


That's true for the first few days, but after a week, there's enough scar tissue built up to prevent the saliva from getting into the wound.


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## my5kitties (Sep 13, 2005)

littlesushi said:


> the fur takes so long to grow back! aster has some fuzz coming in but i cant wait for her belly fur to grow back fully! meatball seems so obedient with the cone. i dont think aster would have it.


This so true. We had Momo spayed 3 months ago and she STILL hasn't had all her fur grow back on her abdomen. I miss her fuzzy gray tummy.


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## KittieLover (May 2, 2011)

Meatball is very handsome, indeed! Kitty once had an Elizabethian collar on and he hated it! Is Metoo a Ragdoll, Siamese mix or just a Siamese with medium hair? Or is she another breed of cat?


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## yingying (Jul 19, 2011)

KittieLover said:


> Meatball is very handsome, indeed! Kitty once had an Elizabethian collar on and he hated it! Is Metoo a Ragdoll, Siamese mix or just a Siamese with medium hair? Or is she another breed of cat?


Metoo is a chocolate point Birman. She is still a kitten (4 1/2 mth), so you can't see her glove lines clearly


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## Julz (Feb 17, 2011)

squeeee!! more pictures : ) i love the captions with the photos. they both look so alert and friendly


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## Time Bandit (Aug 17, 2010)

yingying said:


>


LOL! This one got me laughing! Love it! XD I hope Meatball heals quick, and Metoo is off 'sidekick status' soon.


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## Abbie (Jan 13, 2011)

Look at her! She's coping very well. Evie had to wear a collar following a hideous bout of diarrhoea, to prevent reinfecting herself. She couldn't have hated it more. She ran around like a mad cat for half an hour, then cowered under the bedside table on top of a pile of books and lay there for several hours. I was so worried about her. The cone restricted her eating and drinking too, and Mitzi wouldn't stop hissing at her. She was truly miserable. 

Anyway, tangeant there- I hope your girl heals super quickly for you.


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## Rocky_Raccoon (Jun 7, 2011)

Time Bandit said:


> LOL! This one got me laughing! Love it! XD I hope Meatball heals quick, and Metoo is off 'sidekick status' soon.


I love this one too!  So funny, Ying is very very talented with the pics and the captions :love2 I vote for MOAR pics! :love2


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## yingying (Jul 19, 2011)

Thank you all for the nice comments! 

Meatball is doing great. Her wound is barely visible now. My mom has given her permission of taking the cone off on Monday. Yah! Only two days to go! \^o^/

I don't have more pics of Meatball right now. Dad is accusing me for taking too many pictures of Meatball and ignoring Metoo. (Metoo is my dad's favorite, and dad is Metoo's favorite as well ) So I have been spending days chasing after Metoo's butt to get some decent pictures. It's so hard, since she kept MOVING!


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## cooncatbob (May 27, 2011)

Metoo makes me think of Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy with her sad face.
I picture Meatball saying " Well this is another fine mess you've gotten us in to Metoo"
and Metoo starting to cry "I'm sorry Meatball".


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## littlesushi (Jun 8, 2011)

Glad to know meatball is recovering well


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## Shamu (Aug 6, 2010)

These pictures and captions are great and I love your positive attitude. I just got my Lexie spayed and am so worried as they say to keep her from jumping on furniture, etc and dealing with other kitty not liking her e-collar.

Can I please ask, was this the day after she came home? And she was on the cat scratcher, etc? Because if so, I'm probably worrying to much about my Lexie's incision getting burst open and keeping her on the floor while I can.

Or may I please, ask, how many days after the spay are these pics?

I'm supposed to keep the ecollar on Lexie for 2 weeks! Oh my!


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## Shamu (Aug 6, 2010)

littlesushi said:


> ah, ok. the incision looks like the size of aster's incision. aster didn't come home with a cone, and yes she licked the surgical site a little bit. the vet says as long as it's not excessive, to not worry. i would say that night she came home she licked it maybe once an hour (until she conked out) . the next day it was less and even less the day after (maybe not at all). she seemed to be pretty much back to normal 2 days after, and the wound never got infected and has healed nicely (it's been a month since the spay). 14 days seems like quite a long time!
> 
> not sure if there could be differences in the procedure, but just wanted to share my experience.
> 
> hoping meatball has a speedy recovery! the fur takes so long to grow back! aster has some fuzz coming in but i cant wait for her belly fur to grow back fully! meatball seems so obedient with the cone. i dont think aster would have it.


That's so positive to hear that it may be ok only after a couple days.

Thing is with my Lexie, she had the "subcutilular" spay, so there are no outward sutures. I should take a pic too when I can get at her w/o her making her feel uncomfortable.


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## yingying (Jul 19, 2011)

Shamu said:


> These pictures and captions are great and I love your positive attitude. I just got my Lexie spayed and am so worried as they say to keep her from jumping on furniture, etc and dealing with other kitty not liking her e-collar.
> 
> Can I please ask, was this the day after she came home? And she was on the cat scratcher, etc? Because if so, I'm probably worrying to much about my Lexie's incision getting burst open and keeping her on the floor while I can.
> 
> ...


The photos were taken 2-3 days after Meatball got spayed. My vet also said the cone should stay on for 14 days, which obviously to many members on the forum is too long. My vet mentioned the average healing time is 10 days, and 14 is just to be cautious, so if your cat heal well I think she can be off cone on the 10th day 

In contrast to your vet, my vet encourage Meatball jumping. He said the activity will prevent her internal organ to "stick together", which according to my mom (she is a doctor) is something could happen after surgery. So I think jumping is ok. 

Meatball didn't get on her cat tree the first day. I think she didn't feel comfortable to move around. Then the 2nd day she is acting normal and wanted to be on her favorite cat condo  I checked her tummy, and find out the skin there is really stretchful, and since the wound is along her body length, it's unlikely jumping will tear the wound. The possible posture to get the wound tore open is by parting her legs far far apart, which she won't do herself. However, you should be careful when your other cats play with her. When cats get overly excited when play-fighting, they will do "bunny kick" which may open the wound if they kick on it. 

The most important thing is to keep the wound dry and clean all the time. I check Meatball's wound twice a day to remove any hair that stuck on it. Good luck with your kitty!


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## yingying (Jul 19, 2011)

cooncatbob said:


> Metoo makes me think of Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy with her sad face.
> I picture Meatball saying " Well this is another fine mess you've gotten us in to Metoo"
> and Metoo starting to cry "I'm sorry Meatball".


 
You are partially right  Metoo is the rule-breaker of the two and always ended up getting them both into trouble (Meatball is at fault as well, since she cannot resist the temptation of following Metoo ). But Metoo will never cry and say sorry. She never sees herself being "wrong" or "improper". Every time when I scold her, she gives me this utterly disapproving look


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## cooncatbob (May 27, 2011)

I see, the sad face is just for show, underneath is the heart of a habitual rule-breaker. rcat


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## Shamu (Aug 6, 2010)

yingying said:


> The photos were taken 2-3 days after Meatball got spayed. My vet also said the cone should stay on for 14 days, which obviously to many members on the forum is too long. My vet mentioned the average healing time is 10 days, and 14 is just to be cautious, so if your cat heal well I think she can be off cone on the 10th day
> 
> In contrast to your vet, my vet encourage Meatball jumping. He said the activity will prevent her internal organ to "stick together", which according to my mom (she is a doctor) is something could happen after surgery. So I think jumping is ok.
> 
> ...


Thank you again so much. I feel so bad about having to keep Maxie in the bathroom while at work though, and Lexie out all alone with the cone. But it's for the best, as Lexie really goes nuts being confined for some reason.

I so appreciate your encouragement.


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