Stitches

How can I stop my cat from licking her stitches after getting spayed?

My cat ( 7 months old) will not stop licking her stitches. I don't know what to do. I sprayed Bactine on her incision because I heard that was not only a good antiseptic but the taste would make her stop licking her stitches but ohhh no. She continues and I have to hound her like a little kid. Any ideas??

Public Comments

1. Elizabethan collar
2. She needs one of those plastic collars that surrounds her whole face, so her tongue can't reach the injured area at all. Call your vet and ask when you can pick one up.
3. A cone around her head.
4. the thing that goes around her head. I forgot the name.
5. Keep hounding her like a little kid or get a funnel neck brace so they can't even see her stitches, let alone lick them
6. You need a Elizabethan collar. If the stitches are chewed open you should get htem restitched.
7. You can used a special collar or also bitter apple spray works too. Next time you get a cat spayed ask about using glue instead of stitches. It doesn't seem to bother the cat as much so they generally leave the area alone. good luck.
8. If you cannot get an e-collar or head collar, with a cat you can sometimes take a paper plate and make a small hole to pop her head in, just make sure its not too tight for breathing, and EXPECT that she will act like she is dying, flailing all over the place for a few minutes after you put it on her. You really need to keep her away from it, there are stories of animals OPENING their incision and *stuff* falling out!
9. Get a head cone and just clean it for here but gently clean around the shaved parts.
10. I hate to be the odd one out, but my baby had surgery and he licked his as well. They didn't fall out or pull out. He done just fine. Cats are made to keep their selff clean and to them its a dirty spot. That is how it was explained to me. I just watched him closed and made sure he didn't go psycho. Over doing it is what will really tear out stitches.
11. I have had two of my cats speyed this year. One of them went really mad at the stitches for the first day and I didn't expect it as I have had other cats speyed and not had problems. We were up for most of the first night with her trying to stop her pulling the stitches. We tried the collar but she went mad and managed to get it off every time. She only stopped when she was exhausted and so were we. I slept with her all night. She made the wound bleed. The next day she slept for most of the time. By about the third day she was still licking and pulling but I think the wound had started to heal and she wasn't doing so much damage. She had about four stitches and by the time we went back to the vets there was only one left. The vet had left quite long ends on the stitches and we cut them down a bit which helped. My second kitten reacted completely differently. I booked two days off of work so that I was with her at all times and expecting her to do the same. However, she was really good and didn't touch the wound at all. She only had one stitch though and I think this made a difference. I think that they will naturally clean the wound and they do often pull at their fur when cleaning. As long as the wound doesn't open up I am sure she will be ok and after the first couple of days will probably leave it alone a bit more. Good luck.