Keep cat from messing with his injured face

August 19, 2024 2:43 PM

Spike's eyelids and eye brow on one side are irritated. He won't stop messing with it and making it inflamed and painful again.

We noticed his eye was bothering him a few days ago, and Saturday evening it was very swollen so we went to the emergency vet who checked him for eye damage (with corneal staining) and found no obvious problems. He came home with analgesics, anti-inflammatories and antibiotics (in case of infection).

It gets a little better and then we notice him over-washing the area, probably just making it sore and inflamed again. There's abrasions on his eyelids and above his eye, and it doesn't seem to be able to heal because he keeps fucking with it.

We tried a cone for a few minutes but just cannot see how he can wear it for the days it's going to take to heal. Is this the only way to stop him from overwashing his face on that side? I'm like, he is not going to be able to eat or poop or move around in our crowded condo.

Is there some kind of eyedrops or rub on pain relief or something that will allow him freedom to move around and still let the eye area heal? Any ideas??

If there's no improvement in the next day or two we'll take him to his normal vet but I'd really like to spare him the grief of another trip in the carrier, loud traffic sounds, etc etc etc.

Spike and his inflamed eye.

posted by seanmpuckett to Pets & Animals (11 answers total)

Best answer: You really need to put on the cone. There is no miracle cure. Cats and dogs wear the cones until the problem goes away.
posted by Ferrari328 at 2:51 PM on August 19 [10 favorites]

Spike (and your condo) might do better with a flexible cone, rather than the hard plastic type. Get well soon, Spike.
posted by kate4914 at 2:55 PM on August 19 [9 favorites]

Some pets do better with an inflatable donut style collar rather than a cone. More maneuverability.
posted by phunniemee at 3:07 PM on August 19 [16 favorites]

Yes, the donut! You can get festive ones, even.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 3:48 PM on August 19

Yep, cone is the answer. Our poor little guy has been in his cone for weeks, but his over-licked wound is finally properly healing up. Took us a few tries but we finally got a large-size version of a soft collar, like an airplane pillow. I adjusted ours by stitching it into a tighter cone shape (think daffodil rather than daisy). He hardly notices it anymore and prances around like it's nothing.
posted by unlapsing at 4:56 PM on August 19 [2 favorites]

Inflatable collars. With that enviable coloring, Spike is either a Spring (orange slice) or an Autumn (frosted doughnut).
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:13 PM on August 19

Poor Spike, I hope he gets well soon. I can’t speak for cats, but for dogs— unfortunately the fussing, logistics and downright trauma of trying a number of different options to prevent wound interference, were in the end more stressful and protracted for all concerned than if we had simply left the cone on to start with, and unfortunately led to a lot of itching and slow healing through the wound not getting enough air. An inflatable collar is a good option for suitably small heads. We liked the Comfy Cone for our larger boy. Good luck.
posted by Weng at 4:26 AM on August 20

Response by poster: I went out last night to get several cones from the pet store. A sturdy plastic one, and in inflatable one. All of them said "thread your pet's normal collar through this to secure it." I'm like ... Spike, an indoor cat, doesn't wear a collar, he hates them. So I bought a breakaway collar in addition to the cones. I had to size the collar to him, though, so I put it round his neck and adjusted it until it was two-fingers tight.

Interestingly, the collar, which he still dislikes wearing, seems to be enough of a sensory irritant to keep him from messing with his healing face. So we didn't put a cone on him over night, thinking, "well it would be cruel to put a cone on him when it's dark everywhere, and he needs to get used to the collar anyway."

This morning it was pretty clear he hadn't fucked with his face over night, and still hasn't as of this writing. He's still scratching at the collar sometimes and looking grumpy. But his face is healing. So we're going to go with the collar only, which I am amazed and very happy seems to be working.

Thanks for all the "just get a cone" suggestions. He'd be wearing one now if the collar didn't seem to be enough.
posted by seanmpuckett at 10:58 AM on August 20

Aw, good boy Spike.

I'm like, he is not going to be able to eat or poop or move around in our crowded condo.

It felt that way to me too, but they do get used to it. One of our cats went through two rounds of entropion surgery and was in a full cone for 2 weeks each time; there was a *lot* of blundering around banging it into things the first day or so but he did rapidly get the hang of maneuvering in it. Some affordances that helped: raised bowls for feeding; a large open litter tray; grooming his face and neck with a damp cloth. It was miserable for all involved but he (and we) did get through it.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 2:28 PM on August 20 [1 favorite]

No, not inflatable! Get the donut pillow style. He can sleep comfy with it on. Search watermelon donut cat ring on Amazon for an example. My cat actually seemed to like it.
posted by tiny frying pan at 12:15 PM on August 21 [1 favorite]

^thanks, tiny frying pan. My links do go to the plush donut pillow type; no idea how 'inflatable' wound up in my answer.
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:33 PM on August 21