Day 5

So, you’d think I would have learned from Fang’s experience, but it really didn’t seem like it would be THAT bad.  However, removing a fentanyl patch from your cat is not going to win you any points in their book, even if the area was shaved before applying it!  The vet said it needed to come off 5 days after surgery, but since we live so far away she would leave it up to me if I wanted to bring her in for removal or do it myself.  I figured Kender would rather stay home than be put in her crate and drove clear across town and back just to get it taken off.  I wasn’t too crazy about the idea either.  She let me know how to dispose of it safely (in a sealed bag, placed in the garbage outside where the kids or other pets had no way of accidentally getting hold of it) and that I needed to clean the sticky residue off as best I could after removing it.  Well even with the area shaved, some of the sticky bandage around the patch still got on her fur.  Even before I got to that point, she was unhappy with the odd sensation of unwrapping that super sticky stuff.  When I reached the last layer, I rubbed a bunch of coconut oil at the edges as I pulled it away from her skin/fur to help loosen the adhesive.  She was growling and kicking her leg the whole time…NOT a happy cat.  She actually ripped the last of it off herself but yanking her leg away from me.  Then I had to “torture” her more by rubbing a bunch of coconut oil on the area with a washcloth to help remove the rest of the adhesive.  By the end of it, she had coconut oil all over herself and I’m not sure if I got all the stickies off or not.  So I’ll check in the morning and if not, I’ll head to Walgreens for some medical adhesive remover (I had no idea this was a thing before reading about patch removal).

Fentanyl patch removal

This morning, she had her cone pushed most of the way back.  While all of her stitches are still intact, I can tell she got at the one furthest back/closest to her tail.  I bought one of the inflatable donut types today, but can’t find her collar anywhere to use with it!  Had the idea to use some gauze tied around in place of the collar, but would risk waking the baby to go get it.  But then I remembered the soft cones I saw today at the pet store had 4 rigid supports spaced evenly around them and got the (hopefully) genius idea to just make my own sturdy supports to attach to Kender’s soft cone so that she can no longer fold it down.  Waiting for hubby to get home from work for his assistance with it and will let you know how it turns out!

This is how I found her this morning. Ugh!

UPDATE:  Cone modifications seem to be a success so far!  Used some hard plastic straws from old sippy cups on either side of the cone.  Still comfy, but can’t be pushed back.  Hooray!

Hooray for ingenuity!

7 thoughts on “Day 5”

  1. As a side note, anyone know how to get it to not cut off the edge of some of my pics (like the first one posted here)? I’m only mildly tech savvy 😛

  2. I’m really glad Smore didnt have one of these patches. They sound like a pain jn the butt.

    Smore’s initial cone was tied on with gauze. It works well as long as you make sure it stays tied. She started stepping on a piece that game loose and before I could tie it back she managed to slip out. She had the plastic cone that fits tighter, ie doesnt lay flat like yours.

    As for photo, it is too wide for your layout. Click image. You’ll see little boxes in the corners. Hold and drag to resize.

    You can also click the pencil to type in your own dimensions, and even tell it to open the full sized picture if someone clicks on it if need be/desired.

    1. Thanks! I think I fixed it! And the patch was really great…until it had to come off LOL But it was nice knowing she had a constant, steady dose of pain meds so she didn’t have to suffer through the highs and lows like oral meds. She still got some Buprenex on top of it as needed.

  3. Mona didn’t have to wear a cone. I asked the vet why not and he said she wasn’t bothering with the stitches. The only thing she scratched at was the drain and that was minor.

    So some cat psychology here – maybe Kender wanted to get at the stitches because of the cone. When you’re told you can’t do something you want to do it even more.

    One thing I know is not all cats are the same. Mona wasn’t interested in her stitches, she just wanted to escape from the house!

    Melinda, sounds like you found a solution. Good luck, it’s not much longer and is gets much easier when the stitches are out.

    1. I wish that was the case with Kender! But when she had the biopsy done on her leg, the first thing she did when we got in the car to go home was start licking at those stitches. She had no cone then. So when I got home, I cut the toe off some old baby socks and put that over it. I wish I could do something similar with this. 🙁 Just 8 more days….this too shall pass 😉

  4. Just saw this and the fun pictures…okay…not fun for Kender…but mighty cute to us!

    Cocounut oil will make her skin smoochable soft and pretty…..but she could care less!!!

    Love your cone idea! Great job!

    I’m already stocking up on pawty favors for the celebration pawty when the stitches are removed!!!!!

    Hugs to all!

    Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle too!

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