← Back to context

Comment by ChrisMarshallNY

13 hours ago

If you have ever put a cone on a cat (which lasts about five minutes), you see they get crazy. They hug the walls.

Their whiskers are a major factor in their perception.

I think they can also dislocate their spine.

My cat likes to sit in what we call his "Buddha" position, with his back bent about 90 degrees, and his paws in front. This seems to be a common position. He'll sit like that for an hour.

I think the cones must also screw up their aural spatial sensation (changing their perception of sound from fairly omni-directional, to seeming like all the sounds are coming from in front of the cone).

My cats are weird and loved their cones after they got neutered. One would stick his head back in the cone after I took it off.

  • I think all cats are weird in their own way. Our cat often sunbathed in the middle of parking space across the road. We occasionally had to go out to fetch him because he would refuse to move when someone started to drive into the space.

    • I have a ginger tomboy who does exactly this. He loves just rolling around in the fine layer of dirt while keeping an eye out for birds or frogs

      2 replies →

I've seen a few people use a soft inflatable or plush collar that's more flat, and doesn't go up around the face, instead of an actual cone. That way the cat's the whiskers aren't disturbed while still preventing the cat from worsening wounds by licking. At least some cats seem to be a lot more tolerant of that style.

  • I tried this but cats, being (almost) liquid, can very easily wrap around the soft collars and reach pretty much any part of their body.