I'm sorry to hear about Mitzi but I'm glad that she's now on the mend. My cats never liked their e-collars either and I had to wrap the strings around many times to keep it tight or they would be out of it a few minutes. Starr had a fabric one that worked well but he scratched at it so much that he was tearing it up so he ended up having to wear the plastic kind later on. Good luck and I hope that she heals up quickly.