Start by diagnosing the escape, not the cat
A cat who removes every cone is usually defeating a fit problem, not being difficult. Watch how she does it: backing up until the cone catches on furniture, hooking a paw under a loose neck edge, or rubbing the rim along a wall until it pops. Each method has a different fix. A cone tied only with a gauze bow, sitting over a collar she does not normally wear, will slide over her ears the first time she pushes backwards. Note the exact method before changing anything, because replacing one badly fitted device with another changes nothing.
Refit the device the way the clinic intended
The cone's neck opening should sit snugly enough that it cannot pass over her head, while still allowing two fingers between it and her neck so breathing and swallowing stay comfortable. Threading the cone's loops onto her own well-fitted collar, or onto a harness for a cat who slips collars, stops the whole assembly sliding forward. Check she can still reach food and water: a cone that prevents eating creates a second problem. After refitting, watch her for ten minutes, because a determined cat tests a new arrangement immediately, not later.
Remove the tools she uses to escape
Confinement is the other half of wound protection. Keep her in one room cleared of the chair backs, shelf edges, and table legs she rubs against, since most cones are levered off against furniture. Take down dangling toys and remove scratching posts with rough surfaces for the healing period. When she starts the pawing, backing-up routine, distract and settle her rather than scolding, and re-seat the device calmly each time. Cats work hardest at cones when bored and unsupervised, so the risky hours are usually the ones when the house is asleep or empty.
Layer protection when one device is not enough
Ask your clinic about combining approaches: a soft recovery suit worn under veterinary guidance for body wounds, or a different barrier style fitted at the clinic where her wound's position allows it. Never improvise coverings from household dressings or garments without asking, because a home-wrapped bandage can tighten, stick to healing tissue, or trap moisture against the wound. Whatever combination you use, check the skin at the neck and edges daily for rubbing, and check the wound itself at least twice a day for opening, discharge, or smell.
Know when the escapes become a veterinary problem
Phone the clinic if she has licked or scratched the wound open, if stitches look disturbed, if the area swells, weeps, or smells, or if no arrangement survives an hour on her. A wound that keeps being reached may need its closure checked, and some cats need the clinic to refit protection or reassess pain, because a cat in discomfort attacks the area far more persistently. Photograph the wound when you find it exposed, so the vet can judge how much damage the licking actually did.
Tracking the pattern until it heals
Record when each escape happens and what she was doing; owners often discover the attempts cluster after meals, at night, or when a particular household member leaves. That pattern tells you where supervision and room changes matter most. That timeline is worth describing to the clinic in those terms, because a clear record of slipped cones helps them choose her next layer of protection. For a question that pattern raises, put a follow-up question to KinsLe's Kinny; he answers using the KinsLe Answers library.