Went to the vets last night for the final appointment about Lily's strange wounds. He seemed satisfied with CPs explanation of a vigorous mating which caused the one on the back of her neck and the ones on her belly. I've got 2 antibiotic tablets left of the 4 week course and we're keeping the buster collar on until everything is fully healed. The marks have healed so well without her constantly grooming them so hopefully only another week left until it's off forever. I think she'll be a different cat without the collar, she's so quiet and timid with it on, I've almost forgotten what's she's like without it!
So, I also asked the vet about microchipping as I'm getting my new cat flap fitted in 2 weeks so want to make sure if she gets lost and loses her collar then she can be brought back to me. He said he could do it right there and then, showed me the needle which was quite big but about the same size as the ones used for blood donors. So I grabbed Lily firmly and she let out a pitiful wail as the chip went in. She tried to scoot backwards off the table and must have scrapped her back leg as I found a red mark later where she's taken a layer of skin off. So another wound to contend with! Maybe we'll never get rid of this collar! But she's all microchipped up and will hopefully be as good as new in a week or so and I can stop being a mean kitty mum and let her have some fun.