Spaying

[MarySkater]

It's getting near to the time when Ria should be spayed, and I've been reading about after-care. They usually say to restrict the patient's activity for a while, and keep her in a quiet, small space. I could shut her in my spare bedroom, but I'm not keen on that, because it would be hard for me to keep an eye on her. The more often I go in and out of the room, the more chance there is that she would slip out the door - and then go galloping down the stairs, knowing her.

I thought about getting a dog crate, but that's an awfully confined space to keep a lively cat for a week or more. Then I found this puppy pen:
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pet ... ded/523574
The shape is adjustable, but it's basically 5 feet square - could be made bigger if I set it up against a wall. It's open-topped, but the sides are higher than my fireguard, and Ria never tries to jump over that. I could cover it with blankets to make it darker, to encourage her to rest. And if it's in my living room, I'll be able to watch her.

What do people think? She's so active, it's hard to see how to give her wound a chance to heal, unless I contain her somehow.

Another thing I read on the internet was, don't use conventional cat litter, because of dust getting in the wound. I normally use wood pellet litter, which turns to sawdust when wet, but the dry pellets aren't dusty. Is this okay if I clean it regularly, or should I get her something different? If she has to get different litter, I'd rather get her used to it before the surgery.

Does anyone have any other comments or tips about spaying?

Mary

[Mayday21]

Hi Ms Skater there was absolutely no way Harper could be kept quiet! She charged round the house with TC including climbing & jumping. She ended up with a lump around the stitches but it was fluid & went down. Some cats are sucks & others not. I use crystals with a mix if recycled paper for litter. Vivian

[MarkB]

Apart from keeping an eye due to them being a bit wobbly from the anaesthetic, most cats don't really need any special care. Ingrid was flying around the house by the same evening when she was spayed last year - she wouldn't touch the pouch of RC sensitive stomach the vet gave me, so I let her have whatever she wanted.

I would just say try to keep them away from stairs for the first few hours, but that is it. I just kept an eye on her in case there was any redness or swelling, but she had internal stitches.

They said to keep her in for a few days, but she ended up going out the next day. When they TNR ferals, they only keep them in overnight and release them the next day.

The photo was taken shortly after i bought her home. She dozed for an hour or two and was good to go

[booktigger]

We neuter our kittens at 9 weeks old and our vets use glue, we don't treat them any different and I can't remember the last time we had any issues, the last was an adult cat. I've never used different litter, I think Americans say that as they are often declawed at the same time.

[alanc]

Mary
I don't recall having to take any special precautions with Tilly after she was spayed. She was less active for a couple of days of her own volition (fortunately so was Badger who was castrated at the same time) - she gave up curtain climbing for about a week! I had no Vet instructions to keep her quiet. Certainly had no complications and no need to change the litter.

[geckodiva]

When Pud & Tat were spayed 19 years ago they were a bit quieter for a few days but generally it was business as usual. I use the normal dusty clay type litter. The only issue was Pud picking out her stitches and when she had finished went and did Tat's.☺

[Ruth B]

Its been a long time since I had a cat spayed, not since childhood, all the ones i have had since I grew up have come ready spayed. However I do watch a lot of the kitten cams from over in the States and Canada and I have definitely been converted to the earlier the better camp, there, they seem willing to do it anytime after 8 weeks if the cat is healthy and up to weight, over here it seems that even 12 weeks is unusual. The younger kittens do seem to recover quicker and after a day are running around and playing.

Unfortunately the vets carefully tell us owners what the cat is meant to do after surgery, but no one tells the cat. One we had when I was a child, was let out of her carrier and jumped straight onto the sideboard after her spay, and Blue was head first in the bowl of crunchies after having a major dental done and we had been told he was only to have wet food and that mixed with water.

My thought is I wouldn't worry too much, the more you try and keep her quiet and penned in the more stressed she is likely to get and more likely to harm herself by trying something she wouldn't normally do.

[MarySkater]

Thanks for the feedback. The only previous time I had a cat spayed, I lived in a small flat, so her space was limited anyway. In my present house, I was bothered about the stairs, as it would be difficult to keep Ria away from them. And she sleeps on the sofa - she has never been interested in "proper" cat beds. A sofa isn't high to jump on to, but still, I'd rather she didn't jump. Also, I don't want to let her out into the garden enclosure until the wound is closed over. But if she's loose in the house, I'd have to block the cat flap, which would keep Rocky in as well.

She's rising 6 months old, which my vet recommends as normal spaying age, although I know there's a trend for getting it done younger. Booktigger, 9 weeks?! Your vet must use magnifying glasses for such tiny organs at that age.

Mary

[booktigger]

Thanks for the feedback. The only previous time I had a cat spayed, I lived in a small flat, so her space was limited anyway. In my present house, I was bothered about the stairs, as it would be difficult to keep Ria away from them. And she sleeps on the sofa - she has never been interested in "proper" cat beds. A sofa isn't high to jump on to, but still, I'd rather she didn't jump. Also, I don't want to let her out into the garden enclosure until the wound is closed over. But if she's loose in the house, I'd have to block the cat flap, which would keep Rocky in as well.

She's rising 6 months old, which my vet recommends as normal spaying age, although I know there's a trend for getting it done younger. Booktigger, 9 weeks?! Your vet must use magnifying glasses for such tiny organs at that age.

Mary

I'm surprised your vet still waits so long, I know CP have done a campaign to reduce it to 4 months. The only downside with neutering at 9 weeks is they are really hyper the first night and you cannot keep them still, but we often home a couple of days later and not only can you barely see the scar, the fur has started growing over it, much quicker to heal than when we neuter mums - the scar is tiny.

If your vet uses glue, there isn't an open wound to worry about, I much prefer it to stitches, as there is nothing for them to try and remove, and I dislike dissolvable, the majority have to be removed as they haven't dissolved.

[Lilith]

Oh, good luck

I've overlapped with a few posts here but I'll let my post stand:-

Chief rule, you are told, don't let your girl jump up on anything.

Ha ha. Famous last words.

Here is Molly:-

teh flatout kitteh.jpg (75.56 KiB) Viewed 9421 times

She was fine. Apart from being a bit sleepy, there was no change to her usual manic behaviour. One of my Siamese was really poorly from the anaesthetic - and the minute she got out of her carrier I took my eyes off her for TWO SECONDS, I swear - and there she was, on the mantelpiece. But all the same I've always tried to keep a newly spayed girl at ground level. But it's a job. How CAN they? Can you imagine waking up from major surgery and going to the gym?

I've never thought about litter (although it's a good point, about the dust) and they've all been fine, including cats with midline (on the belly) spays as opposed to the traditional flank. Are you having Ria done midline so as not to spoil her coat? That's the usual reason; all my Siamese were done midline because if you shave a Siamese flank it grows back in the same colour as the points. I believe there's no difference, complication-wise, between midline and flank.

Oh and as to stitches. Nowadays a sort of glue is often used; they did with Molly's, and she was a very good girl and never touched the incision; the Siamese who climbed up on the mantelpiece took all her stitches out barring one. By the next day. Shock horror and back to the vet. Who said that, as long as the incision didn't start to gape, she'd be ok. She was too, though like Mayday's Harper, she ended up with a lump round the incision which I was told was granulation. It went down gradually.

Decades ago, when a spayed cat was sent home from the vet with a wide crepe bandage round her middle, a friend's Siamese was spayed, and she was such a good girl, didn't touch the bandage, model patient. They took her back in 10 days for her stitches out, the bandage was unwrapped, and...there was Rosie. Without a stitch! The crafty little beggar had got her long Meez nose under the bandage and quietly removed them all...She was of course, fine

But as a rule they don't pick their stitches - paws crossed.

I've only ever seen one case of infected stitches. This was Emily, my eldest, but - she'd been feral and pregnant before we met up and despite my feeding her as much as she wanted (which upset her; ran straight through her; I should have had more commonsense) she was a little bag of bones by the time the CP took the kittens and took her in for spaying. In my opinion it was far too soon to spay her but I got the impression that they thought I'd let her go off and get pregnant again if they didn't. I wouldn't. I'd have kept her in but they insisted and I think it was because she was so run down that the infection happened. I'd kept her surroundings as clean as possible; she spent her time asleep on the bed and scarcely moved, but she got infected. It's unmistakable; as Mark says, any redness or swelling is a danger sign, or wetness, and there's often a smell. It soon cleared up with antibiotics.

By the sound of your Ria, I think she'll climb over the side of that puppy pen (that's just my personal view though.) I'd give her a clean towel or sheet wherever she likes to sleep, have a meal ready for her of whatever she likes, something light like chicken or white fish. And just quietly supervise her, but most of them do come home, eat, and go to sleep, and proceed to get on with life. As a general rule, most girls sail through it; they're tough little devils; me, my stomach cringes at the thought, but they don't give a damn.

Good luck Ria - and good luck Mary too, in my own experience it's the owner who goes through agonies for the cat

[MarySkater]

Thanks for the details, Lilith. Re flank or midline incision - I'll leave that up to the vet. Ria's coat is patchy-coloured anyway, so if a bit regrows a different colour, it will hardly show. I don't know what my vet practice does re stitches or glue - maybe I'll call in at the surgery beforehand, and ask them if they have an information sheet.

So the general view seems to be, don't try to cage or contain her, just discourage her from being too energetic. I'll block the cat flap to keep her in the house. I don't have to worry about Rocky bothering her; he avoids her as much as possible, and the only time they interact is if she pursues him.

[Lilith]

Ah sorry, Mary, I didn't make myself clear re the coat, should have added that, as well as the problem with Siamese coats, in view of Ria's long coat a midline would be less obvious than a flank spaying; it takes months for even short fur to grow in; it would take a long time for a longhaired cat to grow her hair back.

Not that the cat cares

I think Moll quite gloried in being a punk kitten; I expected requests for purple sequins, stick on tattoos and black claw varnish from my little tearaway every time I went out shopping

[MarySkater]

Okay Lilith, I get you now. I'm not bothered by her having a bald patch, although it might be interesting to see how long it takes to blend back in. I can see it would be an issue for someone who planned on showing their cat. I'm wondering if Ria's present coat is a kind of baby fluff, and if it will change as she gets older. Her fur is very soft, more so than her predecessor Bridie, the only other long-haired cat I've owned.

[Lilith]

Molly has a very short, close coat and it took at least 4 months to return to normal, so I dread to think how long it would take a longhaired cat - there again, cats' fur doesn't grow like human hair, does it; it depends on a moulting cycle, so perhaps a longhaired cat might only take the same time - I'm not an expert on longhairs.

Perhaps Alanc and other Norwegian Forest cat owners would know; also about the 'baby fluff' - I can imagine the really full pelage and coarser guard hairs would develop with adulthood? They are a most beautiful breed!

[Ruth B]

I don't know about Norwegian Forest Cats, but when Blue our old Ragdoll needed bloods taken they used to take it from his bib so he ended up with a shaved patch there. Being a Ragdoll he had a wonderful ruff which went down onto his bib, if I remember correctly I actually measured the fur and it was about 4" long. He had to have the bloods done every 6 months for several years and the fur never had time to grow back properly. I would guess that Ria's will take a good 6 -12 months to grow back.

[alanc]

Lillith - loved that picture of Molly!
As far as time for fur to grow back, I don't think Tilly's took more than 3/4 months and she is a long haired cat. I think we hit winter coat growing time 2 months after the op, though. When her back leg was shaved for her accident operation it took about 4 months to get back to full length.
As far as I can remember there were no repercussions regarding her fur colour, but it might have been hidden in her general blotchy tabby markings. Looking back over 35 years to when my small black cat Sally was spayed, again there were no complications, but I do remember her flank had a white streak along the line of the operation scar for some months.

[Crewella]

As Mark has said, the rescue often speys ferals and lets them straight back out, so I'm sure Ria will be fine. As to her coat, it took Buzz's coat about 5 months to grow back after I cut off his dreadlocks when he arrived ....... and you could still tell where the new hair was then so I'm guessing it still had some catching up to do.

I'm sure the lovely Ria will be fine, all paws crossed for her.

[MarySkater]

I've spoken to my vet. He told me to bring her into afternoon surgery, when they would check her general health, and then keep her overnight so she can be starved for surgery next morning. Afterwards, he said to keep her indoors for 4 days, and take her back 10 days after surgery to get her stitches out. Nothing about trying to restrict her movements; I suppose she'll move as much as she feels like. Since she likes sleeping on the sofa, maybe I'll put a box or something in front of it, to give her an intermediate step to get up on it.

As I don't have a car, I normally take a cat to the vet with the cat box on a trailer behind my bike. (Clear plastic screen on the box door to break the wind, and foam pad under the box to cushion the bumps.) However, I'll treat Ria to a taxi when I'm bringing her home.

Mary

[booktigger]

Blimey, I've never known a vet ask you to drop them off the day before, especially as modern anaesthetics mean they can be fed till midnight - when we neuter kittens, they can eat till 6am on the day!

[Lilith]

Yes, it does seem rather drastic - I think vets did use to do this though; perhaps just a very careful vet?

Everything crossed here for a safe spaying - but I'm sure she'll sail through it

[MarySkater]

I wondered if he encounters "softie" owners who can't resist giving their kittens breakfast. But I'm okay with her staying overnight. If she'd been at home, I'd have had to starve Rocky as well, or she'd have been trying to snatch his food.

[cutestkittycat]

Did you have the spay done now? If so how did it go? Did you have the "cone of shame" for her afterwards?

We had a very depressed kitty a few weeks ago when fishy had her spay, turns out it was cone related and she perked right up when the cone came off a few days later!

I'm not sure about limiting activity, we have tried to with her and she seems quite bored with no laser pen to chase around! She did jump on top of the door once though (one of her favourite places to sit!). I've seen articles on the internet suggesting some activity may be good for healing to stop things "sticking" as they heal, hmm.



https://cutestkittyhq.com

[MarySkater]

Yes, she was done last Wednesday, and she's fine. I have to take her back on Saturday (10 days after surgery) to get the stitches out.

My vet said he doesn't put cone collars on cats. That was fine with me (and her!). Last time I had a cat spayed, about 15 years ago, that vet said she had to wear a cone, and I think that distressed her more than the operation site.

When I brought Ria home, she prowled round and round the house for a while. I think she wanted to reassure herself that she really was home. She miaowed a bit, something she doesn't normally do, and frequently licked at the wound, but didn't pull the stitches loose. By the next day, she had settled down, and was her usual playful self.

The only aftercare instruction I was given was to keep her indoors for 4 days. That meant I could let her out on Sunday, into my enclosed garden. She loved getting out again, and dashed about like a mad thing. I'll be glad when she has the stitches out, but all in all it has gone very well.

Mary

[cutestkittycat]

Glad it went well, and you avoided the cone

They don't seem to hold a grudge which I was also worried about

Fishy is at 12 days now, her stitches were dissolvable though. Just as well as she's a real scaredy house cat and was very distressed going to the vets and meeting new people with unfamiliar surroundings.

I wonder how long the hair will take to grow back?!



https://cutestkittyhq.com