5 Month Old Kitten Getting Spayed

[rsle]

Hi everyone, Petra's mom here! I have been having some concerns about Petra's spay operation which is on Tuesday. I'm particularly worried about the post-op care. I've read a bunch of articles online and forums here as well but I'm still very anxious about it.
She is our only cat and we live in a small one bedroom apartment. I've been reading that it's important to not let the cat jump or play but she is very active already. Her favorite places to nap are on top of our couches and on our bed but I'm worried that jumping onto the furniture will hurt the incision site. I have also read that the cat should be confined to a small room but our smallest space is the bathroom which is super tiny and always freezing cold! I wouldn't want to put her in there!
Another one of my concerns is that she may be in heat? She has been meowing very loud and very often as well as grooming her privates a lot. I took her to the vet earlier this week and they said she could go into heat at any time since she is 5-6 months old I'm not sure if this will cause complications with the spay operation?
I may be getting ahead of myself but I just don't want anything to go wrong so naturally I'm stressing out!

 

[Willowy]

If she's in heat right now. . .hmm, she may be out of heat by Tuesday. If not, call the vet before you go and ask if they'd rather wait or not. Some vets are fine with spaying a cat in heat and some would rather wait.

As for restricting activity. . .I never have. Every time I try to restrict a cat's movements they get more stressed and I feel like stress is worse for the healing process than activity is. I just had a 5-month-old spayed, actually, and she was bouncing off the walls so much that I tried to put her in her carrier for the night and she freaked out in there even worse. So I just let her do what she wanted to do, which was mostly wrestling with the other cats :/. Now she's 15 days post-op, her stitches are out, and she's just fine. I've had a lot of cats spayed and none have ever had any trouble with it, so I guess letting them choose their activity level has worked so far. Just don't do anything to encourage jumping, like playing with a fishing pole toy or anything like that.

I also don't use a "cone of shame" or anything else to keep her from licking the incision, because I think they cause a lot of stress, for the cat and the humans. Unless she picks at the stitches, but that's only happened to me once out of all the cats I've had spayed, and I put a tube sock on that cat so she couldn't pick at them any more. Most cats just clean themselves and then leave the stitches alone.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Although it is lovely if you can manage to keep her quiet, don't concern yourself overly much. I know a LOT of TNR people. Their queens are trapped, neutered and released back into their colonies the day after surgery. It is VERY rare for a cat to have issues, even under those circumstances.

 

[Lalka]

Hi rsle My 8 years old cat was spayed last summer and i was also worried about the *after*( my post at the time Possible Pregnancy Questions ). She was in pain for a couple days so she didnt move much (i removed her cat tree tho) she started to pick on her stitches after 4-5 days when she started to groom herself again. Have a E-Collar close by, just in case. Bee never got used to it but she never tried to get rid of it.

 

[Mollyjmckinnon]

My 6 mo kitten got neutered last Saturday (7 days ago), and I too was very nervous about post-op care. My kitten is very hyper too so I thought it would be difficult to keep him mellow, but the first 3-4 days after his operation he was uncharacteristically calm and slept a lot.. I think his body knew it had to rest and recover. I don’t know if there is a big difference in male and female cat “puberty”, but just a month ago Cap started meowing a lot too, as well as cleaning himself more all over including his privates. I read that this just shows their growing and “finding their voice”. Good luck with your kitty, I wouldn’t get too stressed!

 

[rsle]

Thank you everyone for your input and advice! Petra is home now and acting loopy. It seems that it is uncomfortable for her to sit normally and she keeps sticking her tongue out as if she's going to yawn but then puts her paw in her mouth (it looks uncomfortable). I'm not sure if she is doing this because she is still a bit loopy, or if it is a sign that something is wrong. She still doesn't seem interested in food or water and she really wants to jump onto our bed.
Any thoughts?

 

[rsle]

Aaaaand she just threw up!

 

[Willowy]

Yeah, the caresheets my vet gives out says not to feed them until the next morning because the anesthetic makes them queasy. Did the vet give you a caresheet? Don't give her anything until morning, she'll be fine. If she keeps gagging after her stomach is empty you might have to call an emergency vet for advice. But some nausea is normal after anesthetic.

If she gets on the bed she might fall off. If she's very dopey you may want to confine her to a small room or even her carrier, if she'll tolerate it. Or just supervise very closely. Be especially careful around stairs.

 

[rsle]

Yes the care sheet says that she can be fed in small amounts for the next 12 hours, but she doesn't seem interested at all. As much as I don't like to, I put her in our tiny bathroom with water and blankets. She jumped on and off the toilet a few times, and she is scratching the door. I have a feeling it is going to be a very long night...

 

[Willowy]

Yeah, the anesthetic is the worst part. She'll be a lot better tomorrow!

 

[Mollyjmckinnon]

How is she doing today? If she wants up on the bed and your around to watch her, let her up- it might be her safe place! Just give extra love and attention, and watch out for those red flags mentioned above. Nothing you said seems too abnormal though.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

How is Petra today?

 

[rsle]

Hi everyone! Petra is doing better, she's been sleeping a lot these last two days. She has been eating well and drinking water, but every once in a while she licks her incision which worries me. It doesn't seem to bother her, she just licks it while she's grooming the rest of her body. Today she has been surprisingly hyper so we let her out of the bedroom to sit in her favorite window sill
I have been having A LOT of anxiety over her recovery, but feeling better now. I just get anxious that she will be grooming when I'm not around, so I haven't left home for longer than an hour. I know the signs to look for, and I will take her to the vet if I see any signs of worry (I say this to myself when I feel overwhelmed with anxiety).

 

[rsle]

Petra is four days post-op now and she seems back to her normal self, but yesterday I caught her biting her wound It is healing properly and has began to scab a bit, so I'm assuming it's just itchy. I have an e-collar but she absolutely hates it and can wiggle herself out of it every time. I cut up a pair of my old leggings and made a sweater to keep her from grooming her belly. She didn't seem to mind it last night but now she is so antsy because she wants to groom. Part of me wants to keep the sweater on her until Tuesday when I take her to the vet, but I feel like not grooming is stressing her out. Also, putting the sweater on her was stressful for both of us so I don't want to keep taking it off/putting it back on.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

The leggings/sweater is just genius. I imagine it is making her antsy, so just...do the best you can. We're far enough out post-op now that the incision is healing well, and that does itch like a fiend!

 

[Rescuekitties9]

I just had a 4 month old female spayed. I have never restricted activity for any cats I've gotten spayed/neutered. I understand your concern but it should be okay about the heat thing.. Ask the vet what they think. Some vets will spay a cat in heat, others won't. Just check on her incision daily to make sure it's not infected.

 

[lavishsqualor]

Cats are so amazingly resilient. I do a lot of TNR and what I see these female ferals do immediately after being spayed is nothing short of a miracle. It's like a human having a full appendectomy and then competing in the Olympics the next day.

 

[Mollyjmckinnon]

I’m glad to hear she’s doing well! I don’t want to worry you, but keep an eye on that extra sleepiness. Cap ended up getting an abscess from his neuter getting infected and that was that main symptom that I juts didn’t pick up on.

 

[rsle]

Here is what her tiny incision looks like. They tattooed her right on the site of incision. It is looking pretty normal so far! I am still going to take her in on Tuesday for the vet to check her incision and also a tiny rash she has in her ear :/

 

[Mamanyt1953]

So far, it looks good from what I can tell. Let us know what that rash is from!