6-month-old Kitten Appt For Spay In Am...

[marblesmom]

Marbles has an appt in the am for spaying. I'm nervous for her! I hate that we'll be causing her to be in pain. Is she too young? If we were to put it off til she's 9 months old- the next time we'll have time to do it and be home with her a few days- is she likely to be going through heat by then? She's an indoor-only kitten anyway, so no danger of pregnancy (we do want to get her spayed though).

I know spaying is definitely done younger than she is, but is it *usually* done this young? Her vet said no younger or smaller than she is now. (She is probably not quite 5 lbs yet.)

Assuming we do keep her appt for tomorrow what should I expect- how many days of pain meds, how many til she's back to normal? Will she eat normally at first?

Thanks!

 

[stephanietx]

Actually now is the perfect time to get her spayed. She probably won't be in a lot of pain as most vets give them a long-acting pain med. She probably won't need any pain meds once she comes home. I've never even been sent home with any, or a cone for that matter. If you're picking her up the same day as the procedure, she'll probably be very groggy and won't eat much that night. Just offer small portions of wet food every 3-4 hours. Her appetite should return the following day. They are usually busy sleeping off the effects of the anesthesia and pain meds. I always set mine up in a very large wire dog crate after dentals and procedures because they are unsteady on their feet and I want to protect them from my other kitties and keep an eye on them. They are usually sprung free the next morning. he younger they are, the faster they recover. Procedures like this are so much harder on the humans than on the kitties.

 

[kashmir64]

Spaying is now done on kittens when they are 2 lbs. so no, she's not too young. You are the one having a hard time with this, not her. The hardest part is not letting them eat or drink after a certain hour.
I personally would have let them do it to me, if they would have. lol

 

[orange&white]

The feral kitten I took for TNR (but ended up keeping) was only 4 months old. I picked her up 2 days after surgery and she was fine. Tiny little 1/2" incision on her belly. The most dangerous part of spay is the anesthesia, not the surgery itself.

 

[talkingpeanut]

As others have said, now is the perfect time! She'll recover faster while she's young. Each heat is hard on her body and increases the risks of reproductive cancer and pyometria.

She'll be fine! This is definitely not something you want to stall on.

 

[marblesmom]

Ok she is there.
Should I expect her to be able to go up and down a flight of stairs to get to her litter box afterward?

 

[talkingpeanut]

Follow her lead. It may be best for her to have everything she needs in one room for the first day or two.

 

[orange&white]

I kept my kitten in a large dog kennel for one night with food/water/litter and a fleece blanket tucked inside a box.

She probably would have been fine since she was 2-nights at the shelter before they told me I could come get her, but I didn't want her jumping around a lot until I could observe how she was doing.

 

[foxden]

We did not restrict movement of Trina when she was spayed at approximately 6 months. She moved a little slowly that day, but used the litterbox in the basement without difficulty. We've never had a cone for any of our kitties.

When Robin was spayed, we picked her up that day from the shelter. She went into our powder room, because she was also new to our house at the same time.

We've always had great luck after our kitties were spayed either by a regular vet or at a shelter program.

 

[Willowy]

It depends what kind of anesthetic they use. If she's still dopey, you should keep her away from stairs until she's all sobered up. But if they use inhalant anesthetic she should be pretty steady by the time she gets home.

 

[daisyd]

My kitten gracie was spayed at just over 4 months old . I worried it was too Young however didn't want her to go into heat. She was at the vets for half a day and apart from having a cone around her neck which she hated (and let us know she did by practically ignoring us for a week she was absolutely fine !. She had disposable stitches and was running around and jumping that same evening. Glad I did it that Young as it's better (physically and mentally ) to do prior to a first cycle of heat too .

Oh she had slow releasing anestetic so had no painkillers to take hime either

 

[stephanietx]

marblesmom is your girl home yet? How's she doing?

 

[miagi's_mommy]

Now is the perfect time to spay her. My Angel was spayed at 3 months. Usually they put a pain med in the anestetic so she should be ok. Keep her calm for 7-10 days until she heals up. And have the vet give you a cone for her in case she won't leave her surgical site alone.

I know any surgery is scary for us pet parents, but she'll likely be fine and have a routine (normal) spay. Heck I worried about my parent's newly adopted cat being neutered because it is a surgery but he was fine. He needed a cone for a few days though.

 

[marblesmom]

She is home for 2.5 hrs now... not sure when she had her surgery. They told me she'd go any time between 9:30am-noon, would be ready to go home by 2, then at 2 they called and said please give her til 5- still recovering from anesthesia.

She is walking super gingerly and is wobbly- more so now than when she first got home actually. She went up and down the stairs (slowly) to the litter box right when she got home. Then eventually upstairs another level to hide by herself in the dark. She's lying around sleeping on and off now, pretty lethargic. She ate an hour ago 1/4 can, and just did finally purr at me.

She looks so sad and uncomfortable, poor baby. I'm hoping she'll be running around fine and playing tomorrow like the vet tech said "a lot of them" do...

 

[stephanietx]

She's still feeling the effects of the anesthesia. Poor baby. Give her lots of lovins tonight. Let her sleep it off.

 

[marblesmom]

She's acting more in pain and more immobile as the night goes on. They told me the pain med injection should last 24 hrs...? But she is having difficulty even getting out of her cat bed, and she tried going downstairs to the litter box just now and made it down one stair and wouldn't go further. I moved the box upstairs for her. She's hunkering in the cat bed now, awake, but just sitting and doesn't want to move.

Idk. I've had surgery, and took those pain meds every 4 hrs. A human patient needs more than one pain injection after a hysterectomy. Is this one injection really going to cut it for her? Maybe I'm worrying too much, but I really don't want her to suffer.

 

[biscuity]

How did Marbles do?