Cat post spay obsessively licking me?

[Carlympls]

Hi all!

I just adopted my cat, Ozzy, last weekend. She just got spayed on Tuesday. She has been wearing a cone and hasn’t really been fighting it. However, the last two days, she has been obsessively licking herself (she can reach her feet and the end of her tail), and turns to obsessively licking me when I have any skin showing. for now, the vet had me switch to a onesie in case the cone was rubbing her stitches while she was licking. Is there anything I can do to stop her licking, or so I need to just wait out the itchy phase? I’ve tried distracting her with toys and things like that.. but she’s right back to it afterward.

 

[Carlympls]

Oh! I forgot to say - she’s about a year old... and she’s a tortie. I know that might not mean anything - but she’s definitely not afraid to tell you how she feels

 

[susanm9006]

Poor girl. I wonder if she is feeling itchy. Did the vet send her home with any medication? I have not heard of itchiness with pain meds but antibiotics can definitely cause a reaction. It could just be nervousness after the procedure though or trying to get rid of the vet scent.

I would try giving her some catnip to see if that calms her any. There is also a product called Feliway that might help calm her.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Sounds like she is healing and that will cause itchiness. If her incision looks good, then that might be all that is going on. She licks you because she can't get to what is itching her, so she is compensating. Since she is in a onesie, ask the vet about some ointment that you could apply to the incision daily when you check her incision. That should stop her discomfort, hopefully.

 

[Carlympls]

She had pain medication the first two days - but nothing anymore.

I have a Feliway plug-in in our living room and also just put a Sentry pheromone collar on her earlier - she still is licking quite a bit, but she’s also resting a lot more and seems less anxious.

it can be so hard to watch our babies unhappy!!!