crazy cat after neuter and non-recognition aggression

[kosame]

\My 6mo old Remi got neutered today and
There is chaos in my tiny home.
He's awake and he's active! SO active! He wants to jump and climb and run and do kitten things.
The vet told me he absolutely must not be active at all for 10-14 days. They told me to keep him in a kennel with food and water and make him rest. I can't do that- he was terrified. He climbed up the kennel, screamed, knocked everything over and nearly hurt himself, poor thing. Right now he's running about my room like a normal kitten. I don't know what else to do. I tried locking him in the bathroom but that was too scary for him and he freaked out and almost hurt himself again. His meds were supposed to calm him down but YIKES he's more active than ever
Theo, my scared -of-any-sort-of-change 1yo is terrified of him- not because of the vet smell, but because of the e-collar. Theo hisses, spits, swipes and runs away whenever he sees the collar. He's so scared. I briefly took it off Remi and Theo was once again fairly accepting. But I have to keep the collar on.
I work a 9-5 and I am going to try to get off tomorrow but I don't know...

 

[Mia6]

I would call vet ASAP and see what they say. Perhaps they can give him an anti anxiety drug. I hope
you can take tomorrow off. If you lived close, I would watch him.

 

[rubysmama]

kosame : It's been a few hours since you first posted, has he settled down any yet?

I'm a little surprised your vet said to keep the e-collar on 10-14 days for a male cat, as neutering isn't as big a procedure as spaying is for a female.

If Remi's still upset/stressed, I agree with M mia that you should check with your vet.

Meanwhile, here's a TCS article on Spaying And Neutering – What To Look For After Surgery – Cat Articles that might be helpful.

 

[sivyaleah]

kosame it's very common for cats to be wired after having anesthesia - it's a side effect many of them have. Unfortunately, after surgery certainly a problem!

I do hope Remi has calmed down overnight. I do agree with others that 10-14 days is rather overkill for keeping a male cat quiet after being neutered and in the e-collar. While I have not personally dealt with caring for a male cat after being fixed, I did with a female and even she was up and about after 3-4 days without a collar or protection of any kind. Only the first 2 days did we have her wearing something (actually, a onsie) and kept her confined to limit activity but after that it was pretty impossible and reading TCS stories, seems most have the same experience. Nothing bad happened to her at all and and for a female, the surgery is way more intrusive.

It sounds like your vet is overly cautious, not a bad thing but I too agree you should call and find out more information and discuss the reaction Remi had after surgery. In the interim, if you have a room to confine him in at minimum, where you can at least prevent him from wildly accessing high places for a day or so, that might be a good idea.

As for the reaction of your other cat this is common also both to the smell of Remi and as you mention the appearance of him with the e-collar on. Things should settle down in a day or so once both of those things are gone. We also had a few days of our older cat not recognizing/being annoyed by the kitten after surgery - but it passed once Luna was acting like her normal self again.

 

[Willowy]

There's nothing that can really happen to a male if he runs around too much. Males don't have an abdominal incision like females do. The main (tiny) risk is infection and that can happen whether he runs around or not. Anyway what I'm saying is that it's not necessary to limit his activity.

 

[kosame]

Thank you everyone!
He did calm down! Once I settled down he slept through the whole night and into the morning.
Thankfully my family is going to keep an eye on the boys today while I'm at work!
Theo still makes the most horrifying growling noises whenever he sees Remi, and I can tell he's terrified poor guy. Now that Remi's awake he wants to be crazy again lol
Thanks for the advice and articles! I'm definitely still a bit nervous about his energy level so I think I might call and talk to the vet.
Never dealt with a neuter before but I had a girl get spayed and she was fine after a few days so hmmm

 

[rubysmama]

Glad to hear he's calmed down. About Theo and his non-recognition aggression, here's another TCS article that might have some tips for you: How To Deal With Non-recognition Aggression In Cats – Cat Articles

 

[kosame]

Thank you for the article!~
Poor Theo is still quite alarmed by Remi and feeling very unwell. I have made efforts to keep them apart much of the time and keep things calm.
Remi is doing great now. Acting normal, eating normal, being silly as usual.
Theo is very upset. He's refusing to eat anything (he did this when I first brought Remi home as a tiny kitten too), although today he did eat, but he threw the whole meal up. Any sort of change is terribly unnerving to him and I feel so bad. I'm really worried. Just wish he could feel more stable and go back to being my happy boy he's made so much progress in the past months, coming out his shell and gaining confidence. It's hard to see him so sad.

 

[rubysmama]

If Theo is still not eating, or particularly still throwing up, you might want to let your vet know. They might be able to give him an anti-nausea shot.

Vibes he feels better soon.

 

[ArtNJ]

I recently got my kitten spayed and the pain meds were so much stronger than I remembered. My kitten was drugged out of her flipping mind. Vet said to keep her in the carrier till 8 at night because the meds were so strong it wouldn't be safe for her to be out and about. And she was so stoned that she was banging her head into the carrier bars, head kind of bopping all over the place. Was super freaky.

As long as your cats don't actually fight, the non recognition should go away quickly, if it hasn't already.