Feral cat won't eat after spay

koolimy

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Hi, I have a feral cat that I took in and took for a spay yesterday.
I have had her since around July. She became a bit of an indoor outdoor cat and was making good progress on becoming human friendly.
After getting her spayed yesterday, she hid under the bed and did not eat or go to the bathroom at all (to my knowledge). I have tried leaving food and water under the bed for her and in general giving her space, but to my knowledge all she has done is stay under the bed.
It's been a day since her spay and I am worried because she has not eaten nor gone to the bathroom for a whole day. I tried to give her some of the cat paste sticks but she backed off and hissed at me.

I have contacted my regular vet who does house visits, so hopefully she can help. Do any of you have any advice on what I can do? I have tried throwing her treats (dry), making some chicken cooked in water and butter and throwing it to her, making some liver cooked in water and butter and throwing it to her, and leaving her wet cat food out so she can eat, but there has been no progress. I can leave her food right in front of her nose and she still doesn't budge to eat.

Thanks.
 

di and bob

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I had a stray that did the exact same thing. She didn't eat or use the litter box for three days. I was getting desperate. Leave her litter box close by with a water bowl near her, and just find what she can't resist. that is what I had to do. Hartz Delectable Lickables in the STEW (chicken and tuna, or whitefish and tuna) and turkeySheba in the bits were the only things I could get her to eat. You might try them. I get them at Walmart, Target, and Dollar Store. Or even deli fried chicken shredded or fast food roast beef. She may be like mine was, so upset and feeling betrayed it will take a while. Mine hid up inside the couch. Just sit nearby several times a day and talk to her softly, offering food and leaving treats when you leave. She most likely doesn't have to go to the bathroom because she is empty inside. If she goes longer than three days call your vet and see about an appetite stimulant.
 
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koolimy

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I had a stray that did the exact same thing. She didn't eat or use the litter box for three days. I was getting desperate. Leave her litter box close by with a water bowl near her, and just find what she can't resist. that is what I had to do. Hartz Delectable Lickables in the STEW (chicken and tuna, or whitefish and tuna) and turkeySheba in the bits were the only things I could get her to eat. You might try them. I get them at Walmart, Target, and Dollar Store. Or even deli fried chicken shredded or fast food roast beef. She may be like mine was, so upset and feeling betrayed it will take a while. Mine hid up inside the couch. Just sit nearby several times a day and talk to her softly, offering food and leaving treats when you leave. She most likely doesn't have to go to the bathroom because she is empty inside. If she goes longer than three days call your vet and see about an appetite stimulant.
Thank you for your reply! Were the lickables a part of your cat's diet before she got the spay, or did you just try to get a whole bunch of stuff to see if she would eat it? All the stuff I've been trying to give her are some of her favorite food/treats that she would eat on the regular, so her change in appetite is worrying.
 
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koolimy

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Also, do you recommend trying to get her out from under the bed? I was just letting her be but I'm worried that being under the bed will not let us really make any progress on eating, etc. Of course, I'm also worried about freaking her out if I try to get her out, so it's a bit of a double edged sword, just hope she'll get to eating/going to the bathroom/drinking water.
 

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If it was me, for the time being I wouldn’t attempt to get her out from under the bed. That would even scare her more. I’d give it another day at least. I have an older cat who wasn’t eating much, someone on this site suggested a small jar of Gerber baby food (chicken) I don’t remember the “stage”. It was purée. She actually ate it. I had tried all kinds of foods that she wouldn’t eat. It’s hard trying to get cats to eat.
I don’t know how often you go in the room where she is but maybe if you leave the food and water with her and just not go in as often, she might eventually get hungry and come out.
Good luck
 
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koolimy

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Thanks everyone for your replies. Did y'all not worry about the cat disease that they can get if they don't eat for 24 hours? That has been my biggest concern, as many people say that cats should get something in their belly, otherwise their liver might start having problems. How did it turn out for you? Were your cats okay even if they didn't eat for 2-3 days?
 

di and bob

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I did worry, but I kept thinking how do those cats survive that get locked up for weeks at a time somewhere. But thankfully she had no problems. The lickables were found because my cats have Leukemia and need to take liquid meds every day. They NEVER turn them down. I keep them around because it is also the only thing they will eat when they have a relapse. and stop eating. Even a few licks is good. I would not force her into anything right now, just try to coax her out. If you can reach her somehow you might stroke her, get her to feel a little better.
 
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koolimy

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Thanks for the reply. I wanted to provide a bit of an update.

On Saturday I made a huge mistake and left the door to my apartment open. When I walked in to give her some food, I spooked her a bit and she ultimately got outside. I was worried like crazy because I thought that she would never come back and I would never be able to find her and give her any food.

Fortunately, getting outside may have been the best thing that happened to her. Not long after she got outside, she went to the bathroom. As an indoor outdoor cat that started life as a feral around my apartment complex, she has not been litter box trained (outside of one occasion, I have not seen her use the litter box). Being outside, she was much more in her own element and was able to start behaving like a cat again.

I left out some food in the areas I saw her. I am not sure if she ate any of the food I left out, but it was gone when I checked a few hours later.

Around 1:30 am, I went to move some of the food I left out to places where I saw the food disappear. After checking on and moving the food, I went back to my apartment balcony and looked at the area where I left the food, to see if I could see my cat eating. I saw my cat prowling around, so it was nice to see that she was not in hiding. I lost sight of her and waited for a few minutes to see if she would appear in the brighter areas where I could see her better, but I ultimately did not see her and decided to go back into my apartment. As I turned my eyes back towards my apartment door, I saw my cat walking up the stairs to my apartment! I was elated and relieved, and I went to prepare her a meal. I got out some of the Gerber's baby food (thanks a lot for this recommendation!) and gave it to her, and she gulped it down!

She is still suffering from a few complications from the surgery, mainly a cough that sounds like she has phlegm in her throat, but outside of the issues w/ coughing I think things couldn't have turned out better, given the events that happened. I was worried a lot about non-recognition aggression from my other cat, but he got along w/ feral cat like nothing happened. She has gotten back to eating and is on track to returning to normal.

I appreciate all of your comments and suggestions. I was incredibly relieved to know that she would be okay even after not eating for close to 2 days. Your suggestions of food also helped out, as she and my other cat love the baby food! I hope that she can get her coughing issues sorted out and return to being herself!
 

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di and bob

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Thank you for the update! I'm SO happy you got her back! The cough most likely is from the anesthesia, it should subside in a few more days. At least you got the spaying out of the way, I wish you the very best from here on out. Please come back whenever you like, we would love to have you give your experiences to others that may have this same problem. As I said earlier my little girl didn't eat for 3 or 4 days, so I know how scary this is.
 
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koolimy

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Thank you for your kind words! The recommendations here helped me a lot while I was going through this process. I will try to come around from time to time!
 
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