Food after spay

Kristin_Happy Texan

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What do you typically feed a cat after being spayed?

The feral that (hopefully) is getting spayed today I cannot handle AT ALL. I read they have to stay in the trap 24 hours after the surgery, and to just moisten wet canned food with water and drop it into the trap. I read they can get their water this way. (I'm going to leave some water beside the trap anyway. I figure she might be able to reach it).

She's going to have to stay in our barn. I've been setting things up all afternoon, and I'll have a live baby cam in there too.

Should I feed her immediately after we bring her back home, or wait a while? (I'm thinking about ants. It should be okay, since it's in the barn which is on a raised platform. To be safe from any ants though, I don't wish to have food in there until necessary. Only last night I had to battle them, but the trap was on the front porch next to our garden bed).

I think I'm going to have to go back to the store because I forgot to buy more canned cat food today. (All I have is Blue Canned Dog Food. I guess that would do in a pinch, but I don't wish to take my chances). We do have Mackerel. Do you think she might eat that?
 

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Thank you for getting that cat TNR'd. If she is still under anesthesia, hopefully you can have the vet put her into a medium or large dog carrier as a recovery cage. Typically, my vet doesn't want me to feed until the next morning and I feed a slurry of canned food thinned with water. Also, I keep the cage covered to prevent sensory overload & reduce the likelihood that the cat will struggle to escape the recovery cage. The dog carrier is much more comfortable than a trap. I am kinda small so I carry the dog carrier by grabbing the sides with the gate pushed up against my gut - it's much easier than trying to lift by the handle, especially with the blanket or sheet covering.
 
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Kristin_Happy Texan

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I was thinking that, too, about the trap. The positive thing about it though is its easy cleanup. (Puppy pads beneath the trap, which is open-air/not enclosed. She won't be sitting in her own urine/feces).

We do have a large dog kennel. (It isn't a pet crate. It's a large black kennel with the sliding locks that don't really lock. I would have to zip tie that. It doesn't even have a handle, so carrying it with her inside would be pretty difficult. I'm not sure it's manageable to be honest). The good thing about it is it's a little more spacious, but not too big for her, and it has a removable tray beneath the bars at the bottom. It's like a removable litter box tray. I can place puppy pads on the tray and change them if need be.

My family wants to just use the trap, since it's supposed to be for 24 hours, but I'm also thinking of her time in there today. (They would say I'm overthinking everything, and am stressing them out, but I just want her as comfortable as possible).

I can't wait until this is all over. I hate it so much. I'm stressed, and I'm worried about the cat's stress. (Hearing the barking dogs alone is stressful enough). I worry that I haven't heard ANYTHING from the shelter yet, and it's already 2 pm. I still don't know anything. Are they going to spay her? Are they going to lie and say she has Feline HIV when she doesn't? Are the doctors competent? Are they just going to leave her in that trap all day, and then tell us they're not going to spay her? I can't stand the thought of her trapped in there all day, just waiting for nothing, when we could have been making other plans for her. I don't like this silence.
 
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Kristin_Happy Texan

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:alright: The silence is the worst! I hope that you have heard updates by now. The latest consensus about FIV is that it is no longer considered a death sentence by the more advanced institutions.
Austin Pets Alive! | Myths and Truths About FIV
My mother was telling me about that just today.

We never heard back, so at around 2 pm we called. They said the vet took her, but I don't know exactly what that means. I doubt the shelter even knew. They did say she would come home tonight. (I think that's assuming she was diagnosed as HIV Neg and was spayed. The vet could have euthanized her for all I know. I hope not).

It's now 5:37 and they closed to the public at 4. I really hoped she would be settled in here before dark.

I really am grateful to this shelter, but I'm also upset over a couple things. It is what it is. I just want Kitty back home, safe. I really hope she recovers QUICKLY since we can't handle her at all.

UPDATE: It's now after 6:30 PM. They called, saying she was staying overnight and was still very groggy. I take that to mean she was the very last surgery of the day. Poor thing. They said she's back in the trap because they had no more boxes. (Not exactly sure what kind of boxes they're talking about. I was told last summer, with the other litter, that the babies would all be left in boxes as well. I'm assuming they mean boxes with air holes that have lids that lock. This cat is feral, so she would have to be very confined in something).

They said we could pick her up in the morning by 9 am. I guess we'll pick her up, put her in the barn (closed) with the camera on her, and see how she's doing around 5 pm. If she seems alert, we'll let her out. The one thing that I worry about the most is the temperature tomorrow night. It's supposed to be 39, but fortunately we do have a heat lamp that we can use.

I really think her being confined for too long would be dangerous, as she'd try to escape. I don't want her to injure herself. I have to remind myself that she's a survivor and not a "pet" like a housecat or dog. She's a wild animal.

Speaking of pets--- When our puppy was spayed a few months back, that first night I slept with her in her fenced-in doggy gate area. Lol! (How could I not? She was crying and she actually climbed up into my lap for comfort). During her entire recovery after that first night, I closed off the kitchen and put a blow-up mattress in there. I slept in there with her the entire time. Lol! She loved it, and she recovered so incredibly well. It was actually difficult getting her not to play and run.

Anyway... thanks to everyone for allowing me to ramble today. It was therapeutic in a way. I'm grateful for this shelter, but at the same time I don't really like the people. They make you feel like you're bothering them. Also, I know it was just an accident but we never got back one of the towels we used on the trap/crate with the kittens as well as the water bottle. Because we never got it back, we had to buy a new water bottle today for Mama Kitty when she comes home.
 
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LeiLatte

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I know it’s a late response by now, but if possible even staying in the garage would be better than out in the barn I think. After sedation the cats aren’t able to regulate their body temperature so they shouldn’t be out in the cold.
 
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Kristin_Happy Texan

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I know it’s a late response by now, but if possible even staying in the garage would be better than out in the barn I think. After sedation the cats aren’t able to regulate their body temperature so they shouldn’t be out in the cold.
I've read all about that, too. (I did tons of research and even called our vet). It was the only option we had. The garage and storage building are much colder than the barn, which has heat lamps. She also spent her first evening after surgery at the shelter. So far it looks like she did well.
 

LeiLatte

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I've read all about that, too. (I did tons of research and even called our vet). It was the only option we had. The garage and storage building are much colder than the barn, which has heat lamps. She also spent her first evening after surgery at the shelter. So far it looks like she did well.
I understand. Sometimes we just do the best we can. Since we was at the shelter after spaying she was surely warm. Thanks for caring for kitty and I’m glad she is doing well. :)
 
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Kristin_Happy Texan

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Canned Cat Food with option of dry food as well. I put Probiotics in her food, too. I'd like to give her Mackerel, but I'm afraid it'll just draw the other cat over here.

That other Calico cat keeps hanging around, and I have to say.... our feral kitty that just got spayed has been hiding elsewhere a lot and is very skittish. I'm afraid the poor girl has been traumatized. She's even more afraid of us than usual. (Understandable, considering what she went through. Losing her babies, being trapped, stuck in a shelter surrounded by humans and loud animals, etc. Then surgery).

I feel SO BAD for her. She's so skittish. I'm watching her right now, eating on our front porch. She's petrified of that other cat now.
 
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