My 6 month old cat Penelope just got spayed today and was one of the ones who was active once she got home on the anesthesia. I had to put her in her carrier and put her in a quiet space to calm down. She is doing better and I have given the pain meds, however she is still jumping up on the couch and chairs and it’s impossible to chase her around when she is up.. she also tore the cone off in 5 minute and is periodically licking her incision. Her cat protectant suit doesn’t get here until tomorrow and I am worried about how I am going to keep her from being in 1 room overnight as she continuously scratches at the door I’m trying to put her in.. needless to say I am STRESSED.. I also have another kitten Ivy who I am trying to keep her away from. ANY recommendations would be helpful at this point…
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Spayed cat today - wants to jump and not be confined in 1 room…
- Thread starter Oford21
- Start Date
When my Patter was spayed, the vet removed her just her ovaries and left the uterus alone. She just had a small incision only her side. She came home and napped, but was pretty much back to her usual self by bedtime. No cone, no onesie.
If the incision is on the lower belly, it indicates they removed her uterus as well as the ovaries. That's a more extensive procedure, more invasive. It takes a little longer to recover from. That's when they recommend a cone and a onesie.
My guess is that Penelope had the first procedure, ovaries only taken.
My own, not-a-vet-or-even-a-tech, opinion is
that if Penelope was in pain, she most likely would not be bouncing around, and that IF she's only giving the incision site a brief lick now and then, it's probably a non-issue.
If the incision is on the lower belly, it indicates they removed her uterus as well as the ovaries. That's a more extensive procedure, more invasive. It takes a little longer to recover from. That's when they recommend a cone and a onesie.
My guess is that Penelope had the first procedure, ovaries only taken.
My own, not-a-vet-or-even-a-tech, opinion is
that if Penelope was in pain, she most likely would not be bouncing around, and that IF she's only giving the incision site a brief lick now and then, it's probably a non-issue.
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- #3
Thank you so much!! I am not 100% sure on weather they took just her ovaries or both. Her incision is about an inch towards her lower belly so maybe they took both? She did ok overnight in my room with me. However there is still the occasional times where she jumps on my bed which I can’t really control… she’s not licking the wound ALL the time I normally find her licking something nearby like her leg or something. My next problem is my kitten Ivy. I had to keep them both separate overnight and ivy cried at my door non stop most of the night .. I can tell Penelope isn’t crazy about being around her right now because she doesn’t feel good but Ivy wants to be wherever I am or wherever people are. I’m not really sure how long to keep them separate .. but I don’t want to encourage them to play either…
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- #5
Hi! Thanks for asking!! She’s doing a lot better!! Its been hard to keep her and my other kitten Ivy separated when they want to play.. Ivy also has given me a little challenge as she just cries outside my door all night because she wants in.. I thought about keeping her in a room too but I think she will just cry in there too. Penelope (one who had surgery) has been mostly healing in my room. She can jump on my bed but there’s not really a way for me to stop her at this point if she does it but I have a nice bed set up on my floor for her and she usually sleeps there. This morning she’s starting to act a little more like herself wanting to get out to go play so that’s good! I did buy the cat recovery suit and she actually liked it!! I did have to take it off for her to use the litter box because I think it felt funny- but overall she likes it. However at random times she will all the sudden take a quick hop or skip acting like it’s bothering her.. ultimately I don’t want her to hurt herself in the process so sometimes I’ll take it off to give her a break.
just taking things 1 day at a time over here! Lol
I really think she will be fine, cats won't jump if they have pain, they tend to hide. I have had more cats than I can count spayed and NONE of them ever wore a cone or onesie. I am spaying outside cats right now and they are let free the morning after the procedure and have all been fine. They jump right away and run around. They also licked the incision.
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- #7
This is such a relief to hear!! I haven’t really seen her going at her incision too much- just her normal bathing routine but even then I don’t see her licking it and the incision still looks good on day 3! Each day is better but it’s really just keeping my other kitten and Penelope calm because they want to play! They love to wrestle which is not the best idea at this time. I appreciate the honesty because I think most people tell you you HAVE to follow these steps or the incision will become infected or it will take them longer to heal etc.
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- #9
Update here: Penelope is doing great! Today is the first day I did not give her any pain meds and she seems to be comfortable without them. Despite me not being able to keep her from jumping periodically her incision looks healthy and has started to scab. I haven’t seen her lick or even get near her incision so that’s a huge relief. I am wondering if she has recovered so well because I did have them do the laser surgery VS the traditional spay and I also had them do a cold laser therapy treatment on her post surgery. I hear using the laser can speed up recovery time and less pain for her post spay. I have still kept Penelope and Ivy separated only at night as they tend to like to play as I go to sleep. I am wondering if they would be OK to be together overnight now? If Ivy gets close to P’s incision she will swat her just saying “hey I don’t like that” and Ivy will stop- but I’m afraid since she just had surgery last Wednesday it’s still too soon .. any thoughts or previous experiences with this?
TIA!!
It's fine to let them be together. I have had several cats spayed over the years and I have only confined them overnight for the anesthesia to totally wear off and to make sure that they are eating and using the box normally. (Also so the other cats won't pester them!) In the morning, I let them out into the general population. Cats are good at self-limiting when they're in pain, so if she's feeling anything from the incision, she'll not jump as much or as high.
