Spaying And Neutering Feral Cats.

[Norachan]

Hi there Esther and Phil.



Could you tell us how long you think a feral cat should be kept indoors or crated after being spayed or neutered? If the surgery was straight forward and there were no complications, is it OK to release the cat within 24 hours? Is it better to wait longer?

Also, if a female feral cat needs to be spayed and we're pretty sure she has kittens somewhere, how long should we wait before attempting to trap and spay the mother? Is about 6 weeks after giving birth OK? Will she still be able to nurse her kittens safely after surgery?

Thanks for sharing your advice here. I'm looking forward to reading your answers.

 

[Esther Mechler]

For feral cats with no complications after surgery, releasing after 24 hours is fine. If the cat was pregnant, according to advice of people who have overseen many of these, the time kept supervised is two to three days.

As for mamma feral cats, yes, spaying six weeks after birth is about right, and they should then be able to go back to the kittens and nurse them.