Underweight cat: can s/he still be spayed/neutered?

ritz

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I rescued a cat from the sidewalk on Sunday near the community cat colony that I take care of. Initially thought female based on her private parts but now leaning more towards male based on body length (LONG) and personality (extremely friendly, cuddly, no fear of humans). S/he is anywhere from three to six months old, *underweight though over two pounds*, and her claws long enough to need clipping (OUCH!). Immediately knew how to use the litter box. Eating, what little she does eat, canned food.
S/he is underweight; I can feel her spine, though it doesn't stick out. If the cat is underweight but otherwise showing no sign of illness, can she still be spayed/neutered? She does not act sick at all; is curious, loves to cuddle, explore legs, and sit at the window and look outside. I am having pre-anesthesia blood work done, which will rule out (or, in) kidney issues, as well as FIV/FeLK test.
Thanks.
 

catpack

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This really is something to discuss with your vet.

Her lack of weight could be due to parasites or there could be an underlying condition that just isn't currently presenting with symptoms.

You mention that s/he is eating some, but it doesn't sound like much. If appetite isn't great (with such a young kitten appetite should be very good) then I would hesitate to spay/neuter at the moment.

Personally, aside from true ferals, we wait about 2 weeks before doing any proceedures with new intakes. This allows us time to do a general assessment and for any health issues to show up. We DO run a combo test and the like, but no surgeries or any other proceedures that can wait.
 
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ritz

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Thanks. I know the s/n vet won't s/n if she has any health concerns when dealing with a non-feral cat or dog (unless it is a true emergency, like infection of the uterus). She declined to spay a feral kitten because it had a slight URI, and the rescue group indicated the kitten was fairly easy to retrap.
Proactively, I have made an appointment with my vet for tomorrow afternoon. I doubt seriously that Dahalia has had any of her kitten shots, including distemper/rabies/flea; I will hold off on them. (In any case, I can get those done at cost at the parent cat sanctuary.)
 
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Columbine

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When I took Asha in she was similarly underweight. After admitting her overnight to treat other issues, my vet wanted to wait to spay her until her was a healthy weight (though, when she went in for her spay, they found an old spay scar....never did work that one out :scratch: :confuse3: )
 
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ritz

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Thanks. If Dahalia is a Danny, I'm somewhat afraid that he will start spraying and how it will affect my resident cat, Ritz (female, around 6 years old).
 

Columbine

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Firstly, it's pretty easy to see if you have an entire male - balls tend to be pretty obvious ;)

Secondly, castration is far less invasive than spaying. A vet may happily castrate when they would be reluctant to spay - its a much quicker operation...in fact it's so simple that horses are castrated with a sedative and local anesthesia!
 
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ritz

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Update. Dahalia is female, around five months old, weighs 3.5 pounds; overall in good condition. catpack catpack was right: the clinic recommended holding off on spaying until Dahalia gets more use to where she is now, nd regain her appetite and make sure her kidneys are okay. The blood work showed something was up with her kidneys, and I took her to my vet right after I got the results.
Her BUN is 91 (normal 10-30) but the vet is more concerned about her phos level (10.0, normal is 3.4 to 8.5). Glucose was normal. Some of the levels may be skewed because she was dehydrated, probably for a long time. The vet got a clean urine sample for a urinalysis; I'll get the results Monday. Depending on the results, the vet will do a CBC.
The vet is hoping Dahalia only has a UTI that has gone up to the kidneys.
Meanwhile, the vet gave her a convenia injection and subcutaneous fluids.
The good news is she is eating normally and not drinking nearly as much water. And is a joy to be around :)
Ritz hasn't met her yet.
 

Columbine

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Really hope the kidney issue is a transient one :vibes:

Good to hear she's reasonably healthy in other respects. I'm sure she'll be fully well in no time with you to look after her! Hope she and Ritz take to each other well when you're finally ready to introduce them :cross:
 
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ritz

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Another Update: Dahalia had a more complete blood work up Saturday, July 11, and her levels are much better. Her BUN is now normal as is her phosphorus. CPK is a little elevated and there are some other abnormal levels but the vet isn't concerned. Urinalysis is normal as it was ten days ago.
And she is now eating much better--especially since I discovered that she may have been holding out for the "good" stuff--dry food. I am now mixing some dry kibble into the wet food; if I anticipated keeping her, I'd start transitioning her to raw.
The second vet (who did the more complete blood work) has recommended to wait another month to get Dahalia spayed but I was hoping to do it within two weeks so I can start finding her a new home and stop falling more in love with her. I will get a second opinion from the clinic (who did the pre-spay blood work and first identified a potential problem with her kidneys). (I volunteer at the parent organization; they know me well.)
 
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