Need advice, one cat not doing great after being spayed yesterday

[waddlemyway]

Hello my lovelies, I need your advice please. We had our gorjus tabby sisters spayed yesterday morning. They are 5.5 months.

One (Bonnie) has pretty much bounced back this afternoon. The other one (Maisy) is clearly struggling and is getting worse. She feels hot compared to her sister. She's only sleeping. Won't drink cat-milk or water. Can barely move - clearly in increasing pain rather than diminishing. Her back legs are a bit twitchy crampy. This morning she was tentatively playing with hair bobbles now she just about moved half a foot to get away from the hoover rather than sprinting to the far corner of the house like she usually does. Is it just the pain meds having worn off and she's not dealing with it as well as her sister? We're guessing infection...

I am a 1st time cat mum and feeling unsure. DH had a tonne of cats growing up (but I wouldn't exactly have called his parents responsible) and he can tell she's not right but doesn't know what to do now.

Obviously they're coming in our room tonight, which is normally a no-no due to mild allergies on my part.
But what's important now? Getting her to drink and lots of cuddles? Wish I could dose her up with calpol like i do my kids to see her through the night!! Aaaaghhhh!
I guess my question is, are we okay to wait till dawn to call the vet? Or is it action stations now?

Picture of her hiding under the coffee table (before DH came around with the hoover) for traffic's sake.

[Motnight]

I would visit the emergency vet this evening to be honest.

[SparklingLime]

I’d call the emergency vet and ask for advice. Don’t leave it overnight with those worsening symptoms.

[Brenna24]

Vets this evening. It sounds to me like she might have an infection. Not eating or drinking is definitely an immediate vets to me, plus the being hot and lethargic.

[Queenest]

Yes please call the vets for advice. You can ask if they feel it’s necessary to visit today or tomorrow. Hope she is on the mend soon.

[Hairyfairy01]

Emergency vets. Can't believe you have to ask to be honest.

[Bargebill19]

I would call the vet. Fingers crossed for you.

[Vinorosso74]

Definitely call emergency vets. I agree it sounds like an infection.

[DobbyTheHouseElk]

Vets tonight. I’m sure some antibiotics and some painkillers will help her.

[Nowisthemonthofmaying]

Emergency vets for sure! Cats are normally very good at hiding it when they're ill so with those symptoms I wouldn't want to leave it until tomorrow.

[BadEyeBri]

Ring the vets. Do not for the love of god give your cat calpol or neurofen. Both paracetamol and ibuprofen are poisonous for cats.

[waddlemyway]

No no, don't worry, I'm not going to give them hooman meds. I just meant I feel so helpless at being able to do something, anything....

Called the emergency vet. We were given the unsurprising option of going in to get antibiotics or sitting out the night. Unfortunately DH has put his foot down about going to the emergency vet as it's 40mins away and we both had a bottle of wine with dinner. In turn he has promised to be knocking on our local vet's door when they open at 8am.

I'm sure he will sleep blissfully.

She's just gone to the loo and had a gentle walk about which is a good sign at least. And sister is allowed to lick. We are allowed to cuddle but not pick up.

Thank you all ladies! I'll keep you posted. And I won't be sleeping a wink tonight so you can bet I'll be making that 40min journey if she gets any worse. But right now I feel a bit better after speaking to the vet and seeing her walk around again.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Vets, it sounds like a bad infection.

[BadEyeBri]

It sounds like your cat is recovering from major abdominal surgery. Keep her quiet and warm. Don't allow her to jump about or play with hair bobbles. She's probably sore. If you had the same procedure you'd be laid up for a week.
Your other cat needs to be kept quiet too. They will recover at different rates.

[Veterinari]

@waddlemyway
Has she urinated?
It's a rare complication but it is possible the urinary system could be damaged during surgery. This is a life threatening emergency.

Honestly her signs sound like severe pain, it's too early for signs of infection. If she's not drinking she'll dehydrate quickly.

She needs to be seen now - did you tell the triage service all of her symptoms including not eating/drinking/moving?
At a minimum leaving her in pain without pain relief is a welfare problem - did your vets not give you pain relief to administer at home for a few days?

Just as a general FYI, Calpol is lethal for cats.

[Veterinari]

And using the feline facial pain scale and her eyes, whiskers and ear position, I'd score her as being in moderate to severe pain from that photo.

I wouldn't want to leave her overnight

[nickyschof]

Please get her seen to tonight. I had a kitten who was spayed,died the night after the op of internal bleeding.

[QueenPaws]

I wouldn't leave overnight. My cat was quiet and lethargic but otherwise ok, the only clue I had was he wasn't purring as much as usual. He got admitted to the emergency vets and ended up needing IV drugs and fluids

[glassshoes]

I too think you should get her seen tonight. Could you ask for a home visit as you have had something to drink? Or get a taxi?

[Veterinari]

How is she this morning @waddlemyway ?

[ImFree2doasiwant]

Hope she's feeling better or is getting the appropriate treatment.

[waddlemyway]

Aaarghhh what a morning. Felt like forever for DH to get home....

Maisy is on the mend but will have to stay at the vet's overnight tonight. She is on a drip for hydration and antibiotics and is getting pain meds too. Wound etc is all clean and the vet couldn't feel anything she shouldn't when examining Maisy's tummy but she definitely got growled at big time. She can pee and there is no internal bleeding. Diagnosis is internal infection. The good news is she is responding to the meds and her temperature has come down again. We can visit in the morning and will most likely be able to take her home again then.

We all feel very lost without her, sister Bonnie especially, who is on a mission for cuddles. Fine by me. Having a chill afternoon at home together.

Thanks all for the concern and input. Going to speak to neighbour who volunteers at a local shelter to see if she has a "closer" number to call - heaven forfend there should ever be a next time.

[Veterinari]

That's good @waddlemyway
It may be worth them scanning her or taking bloods to check her kidney function even if she's urinating (if just one side is damaged the other kidney will produce urine normally)

[waddlemyway]

Yes good call. I am definitely going to give them a ring this afternoon to get an update on how she's doing. Will be sure to ask what they've tested and what their reason is if they haven't done it.

I'm positively falling apart at the seams after that restless night now I know she's in good hands. I do trust our vet and they also came exceptionally highly recommended by the crazy cat neighbour (who has impeccable standards at the best of times). They are also very close should we need to get there quickly.

[Veterinari]

How is she @waddlemyway ?
Hope she's doing better

[waddlemyway]

Hi @Veterinari
Thanks so much! Yup we picked her up yesterday and she is a different cat to 24hrs before. Probably now the better healed of the two of them, though they are both doing brilliantly all things considered. The wound had popped open and was leaking something ever so slightly so there was definitely an infection under there. Vet decided not to stitch again in case there is more needing out so we have to be super careful with their licking and playing. Which is hard, because the two of them are sooooo happy to be together again 😻 But she gave us pain meds and disinfection cream this time and Maisy is fully dosed with antibiotics till our check-up on Mon.
Also the vet said she doesn't pick up the phone at the weekend but she is there in the practice so if I have any questions or photos I can email them and she will be checking regularly. Which puts my mind massively at ease just knowing that.
Two happy cats and four happy hoomans. Happy days 😀