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Original poster

How am I meant to do this? (Kitten related)

29 replies

Crunchymum · 26/03/2021 17:33

5mo was neutered today. He is home and seems a bit dopey but otherwise alright.

Just reading through the leaflet and it says "RESTRICT YOUR PETS EXERCISE for the next 10 days your cat will not be allowed to jump on and off chairs or beds. They must not climb flights of stairs"

So looks like I'll be removing all my furniture and locking kitten in a room then Grin

I also cannot get his bloody collar on.

In all seriousness, how best to help him recuperate?

OP posts:
Kittytheteapot · 26/03/2021 17:41

I would keep him in one room, certainly. That would keep him away from stairs. But yes, how do you keep a 5 month old kitten from jumping up on furniture? It's a joke, isn't it? When I last went through this 4 years ago, my boy had his cone of shame off before we got home from the vet (a 2 minute drive). Every time it was put back, he got it off again. I gave up after a few hours and to be fair to him, only once caught him licking his wound. His recovery was fine. I didn't tell the vet after 10 days that he had worn the cone for no more than a few hours. She sent me off telling me it would be good if he could continue wearing it for a few more days. Yeah right.

Sorry, I'm not much help, am I? Fwiw, if you keep him in one room and try not to excite him too much with boisterous play, you are probably doing the best you can.

Shehasadiamondinthesky · 26/03/2021 17:45

Pet cage.

Insomnia5 · 26/03/2021 17:48

Pet cage for the first 7-10 days, then just try and not let them get over excited

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Cats
Original poster
Crunchymum · 26/03/2021 18:04

Pet cage. For a kitten?

Sounds very restrictive. I realise that is the idea of course.

We don't have space to store one really and hoping it won't be used again.

I'll have a wee Google.

OP posts:
Thistimelastyear · 26/03/2021 18:06

Well we were told to do that, so kept them in one room but obviously they could still jump. Our female kitten tore her stitches and caused a hernia requiring further surgery. Only after this were we told that we should have used a pet cage to confine them.

Kenji · 26/03/2021 18:10

If your kitten is male then he will hardly notice he's had the procedure. I foster kittens for a cat charity and the boys are usually running around the place after a couple of hours, not a bother on them. Honestly, unless he's obviously unwell or in discomfort I would just carry on as usual.

FionnulaTheCooler · 26/03/2021 18:11

Honestly, I'd just leave him to it. When my cat got spayed I found her on top of the kitchen cupboard the next day, doesn't seem to have done her any harm. You wouldn't have known she had surgery if it wasn't for the shaved patch, I did keep her indoors but short of caging her I don't know how else I could have stopped her from doing normal cat things for 7-10 days, and she would have been miserable being shut away for that long.

Blackdog19 · 26/03/2021 18:12

My kitten was absolutely fine very quickly. I wouldn’t worry!

Will0wtree · 26/03/2021 18:12

I don't know if this is a newish thing. With our cats, neutered 15 years ago, it was take them in, then take them home. No post op advice, no leaflets, no cone, just sorta "Here's the cat. They're done now, get on as normal."

Ditto with our cats twenty years before that.

Not saying that's a good thing. And it sounds like the advice now is MUCH better. But it never crossed our mind about needing a pet cage. Or even a cone.

pippitysqueakity · 26/03/2021 18:13

None of my kittens(4 to date) ever wore a cone or ever had to be caged for recovery. They all were quite content inside for a few days with a litter tray and nice food, and I honestly don’t remember it being an issue if they went upstairs or hopped onto a chair! Hope your wee man recovers quickly and well!

ShipshapeShore · 26/03/2021 18:14

I don't remember doing anything different for my boys, although it was 14 years ago so I might have forgotten!

Squeejit · 26/03/2021 18:14

My little boy was really hyper after he was done. He was running round like a loony 🤣
I asked the vet and she said just don’t let him outside. I don’t think it’s a cage job. Just keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t seem u comfortable.

Divebar2021 · 26/03/2021 18:16

I got my girl spayed last month and I had been told by the receptionist to stop her climbing etc for 10 days after the procedure. When I queried this with the vet he just laughed and said just keep her in for a week... she was absolutely fine.

Kittytheteapot · 26/03/2021 18:16

Definitely agree with others that this is a new thing. When I was still struggling to keep the cone on my boy, I rang my very experience cat owning parents and they said none of their boys had ever had a cone to wear after spaying. It was this, as much as anything else, that decided me on keeping it off.

Theunamedcat · 26/03/2021 18:17

Boys pretty much self regulate themselves we had a few accidents out of five castrations one walked into the fridge (as in face planted) one needed the cone of shame IMMEDIATELY and spent days getting stuck in between the window and the sofa with it and one decided to DIG in his WATER BOWL (which was hilarious to watch) he then acted like a drunken idiot sitting on my shoulder trying to rub my face and sliding down my sofa it was bloody hilarious to watch

DaisyandIvy · 26/03/2021 18:19

With great difficulty.Confused

With my new kitten (age 1 now) I made a little pull on vest as she (like all the cats I've had) hated that plastic neck collar. I'm sure I found instructions online, I think I used an old t shirt. She kept it on for about a day then we just kind of watched and stopped her every time she started yanking away at the stitches.

After about 2 days she stopped messing with the wound and it was all good.

BarbaraofSeville · 26/03/2021 18:20

@Kenji

If your kitten is male then he will hardly notice he's had the procedure. I foster kittens for a cat charity and the boys are usually running around the place after a couple of hours, not a bother on them. Honestly, unless he's obviously unwell or in discomfort I would just carry on as usual.
Same here. I've taken dozens of cats and kittens of both sexes to be neutered and I've given up trying to restrict their movements and they've all been surprisingly lively.

Only time I stepped in was when a mother cat was trying to carry her 8 week old kittens upstairs the day after she had been spayed. I did think that was a step too far Grin

Prokupatuscrakedatus · 26/03/2021 18:20

Mine did not get a cone and just got on with it.
They both (with several years between them) went to sleep on DD's bed for a couple more hours than was usual for them.

LER83 · 26/03/2021 19:08

My boy was done last month and kept the cone on for about 3 hours, then we gave up as he hated it. We just didn't let him outside for about 5 days and just distracted him if we saw him licking the area. He was scaling the curtains like normal once the cone was off 😂.

Original poster
Crunchymum · 26/03/2021 19:09

Thanks for the reassurance. I've only ever had a female cat before and we lived in a small bungalow when she was spayed so much easier to keep her off the stairs Grin

He has eaten, had a wee and had a good roam. He has finally parked up on one his freshly laundered blankets!!

OP posts:
OddestSock · 26/03/2021 19:23

Our female was spayed just before christmas. She DID NOT rest and ended up rupturing all her internal stitches and needed major surgery. She still wasnt great at resting up after that one but thankfully had no complications since.

FrenchFancie · 27/03/2021 05:03

Our two boys came home drunk - very funny watching them stagger about the spare room forgetting they had back legs. They gave up and slept it off for a few hours then were fine.

Four days later the tiny terrorists launched a successful escape mission outside so I spent hours looking for them. By the time I got them home and sorted I’d sort of moved on from their op...

Original poster
Crunchymum · 27/03/2021 11:09

We're just back from the vets as overnight wee man developed a really sore eye (swollen, could barely open it). He has an ulcer. Apparently quite a rare side effect from the mask used but the vets have admitted liability and today's treatment and medication wasn't charged.

Poor thing is on x4 lots of eyedrops per day for a week and 5 days on AB.

OP posts:
Original poster
Crunchymum · 27/03/2021 11:09

Posted too soon, they checked his wound site and said that looks really good so not to worry about collar / restricting him too much.

OP posts:
GuppytheCat · 27/03/2021 11:15

Oh, poor little chap. Hope he perks up soon.

On pet cages though - we had a foster kitten last year with a broken leg, and couldn’t even stop him leaping off the furniture. Put in a pet crate, he moved on to climbing the bars and swinging from the roof. In the end he had to go to a specialist vet nustsung unit with nothing to climb on except the visiting staff.

They still fondly remember him as ‘oh god, that nutter’.

Kittens are bonkers.