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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

Kitten to be neutered next week - what to expect

29 replies

SecretSquirrels · 16/01/2012 14:16

Kitten novice here.
He was a rescue kitten and we agreed to have him neutered. He is five months now and booked in at the vet next week. Vet says nothing to eat or drink after 9pm -whoa that's going to be difficult!
Any tips please?

OP posts:

tabulahrasa · 16/01/2012 20:14

Are you sure it's no water? It's usually no food, but it's ok to leave water down...

Feed him at 5 to 9, go to bed before he asks again, lol, then it's just a bit in the morning to ignore the complaining.

Figgyrolls · 16/01/2012 20:17

To be perfectly honest he is going to hate you beyond all hatefulness when he discovers that his furrfy little grapes have gone so not feeding him so much isn't going to be a problem, I seem to remember mine being a bit woozy and very pissed of when he returned!

Original poster

SecretSquirrels · 17/01/2012 10:47

Oh dear.I thought he wouldn't know as he's so young?
DH and my two teenage boys have accused me of extreme cruelty along with much eye rolling and leg crossing.
Vet said last food at 9pm then "take away his water when you go to bed" - which in my case is 9.30!

OP posts:

Figgyrolls · 17/01/2012 11:11

Oh they know! Cruelty - absolutely not do you want your house to smell revolting from them marking everything (that is sicky emoticon btw!) he will be fine and you will all be fine and he will be a little sore but he'll get over it with a bit of posh food and cuddles!

tabulahrasa · 17/01/2012 11:39

I don't think they know if it helps any, lol

Obviously they're aware they've been mucked about with, but that's about it.

Figgyrolls · 17/01/2012 11:46

I think tabulah is right, they don't actually know but they don't much like being mucked around with.

Not as much as the dog though who craps whenever we go to the vet, in the vet, on the vet, around the surgery..........................stupidly nervous creature and she hasn't even had anything other than an injection!

kreecherlivesupstairs · 17/01/2012 11:49

My two were most vocal about being shut in their cat box to go to the vet.
AFAIR, they had their last meal around 10 then nothing.
When they came back, the vet said we should give the chicken breast or fish. I cooked and sliced on breast each and they wolfed it down. Since I had no more chicken they immediately went back to their dry food.
I don't think either have noticed that they don't have nuts, ginge did keep licking grey heads empty sack though.
Mine were chipped at the same time, I think it came as a package.

Original poster

SecretSquirrels · 17/01/2012 12:23

He always poos in the nasty vet box carrier. The vet is a half hour drive away. I don't know what I'm going to do if he does his HUGE morning poo while he's in the car. He normally does one straight after breakfast.

kreecher he will be chipped as well. Then the next step is to let him go out -(PFK emoticon).
I have got one of those cat flaps that reads the microchip.

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Teds77 · 17/01/2012 12:36

Mine were grumpy because it was a trip to the vets and they ended up a bit sore - but not sure they are any more aware than that. One of mine walked a bit like John Wayne for 24 hours but we were told not to worry.

Other stuff I remember -
They will be very hungry when you get home.

You need to check their empty fluff balls/scars every day for about a week - just to check they are clean/nothing stuck on/no infection etc.

Our vet recommended we replace our litter with shredded paper for a few days as would be less likely to stick to wounds. However, most important thing is that they are going to the loo. Ours refused to use shredded paper so we reverted to litter.

ragged · 17/01/2012 12:41

How long do they need to stay indoors afterwards?

Original poster

SecretSquirrels · 17/01/2012 12:56

We use the wood pellet litter so I think that will be okay.
I will ask vet about going out.
He is desperate to go out. Wowing at the door and the window, peeping longingly through the perspex cat flap. Perhaps I have made this worse because I have been taking him out for a few minutes each day on a harness to familiarise him.

OP posts:

kreecherlivesupstairs · 17/01/2012 12:58

I think you have been tormenting him. poor squirrelscat, experiences the great outdoors but isn't allowed to explore it.
One of mine streaked out the door to poo. He didn't come to any harm and was back a couple of minutes later. The other had to be carried out to toilet. They didn't have a litter tray then.

Original poster

SecretSquirrels · 17/01/2012 13:07

You are right kreecher, in retrospect it was a mistake.
I read somewhere that you did this prior to letting them out alone. I hope this doesn't mean he will run away and not come back once he is let loose.

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thementalist · 17/01/2012 13:21

I had my kitten neutered the day before Xmas eve, he was about 4 months then.

I was told no food after 10, and no water after midnight and to the vet between 9and 11am next day. My kitten wakes me up at 7am every morning screaming for food, so I was dreading it and planned to have him at the vets for it opening at 9am.

However, things didn't go to plan, ended up with DD off school sick...but the kitten was actually ok with being starved!

Got to the vet at 11 and had him back home at 3, starving! He was a little sleepy that night, but apart from that, you wouldn't think he had even had a procedure done.

I wasn't told to check scar, change litter or anything like that and he was back to normal the next day.

ragged · 17/01/2012 13:45

that's interesting, I'm told that none of the local vets will neuter before 6 months as it requires special equipment they don't bother to invest in.

I hate asking for advice, I hear so many conflicting things & what's worse it all conflicts with my own experience of having cats as a child (& what was obviously successful then). But, er, um... has anyone just let their cat out and walked around with them & not kept them on a harness or kept extremely close tabs & insisted on them back indoors within 2 minutes? And how many days / weeks was that after you acquired said Mogs, and were they neutered already if Toms?

Figgyrolls · 17/01/2012 13:53

Mine refused to stay inside and was houdini a little rascal, but he always came back! My vet said to shake the dry food and to let him out when he was starving so he had a reason to come back! 2 days of food shaking and he was back like a whistle . He comes to his name when not being belligerent most of the time and we know he travels far but the mere fact is that he knows where he is meant to be and hasn't wandered to live with someone else.

Mine didn't have scars, have no idea what they did but I think they left the outside fluffy bit and it has gradually disappeared as he has grown. Think he was done at 6 months and also chipped at the same time.

tabulahrasa · 17/01/2012 14:00

'has anyone just let their cat out and walked around with them & not kept them on a harness or kept extremely close tabs & insisted on them back indoors within 2 minutes?'

Pretty much, the older cat was spayed in late spring/ early summer so she just started coming out into the back garden with me and the DC when they were playing - she didn't go far to start with and I'd feed her after about 10-15 minutes so she'd come back in

The littler one started going out at about 4 and half months, because it was this time last year and um she looked cute trying to walk in all the snow, but that was literally for a couple of minutes at a time.

Then after teh snow had gone, she got spayed and I started letting her out, not going with her because it was still cold and again calling her in to feed her after about 10 minutes

kreecherlivesupstairs · 17/01/2012 15:22

I had planned to keep my two in for a couple of months. They were 10 ish weeks old when I got them. The bonkers cat lady woman I got them off let them go in and out of her window at will so they were never going to be happy with incarceration.
Pretty much as soon as I got them they were out and about. DD used to invite the neighbourhood children in to see the kitten zoo. At first they never went beyond a couple of metres of the back door. After about a week they were halfway down the garden (approx 15 metres) then they were over the back fence.

Original poster

SecretSquirrels · 17/01/2012 16:28

It was the vet who told me to bring him for neutering at 5 months.
I accept that I have been PFK about letting him out. It's just like children, you learn on the first one. If we get another kitten he will no doubt be thrown out at an early age and left to his own devices.

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crazynanna · 17/01/2012 16:30

I am petrified about letting my kitten out when the time comes.

It is a PFK thing with me (my 1st cat)..and she is too small to let out yet..but we have 2 bully cats who patrol the gardens around here, and I have seen a fox the size of a bloody husky scaling my fence a couple of times.

I am so nervous...she's dying to get out aleady

Original poster

SecretSquirrels · 17/01/2012 16:55

There is a humongous ginger tom next door who considers our garden part of his territory. My little fellow can run fast though. We are very rural but there are still the odd car and tractor going down the lane , I'm more worried about them really.
He is always hungry at the moment so I guess if I time it just before meals he will have an incentive to come back.

thementalist - he has to be at vets for 8.30am so it will be a case of getting up and straight out (hence my fear of poo in the cat box).

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LizaTarbucksAuntie · 17/01/2012 17:01

Ours is just back from the Vet he's about 5 1/2 months.

Demanded food then threw it up.

Wandering round gingerly. DS not back from afterschool club yet so that's something to look forward to.....

Not given any advice about wound checking or litter, they said he can go back out tomorrow.

Original poster

SecretSquirrels · 17/01/2012 17:11

Oh poor thing LizaTarbucksAuntie.
Let me know how he does.

OP posts:

LizaTarbucksAuntie · 17/01/2012 17:12

He's fine, he's slunk off to a quiet corner. Will be right as rain tomorrow, try not to worry about yours.

ragged · 18/01/2012 07:33

Oh ta for replies, I have decided to grow a Pair (of Ovaries, naturally :) ) and just use my common sense about when & how to let them out.

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