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

Original poster

Cat spay advice

24 replies

FinishWhatWeStarted · 02/01/2022 14:18

Hi, I had a thread from a bit back asking if we should get her or not and got some good advice so I'm back for more.
Cassie is now about 6 months old. She's booked in for her spay on the 6th and it's the first time I'll have had a pet that's had the op. All our other pets have been done before we got them.
I do remember my old dog having to have the cone of shame just before he died and he hated it so much.
So I'm just after advice. She currently sleeps in the kitchen at night on either a bar stool or on her scratch-post bed.
I'm thinking she might have to stay in one of my teen daughters rooms overnight whilst recovering. But without crating her I've no idea of how to keep her from jumping/climbing.
I've booked time off work so I can be with her but she will be left alone whilst I do the school run. Well not alone exactly because Dh will be working in his office with the door shut.
Pic of her in case anyone remembers my previous post x

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Original poster
FinishWhatWeStarted · 02/01/2022 14:20

Photo didn't post

Cat spay advice
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thecatneuterer · 02/01/2022 14:27

Just make sure she can't get outside for a few days (and that's mainly because of the anaesthetic effects for the first 24 hours). It doesn't matter one jot if she runs and jumps - they generally do. We never put cones on (and we use internal stitches), but I think some vets still do - hopefully yours won't. If she is given a cone and doesn't get on with it just take it off and keep an eye on the wound. Generally speaking cats don't even notice anything has happened, especially when they're done as kittens. She'll be fine.

Wolfiefan · 02/01/2022 15:03

Bless her. You can get vests instead of a cone. One of mine chewed out her stitches. Needed staples. Shock
They didn’t need confining etc though. They had free range of the house.
We also got them microchipped at the same time. Worth asking if she isn’t already.

Fluffycloudland77 · 02/01/2022 15:40

Your not going to stop a tortie from jumping.

Wolfiefan · 02/01/2022 15:54

Haha mine are torties. That could explain the ripping out of the stitches. Hmm

SummerSazz · 02/01/2022 15:59

Buy her a little surgical suit and keep her inside. This is what we did and she didn't really jump around a lot

Cat spay advice
Original poster
FinishWhatWeStarted · 02/01/2022 18:19

She's not been out yet but is desperate to go out!
I've just sent Dh a link to Amazon for those little suits. He thinks I'm joking 😂

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SummerSazz · 02/01/2022 18:24

@FinishWhatWeStarted ours had a collar on to start with and got stuck under the bed 😄. She was sooooo much happier with this. Your DH knows nothing 🤣🤣

HaroldMeeker · 02/01/2022 20:42

Our boy accepted a doughnut collar after trying everything else, but both girls refused and wriggled out of everything in seconds, including the wee surgical suits. We gave up after 24 hours and they were right as rain.

Original poster
FinishWhatWeStarted · 03/01/2022 21:03

We've order a suit. Ive just realised Dh is away overnight so I'll fetch her up to our room overnight to keep an eye on her. Dh is mildly allergic so we don't let her in our room.

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lljkk · 03/01/2022 21:09

We kept cone on for 3.5 days plus a bit of day 5.
They couldn't see well with cone on & that put end to all running or jumping.
Ours were miserable with cones!
They are hazards to selves with cones on, don't risk that outside.

A little bit of stitches came out (poked out of incision site) about a week after surgery, on both cats. Until at least week 3. Don't recall that happening before.

Toms may still mount un-neutered girls ... eek. Another reason to let them recovery fully first before going out.

Original poster
FinishWhatWeStarted · 03/01/2022 21:35

@lljkk

We kept cone on for 3.5 days plus a bit of day 5. They couldn't see well with cone on & that put end to all running or jumping. Ours were miserable with cones! They are hazards to selves with cones on, don't risk that outside.

A little bit of stitches came out (poked out of incision site) about a week after surgery, on both cats. Until at least week 3. Don't recall that happening before.

Toms may still mount un-neutered girls ... eek. Another reason to let them recovery fully first before going out.

She's not allowed out yet and I won't be letting her out until she's fully healed. My old boy was miserable with the cone on.
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Original poster
FinishWhatWeStarted · 06/01/2022 11:22

She's at the vets now. I dropped her off at 9 and I've been cleaning since. I've pulled the dogs spare fluffy Aldi bed out and run it through the wash so it's nice and cosy, I've dug out her low rise litter tray so she doesn't have to climb into the big one and I'm just waiting now.
Daft question but should I put a warm hot water bottle in the bed? Will she struggle with her temp whilst the anaesthesia is wearing off?

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Shmithecat2 · 06/01/2022 11:28

I would advise you keep her in her carrier/crate until the anaesthetic has worn off, to prevent her attempting to climb/jump whilst she's still woozy. Line it with an incontinence sheet. I've neutered hundreds of cats, and this worked well. Once she's out of the drug haze, let her mooch about as normal. The incision should be that, with only a couple of stitches.

MrsRubyMonday · 06/01/2022 11:40

We penned one of ours for a few hours, but she just escaped. The second we bought one of those suits and left her to it. She refused to let us take it off for about two weeks, she loved it. I wouldn't bother with a hot water bottle, I'd be concerned she may overheat if she's too wobbly to move away.

Original poster
FinishWhatWeStarted · 06/01/2022 13:01

@Shmithecat2

I would advise you keep her in her carrier/crate until the anaesthetic has worn off, to prevent her attempting to climb/jump whilst she's still woozy. Line it with an incontinence sheet. I've neutered hundreds of cats, and this worked well. Once she's out of the drug haze, let her mooch about as normal. The incision should be that, with only a couple of stitches.
Thank you. I've planned on leaving her in her carrier until she comes out herself and keeping her in the living room only. Dh has plans to keep her in our room overnight but out bed is quite high so I don't know if that's the best idea. She's very determined when she wants to do something so I hope we can sort something out.
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Original poster
FinishWhatWeStarted · 06/01/2022 13:02

@MrsRubyMonday

We penned one of ours for a few hours, but she just escaped. The second we bought one of those suits and left her to it. She refused to let us take it off for about two weeks, she loved it. I wouldn't bother with a hot water bottle, I'd be concerned she may overheat if she's too wobbly to move away.
Good call on the hwb thank you. I was planning on popping the suit on before she eats to distract her but will see how she goes on x
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maximist · 06/01/2022 13:09

I've had three female cats spayed, and none of them seemed to notice - they were a bit sleepy when they came home, but then carried on as normal, jumping on beds/window ledges with no problem at all. None had a cone or anything and all ignored their stitches. Fingers crossed your girl is a good as they were!

Original poster
FinishWhatWeStarted · 06/01/2022 13:32

All went well. I can pick her up from 2pm.

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Original poster
FinishWhatWeStarted · 06/01/2022 16:11

She started messing with her shaved patch so I put the outfit on her. She lost her mind. Yowling and hissing and trying to attack me. Never seen her like that before. Probably the anaesthetic wearing off still but it's really upset me. She's not got the outfit on now and I don't think I'll try again.
She's hiding from us all. She's sleeping in her old litter tray instead of the comfy bed 🙄

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SanFranBear · 06/01/2022 21:08

Just typed a long post and lost it.. argh! I've just posted a similar thread here (Spayed cat and no bodysuit?)

So to keep it short - my little tortie girl, also spayed today. She's not bothering her incision and is now having a doze but was provided a suit by the vets which was too big. Not sure what to do...

Did your vets send your girl home with anything? I know your suit was your choice but did they supply a cone or inflatable collar or anything?

After reading these posts (particularly CatNeuturer's, who I know is pretty much as expert as they come) I'm tempted to just let it heal as is.. but I worry - she's very precious to me.

Here she is, having a little snooze before bed (and she'll be in with DD tonight as that's her little safe space from when she came to us... no way will we be able to stop her jumping - her first act on getting home was heading up the stairs!)

Cat spay advice
SummerSazz · 06/01/2022 21:43

Oh no, that's a shame @FinishWhatWeStarted. I hope she is ok and not too bothered with the stitches

@SanFranBear we didn't get sent home with anything. Just bought ours from Amazon

Ours appeared to use it as a yoga suit!!!

Cat spay advice
Original poster
FinishWhatWeStarted · 06/01/2022 21:50

Ah she's beautiful. Nothing from the vets. Just to keep an eye on her and then I said I had the suit. Think ours may be a bit small. I'm just going to see how she goes on.
Xx

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SanFranBear · 07/01/2022 06:55

Haha, Summer - she's very cute... and flexible!

And thanks Finish - it seems so mixed, wish there was a consensus amongst vets as mine was adamant she needed to keep it on. She is not worrying it in the slightest though so will keep an eye, but just let her get on with it I think.

Hope Cassie is feeling ok today - my girl seems back to her usual (tortie) self Grin

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