How to care for a cat post surgery.

[Needtostaypositive]

Hi, my poor little cat had an accident last night that has resulted in her tail being surgically amputated today. Thankfully there was no damage to her spinal cord/rear legs etc and the vet has said she can come home tomorrow. I’ve had cats for years but the only surgery they have had is a kittens when they were neutered.

I’ve been told I have to keep her indoors for 4-6 weeks and that she has to wear a collar for this time to avoid her licking her stump. I am so upset for her. She’s a beautiful cat and had a gorgeous glossy tail. I’m relieved she is otherwise ok but the next 4-6 weeks are going to be tough. She is an outdoor cat, loves roaming and hunting. She has a sister here with us who will be going out.

any tips or ideas to make the collar wearing any less stressful for her? And how to care for her in the next few days? I’m presuming she won’t be able to sit down properly at first and I’m worried about her being in pain although we will be given meds by the vet. Keeping her inside is going to be a nightmare, between the two of them they have previously destroyed my blinds trying to get out overnight!

im absolutely devastated that my poor cat has had to go through this.

Poor girl, the online pet stores will do comfy cones. Hopefully she won’t want to go out.

Amazon do lovely soft cushion donut collars that are much softer and more comfortable than plastic buster cone ones. But l would speak to vet first as this might not be suitable for your cat. My young cat has just been spayed and its been quite stressfull as she cries for her brother who has just been neutered and he does same re her. Also so difficult to keep her quiet in one room, she is literally bouncing off the walls, my housework has gone out of the window this week as l' ve spent alot of time fussing her, giving her treats, sitting with her etc, as well as seeing to her brother who is less affected by his procedure. Its felt a very long few days. l feel guilty for keeping her seperate from other cat and just shut in one room but l know she will start play fighting and jump around and disturb her stitches otherwise. I keep telling myself its only temporary and try to become amune to constant meowing.

poor cat! Perhaps feliway plug in and some cat tv to keep her occupied?

Thank you everyone. I’m going to try all your suggestions. I’m just so upset for her. I’ve had another call from the vet to say she is a lot calmer after the additional sedation and enjoyed some tummy rubs with the staff there after she woke up. I spoke to the vet about softer collars, she just needs to be stopped licking/toy king her stump. And she has to be separated from her sister. It’s just awful. I can’t believe an injury to the tip of her tail has resulted in this.

I'm so sorry to hear about your cat. The same thing happened to my little cat a few years ago. She went outside for 10 minutes and came back with the end of her tail degloved, it looked horrendous. The vet amputated a centimetre or two below and she was left with half a tail. Presumably your cat will have some tail left if only the tip was affected?

Anyway, it was the 'least worst' accident any of my cats have ever had. She was totally unbothered! She was perfectly happy when she came home after surgery. No problem with sitting down or doing anything else! The only 'care' she needed was being given her daily pain relief (metacam).

She had a dressing on her tail for (hard to remember... I think a week). Then the dressing was removed. I can't remember how long she had a cone, maybe three weeks. I used to remove it for her to give her a cuddle, as long as I was supervising she ignored her wound. It was easy to put on again.

And then after a couple of weeks she showed me how she could just curl around and reach her tail anyway with the cone on! It didn't matter, she obviously hadn't worried at it, because it healed up with no problem.

I know it is a horrible shock, and it's a shame to lose part of her tail, but she should be absolutely fine. The worst bit will be keeping her amused indoors!

Thank you. I’ve been told it’s her whole tail that has been amputed and she now just has a stump. I was very surprised when I was told but I think I was still in shock so didn’t query it any further.

She’ll be home by lunchtime today so I’ll see how she is when she arrives back. I’ve cooked an organic chicken for her as a treat and got lots of tasty cat food to help her recover. I’m really relieved to read your cat recovered well, it’s awful when they get hurt.

She’s home and was very distressed at first. She ran around the house until she found somewhere to hide, settled, and then did it again. We’ve got her a donut collar and a cage and she’s lay in that quite calmly.

she has had some chicken but no water, and hadn’t been to the toilet yet but the vet reassured me she had whilst there. Her sister has reacted very strangely though. Hissing and staring at her. Not coming inside when she was more of a house cat than my injured cat. I hope this won’t be an ongoing issue!

we have had some cuddles and purrs. She doesn’t seem to be in any pain but is clearly not herself. I’m just glad she is home and safe.

She just smells funny from being at the vets it'll take a few days for her to smell normal to her sister again. I'm sure she'll be fine.

I hope so! I’ve not had 2 cats before and they are usually so close. She’s out of her cage for now and quite calm resting on her donut. Sleep and rest will be the best thing for her. She’s so tough though, after the trauma she had been through she is very calm. Unlike me! Really appreciate everyone’s help. You are all wonderful!

Aw your poor girl. My boy was absolutely furious after surgery, he's usually an outdoor car plus I think he had some post anaesthetic delirium which isn't unusual. He tried to catch a large rodent that fought back and bit through multiple veins/nerves.

I spent 3 weeks in his prison pen ( he wasn't supposed to walk/run/jump ) hand offering him various shrimp tuna salmon products as if he were a king, fussing him, or just lying there with him.

I sang various You are my sunshine, Mandy, etc with his name as the name in the song. He didn't appreciate it unsurprisingly.

I offered to leave him be. I slept next to him. He was a very cross and grumpy patient.

He was only really happy when I was fussing him while feeding him salmon and I had to stay lying there with him. Unfortunately after 1 week I had to go back to work and he had to be bored so he chewed the pen/carpet.

He's back to full strength/Billy big nuts mode now.

The vet said to me "he may not always get what he wants, but I'm sure you'll give him what he needs" that saved me.

Love him to bits but he's a pita. He's thus far not started any more fights with river rats. He now brings home voles or bluetits

Sorry op, long autistic waffle paragraph.

I'm so sorry your girl is poorly. Mine was poorly and it was tough. He was ok in the end. That's what I meant to write 😄

I know exactly what you meant! It was lovely to read. She just had a huge drink of water (so relieved!) and more chicken. She is also banging at my blinds to go outside but obviously can’t. The worst part was not know what she would be like and seeing her so distressed. She is so much calmer now and that is so lovely to see.

Oh the poor girl. Zara got a plate put in her ankle to fuse it after a dislocation and had to be majorly restricted for a few weeks to ensure it fused properly. I had a big dog cage for her with her bed and other essentials in and once she got over the initial upset she would calm down if I put a blanket over the cage. I also showed her bird videos on the ipad and she had way too may Dreamies. We got through it and her ankle healed with no problems.

Often the other cat will react oddly to one that's been to the vet as they smell "wrong and unfamiliar. Keep them apart for a while to minimise the stress levels. It usually improves when the poorly one has had a chance to wash themselves or absorb some of the normal smells of the house again.

We had a lovely night last night. She slept until about 2.30am and then was up for food and several long drinks. She was a little unsettled but them fully lay down on my bed, and when I woke up she had actually come over and snuggled up to me. She has been very hungry and been to the toilet which is such a relief. The donut was such a good buy, so much softer and supportive. Her sister still isn’t reacting well but is keeping her distance.

I think the shaved area is itchy as she keeps trying to scratch but everything is looking ok for now. Her missing tail isn’t causing her any distress now and she’s loving her organic chicken (as is her sister!).

Good to hear! Sounds like the drugs have worn off with no issues.

Great to hear how well she is doing! IME the main thing that really bothers them is the cone (or donut). That sent my cat into a bit of a panic to start with.

Her sister will be reacting negatively for two reasons - firstly she looks weird with the donut, and secondly she smells of vet. Once she smells more of 'home', that should improve.

They got a little closer to each other today with the uninsured one still hissing but not lashing out. We are keeping them apart but still letting them know the other is there. My injured cat is sleeping in my room at night. She fretted in her cage after the first day but has plenty of room as I gave a superking size bed. Although every time I wake up she is right next to me which is lovely. She’s in no pain at all, just didn’t like her collar but it’s much comfier for her than the cone. We’re taking it off every few hours so she can groom herself. First check up tomorrow. Fingers crossed everything is fine!

Just a quick update. No hissing today from sister cat. The injured cat slept downstairs with her last night (as they would usually do) and they were fine. The check up yesterday went very well. The vet couldn’t believe how mobile and active she was. Her stump looked perfect and told us to carry on as we had been doing. She is definitely feeling better as she wants to go outside but can’t. I just can’t believe that less than week ago her tail amputation happened and she is trotting around like nothing has happened!

Ah that's great! Yes the problem is they often feel better and want to go go go before they're fully healed up. When Zara got her ankle fused they told me that once the bones are back in place and the pain/drugs from the surgery has worn off, they feel like they're healed and want to go run around, but you can't let them because the bones haven't fused yet and they can break/bend/move the plate. Your cat is lucky that that the spinal nerves are all fine. Think she shaved off one of her nine lives there.

Hasn’t she just!