Spaying Kitten

[Firebreak]

Hello, we will be spaying our 7 month old kitten, Piper next week and I would like any advise you may have on the topic. She is the second cat we have owned, but the first was spayed by the local shelter before we took her in.

She is a spoiled little furball and we want her to be as comfortable and healthy as possible throughout the ordeal. I'm sure the vet is going to explain some stuff to me when I drop her off/pick her up, but at the moment I don't have much of an idea what to expect.

Piper is on the right in this picture:
http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/s...916_112301.jpg

[marie73]

The bratz were spayed at almost 10 weeks old and were running around like monkeys that same night.

Your results may vary, some cats are groggy, some need a cone of shame, etc.

[Arianwen]

I've had very few problems - the recovery period for most is very short - some moither their stitches but again it varies. The last one I had done was running around and eating that evening and didn't need a cone.

[catinthemirror]

It seems like the younger they are, the quicker they bounce back from it. Moxie was around 1 when we were able to bring her inside and get her spayed. She was kind of groggy that first night she was home, and she slept most of the next day. Day after that though all bets were off - she refused to be confined to one room by darting out the door every time it opened. After that she was pretty much exactly the same as she was before the surgery.

Although speaking of the cone of shame... The vet sent us home with one, but Moxie was somehow able to pull it off in her carrier before we even got her home. No matter how groggy she was that first night she would not tolerate having the cone on, so I finally just left it off because I wanted her to rest and not hurt herself struggling with the stupid cone. I ended up making a little shirt she could wear to cover her stitches by cutting off the sleeve of my pajama shirt. She didn't mind wearing that and it kept her from messing with her stitches. Plus I imagine it was a lot more comfortable for her than a giant cone around her neck.

For my future cats I probably won't even bother with the cone, unless absolutely necessary (like if they just can't leave their stitches alone and I'm worried about infection).

[CatMonkeys]

My cats were also back to normal by the evening after they were spayed/neutered (at ~10 wks old). I kept them in the bathroom for the first two nights to minimize running and jumping and neither touched their stitches.

[Firebreak]

So, Piper was spayed on Friday. It all went well and so far her wound is looking good.

I have an hour's drive to get her to the vet, and she hasn't been out of the house since she was small enough to fit in my palm. She was very scared for the first half of the drive to the vet, making all kinds of awful noises like she was being tortured. I had the carrier on the passenger seat facing me so she could see me. She stayed huddled against the front of the carrier closest to me for the whole trip and meowed loudly for the first half hour.

On the way home, she was groggy and pretty much stared at me with this look for the whole drive home. Poor Kitty!

http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/s...123_164001.jpg

On the evening she got home, she was kinda spaced out. She would lay down and stare straight ahead, probably still out of it from the drugs they would have given her.

Starting the next morning, she was pretty much back to her old self again. I've noticed a bit of licking, but I'm assuming a little is ok. (The paper they gave me said to stop excessive licking) I have a cone just in case, but unless it's needed I'd rather not use it.

Her wound looks good and I believe everything is good so far. I wish I could take away some of her energy though, because she really goes nuts. I don't get how they run around like monkeys when they've recently had their belly cut open. Cut my belly open and I'm laid up for a couple weeks at least, they don't even seem to notice it.

[zarah825]

Yes, it's amazing how hyper the little boogers are after being fixed! Two of mine were last week and they kept me up all night because they wouldn't stop playing.

Their mom was another story - she's outdoors so we kept her in the garage for the night and she hated it. Next day, we saw her outside and it turned out that she had actually broken out by popping the screen off the window....

[Firebreak]

So, wanted to mention something that I'm not entirely sure has anything to do with this spay. I was told that she's completely healed in 14 days. During those two weeks, I checked her wound regularly and it healed very nicely. She was happy and playful the whole time.

On pretty much exactly the 14th day, she suddenly lost all her energy. She slept all day, ate her food while lying down, was very cuddly and sookie. She just wasn't herself. This has gone on for 5 or 6 days. Finally, she seems to be coming around and getting a bit of energy back.

Does this sound like she caught a cold? I only saw her sneeze once or twice during this time. Her ears and nose seemed warm to me. She did not seem to be in pain or distress, just well.. lazy to be honest. She usually has so much energy we don't know what to do with her.

Anyway, pretty sure that has nothing to do with the spay and was just a cold. My wife does child care in the house and she may have picked up a bug from one of the kids.

[Nan]

I don't know. I would call your vet and let them know. Could be an infection?