[ralphcor]

Whelp she's home now and REALLY drugged up!

Clinic said water after 7pm, honestly I don't think she'll even be doing anything by that time - kinda has me worried since they also said due to age/size (12-14 weeks/3lbs) that kittens will NEED just a handful of food after 9pm to keep blood-suger level up.

I'm tempted to check on her so often, but want her to get rest & sleep.

She'll be staying in bathroom to litterbox train. She was meeeeeeoooooow'ing when they brought her out of the clinic and put into carrier cage. Kept very quiet on the ride home. I open the carrier now and she'll just look at me like she's drunk hehe trying to keep eyes open but can't... so I'll check every hour to see how's she coming along. Could be a long night, but I want to be there when she starts finally "waking up"

Anyone remember how it went with their kitty after being spayed?

 

[Jeanie]

I had my cats spayed at the vet's, so they were wide awake and seemed just about normal when I took them home. The vet kept them overnight, however. I hope Jessica sees this. She works with a vet, and would be able to advise you. It sounds to me as if kitty is in the "recovery room" stage. I'm glad she's home, Daddy! I'm think time will make a big difference.

 

[Bengalsownme]

The vet probably gave her a pain shot and thats why she is drowsy. Thats normal. She will eat and drink when she's ready just make sure she's has her food and fresh water really close so she doesn't have to walk far. Don't be affraid to play with her just don't let her jump and don't pick her up from under the belly. Keep a close eye on her and comfort her.

 

[ralphcor]

I would think after major surgery like this they would keep them over-night too, but nope.

I've been checking on her, still mostly "out of it" from the drugs. Still keeping in carrier cage now since first couple times she was sleeping and could barely stay awake. Last time she did come too a little more and yawned with a very dry sticky mouth, so tried to take her out and show her water but she clung to the towel like scared so put her back in. Wet my fingers and put up to mouth, but didn't lick em or anything so maybe she's ok for now.

Left the cage door open this time w/water right outside, so next time will see if she ventured out or still hanging out inside.

 

[Bengalsownme]

I wouldn't worry. Just let her sleep. If you had a surgery like that I'm sure you wouldn't want to be woken up. She'll sleep it off and when she wakes she'll be a little sore but just be gentle with her and she'll be fine. I'm sure your vet gave you a paper with post op instructions and what to look for such as infection.

 

[ralphcor]

Yup, I need to inspect the area often. Also bought this spray called Bitter Apple that you can apply if they start to lick or bite around the soreness to keep em from hurting themselves.

One the reasons I was so attracted to her was her playfulness. She was in a cage all alone at the shelter and would toss around and tumble on her own, one time playing with a litter pebble like it was a ball... I know once she gets some energy she'll be jumping around, so she might have to spend some time in the cage if she gets too active too fast. I got some white towels laying down so should be able to see if any blood from stitches.

You'll probably see this post being updated til 2-3am

 

[Jeanie]

Ralph, Just keep your eyes open for infection and relax. The vet has done many, many surgeries like this. Give her time to get well and settle in. She'll soon be tearing around the house. She's young, she'll be disoriented for a while, and uncomfortable, just as you or I would be.

 

[ralphcor]

I put just a lil bit of food outside the open cage right by water, hour later it was all gone... so I'm glad she ate something.

Last time I peeked in, she was stretching out a bit and looked like she was happy to see me! put my hand near her and heard some purring

Back half of her is real skinny as can be expected. Saw a lil bit of licking and put some of that bitter apple stuff on, of course she didn't like to be sprayed. Tried to lick again and even saw a bitter face like yuck! = so it works.

After she slowly walked out of the cage, I noticed spot of towel darker - pee pee'd a lil so things inside going out must be working hehe.

Gave her some luvin, and the meows are starting :wink: let's see how much litter she tosses around while I'm sleeping!

 

[Bengalsownme]

awe Im glad she's eating. My thoughts are with you tonight and I'll pray for a speedy recovery!

 

[ralphcor]

I think she's coming around OK now. Later last night and this morning everytime I checked she was inside her carrier, leaving door open and as soon as she see's me she comes right out not scared or anything anymore.

They said today I can start normal feeding 3-4 times/day. As soon as she saw some food she started gulping it down so fast I could hear tummy trying to keep up. Still doesn't seem to be too interested in water, I assume she'll drink some if she gets thirsty enough.

After some food she was purring up a storm and rubbing against me everywhere, even got some licks on the toes and nugging face-to-face

There's one spot I can see some blood, and a bit of red on a towel she lays on so I'll keep an eye on it. Post op instructions read avoid jumping around - how is that possible with a kitten? hehe I was laying down on bathroom floor with her on legs and all of a sudden SPRUNG! right up to the sink counter.

Still waiting for her to leave me a "little present" :wink:

 

[Jeanie]

It's amazing how quickly they recover isn't it? The big problem, as you said, is trying to keep her relatively inactive. I'm sure you're watching carefully. Does she go back to have her stiches out, or will they dissove?

 

[ralphcor]

I figured once the drugs wore off a little she'd be getting back to normal. My main concern last night was making sure she ate something because the clinic said it's VERY important w/kittens to keep blood-sugar level up.

Stitches must be like the human kind cause they're "self-disolving".

Wonder how fast her hair will grow back. She currently looks like a mini-tiger with the back underside shaved.

Went to give her some lunch and found a surprise - in the litterbox = good kitty! Considering she was alone in her cage at pound and only info was "a stray", don't know the history on her so not sure how long she was around or even had littermates...with that the first time *home* wasn't an "accident" - I'm a VERY proud papa! of course the real test will be when I let her out to more than one room.

 

[ralphcor]

Whelp earlier today was good, she used the litter-box twice. I learned from the 2nd time giving me some tootsie-rolls lol that the first was #1. - so I was pleased, again.

Then it got bad, wasn't eating anymore and sounding very weak. To make a long story short - she got around to reopening her incision a lot We're finally back from the after-hours emergency vet, took 3 staples to close the wound. She'll have to spend the night in the carrier cage and see how it is in the morning.

 

[Jeanie]

I'm so sorry to hear that. And the emergency vets charge a lot more--not that money is the first concern right now. I hope all goes well from now on. Poor baby; poor Daddy!

 

[ralphcor]

Yeah, guess you get what you pay for. Too bad it cost (good thing I brought a credit card!) more than I paid for the whole adoption plus ALL kitty supplies to date, when a simple $5. e-collar would've prevented it all.

I called the spay/neut. clinic to give em some feedback. I was nice, not trying to be mean about the situation, but still got the impression they didn't want to hear it. Actually they agreed their post op instructions differ from the shelters - then why can't they get it straight!

Even though I know from painful experience now what to do, it does make me think that if my next one needs to get spayed I might not want to deal with it and turn me off the process again. Heck I could've adopted 2 more cats with the amount of that bill. At least the staples did the job, it would've been worse if they had to do more stitches - vet said spaying gets 2 sets, inner & outter - she only tore that open, if inner too she probably would've really started to bleed fast.

Doing much better today, but wants out of that e-collar very badly - it'll be a long week. She even used the litterbox while I was in the room = proud & happy daddy! I got a nice big tall scratching post waiting for her to fully heal.