Cat neutering?

Question

I'm having my female cat neutered next monday and I was wondering what to expect. Could anyone tell me what will happen to her, and maybe some aftercare ideas?

Yes I actually meant spayed!! Thanx for the correction guys.

Answer 1

Veterinary Nurse here......when she arrives at the surgery, she will be weighed and given a pre-med. Once this has taken effect they will shave a little hair off her foreleg to administer the general anaesthetic. Once she is asleep she will have a tube passed down her trachea and connected to the gases. A small square area will be shaved from her flank (this is the side of her abdoment), a small incision will be made and the surgery carried out. She will have a few stitches, some vets place them in the skin, these need to be removed about 10 days later, and some vets place the stitches under the skin, these will be dissolvable and thus do not need removing.

When you get her home she will need peace & quiet and warmth as after an anaesthetic they cannot control their body temperature so well......do not be surprised if she doesn't feel like eating on the same day, but if you would like to offer her a light diet in the form of chicken or white fish, this is best. You will need to keep her in for at least 24 hours to allow the anaesthetic to completely wear off, your vet will advise you of their standard protocol for this. You will probably find that she will appear more like herself the following day and I would expect the vet to want to see her back for check ups, this varies from practice to practice,

As for the stitches, if she has external stitches, discourage her from licking or chewing at them, cats are renound for removing them and this is not good. A buster collar should be used if you are worried that she might do this.

Oh, don't forget she will need access to a litter tray if shr normally go's outside.

Good luck

Answer 2

When you have a cat spayed just like everyone says she will be a bit groggy for a day or two.

It IS painful as when they spay a cat they go into the abdomen, unlike neutering which is mostly external. Make sure you give her the meds they send home with you.. Most spays are now done in the same day, meaning you will take her home the same day. NO food after 10pm the night before and no water about an hour before you bring her to the vets in the AM.

Do buy an e-collar, that cone they use so pets don't lick at the incision. I have seen animals that have opened sutures and that surgery to repair the damage is WAY more expensive.

Give her lots of gentle love and she will be just fine.

Answer 3

If the cat is female, she is being spayed (neutering is for males). She will go to the vet in the morning. You should not give her any food or water from the night before. The vet will give her an injectable anasthesia to put her out for the operation. They will shave a small area on her belly and make a tiny incision and then perform the surgery. She will get stitches to sew her back up. When she comes home, she may be a little tired for a couple days, but there shouldn't be any pain or recovery. The stitches will heal (they will probably use the kind that dissolve), her fur will grow back, and she'll be just fine. If she ever starts yowling or seemingly going into heat in the future, it may mean that the vet did not get all the tissue, but this is rare. Your kitty will be fine. Kudos to you for being a responsible pet owner.

Answer 4

Your female cat is actually getting "spayed". Male cats get neutered. In a female spaying, all of her reproductive organs are removed - the uterus and ovaries. It's basically a hysterectomy. In a neteuring, the male testicles are completely removed. That is why it's also called a castration. For obvious anatomical reasons, the spaying is a much more invasive surgery but it is considered "routine" and the only danger to the animal (as is the case with most routine surgeries) is the anesthesia. The best vets will keep all of their surgery patients for 24 full hours. This is important to ensure that the anesthesia has completely worn off, respiration is normal and that there is no indication of infection or complication before the cat is sent home.

When your kitty does come home, you may find that she may lick her sutures. You definitely want to discourage this. You will also find that they have shaved her abdomen and she may even be blue! (If she's a white or light colored cat.) That is just the disenfectant they use to sterilize the area for surgery. Don't worry she lick herself clean in time. Avoid picking her up as her belly is going to be sore and you don't want the incision to open. Also, keep her litterbox extra clean. Lastly, give her lots of love and affection and give yourself a pat on the back for being a responsible pet owner and doing your part to help control the pet population!

Answer 5

Cats recover from being spayed amazingly fast. When you bring her home she will be sleepy for the rest of the day. Just let her rest in a quiet comfortable spot. Put down water and food nearby. She will drink and eat when she is good and ready. By the next day you won't even know she had, had any surgery and will be back to normal. Over the years I have had many, many cats that were all spayed or neutered and never had a problem with any of them. Currently I have nine all fixed.
It is a good thing you are being a responsible cat owner and getting your cat fixed. There are far too many unwanted strays from irresponsible people. Don't worry she will be just fine!

Answer 6

We had our female cat spayed (males are neutered) at the end of July. We took her to the vet in the morning and she stayed until the next day. They made an incision on her belly and removed her entire reproductive tract. She was moving pretty slow and was a little groggy when we picked her up. The vet said they don't use much pain relief as it makes them feel a little too rambunctious when they need to be still and rest for 10 days. We set up a place for her in a spare bedroom with a soft pillow and blanket and a clean litter box. Our vet said she would be really thirsty when she got home, but to only let her have small amounts at one time. We gave her fresh food and then let her rest. We kept her in the spare room and checked on her throughout the day to see if she was doing well and to spend time with her. The first few days, she was glad to rest, but after that she really wanted to get out of that room. We checked her belly twice a day for any redness, abnormal swelling, or oozing. We made her stay in the room for 9 days. She healed just fine and is doing great now. Your vet will give you a list of aftercare instructions and our vet called us twice during her recovery period to make sure she was doing OK.

Answer 7

Your Vet will be better able to tell you what to expect and if they don't? ASK, what should I expect? What do I need to look for? What are signs that she's not doing well? What do I do if she starts pulling out stitches? Is there an emergency number I can call after hours....She'll more than likely be sleepy for a day or so and will slowly come around after the anesthesia wears completely off and may not want to eat the first day, but keep plenty of fresh water and a small amount of food close in case she feels like eating. I would NOT mix milk with water...if you want to give her something like that go to the store and get some kitten supplement and mix that, it's made for cats/kittens

Answer 8

Hi there,

Good for you getting her spayed. Female cats when spayed have a large incision on their side. The fur will be shaved away and their will be stitches, these get taken out about a week later. The males get a easy deal as they dont have any scars just soreness, typical!. Your cat will recover quickly and will probably lick at her wound quite a lot. This wont do any harm. These operations are carried out quite a lot, your cat will be a bit quiet to start with and probably sleep a lot but dont worry this is normal. Good luck!!

Answer 9

You have nothing to worry about! Before you know it, she'll be up and runnin' again! They recover so quickly from this. If you have any other pets, keep them away from her. She'll want to be left alone. She'll be a little groggy and might actually crawl instead of walk for a day or two. If she does walk, it'll probably be very slow. You want to keep other animals away because they may want to play with her or they're gonna be nasty with her because she'll have the scent of the vet's on her. She might mess with her stitches too which you want to try and keep her from doing that. There's not a whole lot you can do but keep her comfy and make sure she has plenty of water and don't let her jump up and down on furniture. I would even use the lid off of a shoe box to use as a litter box so it'll be easier for her to get in and out of. That's what I did and it worked great. Good luck with your kitty!

Answer 10

When she's back from the vet, there will be a very small shaved area on one of her paws, where they inject her. Also she'll have a few stitches. The vet will advise you to keep her in for a short time as she'll behave a bit like a drunk, she'll be sleepy and will want a nice quiet place to sleep things off. Because of her operation, she will have a better life expectancy, and be generally healthier too. Good luck to you, give her a tickle behind her ear from me.