My kittens need to be neutered and declawed?

Question

Please tell me if it is ok to have my 2 kittens have surgery the same day, they are always together. Just for the purpose of recovery. How do I prevent infections, or is there even a risk? How will they be after they come home? Do we have to do anything special for them when they come back home? Will recovery be long? Will they be really "needy" because of pain and/or confusion? And finally, will their personalities change from the neutering right away? Do we have to do anything special with the litter?

Sorry, these kitties are like my kids, my first "real" pets besides goldfish. I just want to be prepared in this whole procedure.

Answer 1

It is a great idea to do both surgeries at once. They only have one procedure instead of two. Recovery time is no longer. De-Claw IS NOT CRUEL..It allows your kitties to live in your home and not tear anything up. It's easier when they are young. Your vet will tell you what to use for liter and most likely give you pain meds for a few days. It is a kind humane thing to do. Good luck, your kitties will be wonderful life long companions.

Answer 2

For the kitty litter you want to use either shredded newspaper or the brand called yesterdays news it is a larger nongranular type litter. You want to use this for about a week just to give the kittys feet time to heal. The regular litter is not to be used for the fact that it may get into where the nail was removed and could cause infection. Sometimes they may lift and hold their feet when walking or sitting this is normal and will subside. This is because their feet will be sore. Most likely they will spend the night at the vets just to make sure there is not a lot of bleeding from the declaw, if they just got neutered they would most likely go home the same day once they are fully awake. The cats usually will not need pain medication but some vets will send some home if you ask. Do not give your cats any human medication aspirin, ibuprofen(Advil) etc. This is all toxic to your cats and will cause another trip to the vet ASAP. As for them coming home try not to let them do a lot of jumping or anything to stupid. As for surgery on the same day it all depends on how busy the vet is that day. The vet I work for will sometimes board sibling cats in the same kennel if a larger kennel is open. It all just depends on the hospital.

Answer 3

Yes it is a good idea to have them both done at the same time.
Yes they both do need to be neutered for their health and happiness and to prevent some very unwanted behaviors, however very very few cats NEED to be declawed.
Declawing is amputation not a simple claw removal.It is comparitable ot amputating all of your fingers ar the first joint past your fingernail. It is a very painful procedure. While not all many cats develop behavioral issues such as litterbox avoidance, biting, hiding, etc after declawing. Also a declawed cat can't be let outside (a cat should be outside anyway, far too many dangers).
Personality does NOT change because of neutering.Personality is what it is from birth. A cat will be what he/she will be regardless of altering. The only changes will be the hormonal driven behaviors will be gone.
Recovery from neutering is quick, recovery from declawing takes time. Some cats never get back the anility to walk normally. It's rare to get infections from neutering, more common to get them from declawing.If you declaw your cats will need to be on pain medications for several days.
Your vet will give you care instructions when you take your kittens home, so don't worry. Please do rethink declawing.There is no reason for it unless the nails are deformed or there is an immune system comprimised person living in your household.

Answer 4

Although I do not agree with declawing cats...if you are going to do both, you should do it at the same time as you do not want your cats to have to go under anesthesia twice, as there is ALWAYS a risk involved when a cat is put under. I hope these are going to be INDOOR cats that will never be allowed outside?! You should NEVER declaw outdoor cats, or they are as good as dead as they have no way to protect themselves. Besides indoor cats live much longer, healthier lives, and will not be in constant danger from being outside. The neutering I find is a lot less uncomfortable and painful than the declawing. They usually have to stay a couple nights for declawing as they usually bandage the paws for a day or two, and all the cats do is constantly shake their paws. Once the bandages come off they will be very tender and sore. The neutering will NOT change their personality in the least. If you have males, it is a fairly simple procedure and will probably not slow him down a bit, females however will be a little tender and may be quiet for a day or two, OR at least they should be!!

Answer 5

Neutered, yes. Declawed, no. Have them neutered together, I did that with my boys and they're still well-bonded brothers two years later. No need for any special treatment following the process, there will be a bit of pain but they'll heal quickly so long as you keep them indoors (which is a good idea for all cats anyway, it's a dangerous world out there).

Can't offer any support for declawing as I feel it's an inhumane and unnecessarily cruel thing to do to cats. It literally removes the tips of all their "fingers" at the last knuckle. I have six cats and every weekend my sweetie brings them to me one at a time and I trim their claws with a claw trimmer I bought at PetSmart. The older cat fussed a bit at first but I started the other five when they were kittens, and they're all used to the process by now. It saves the furniture, not to mention the skin of every mammal in the house, without any mayhem upon their tiny little "hands".

Answer 6

My question is WHY ARE YOU DECLAWING YOUR CATS?
Would you like to have your fingernails removed?

For recovery, if you have two of them, it often helps to have someone else there to help. My cats are 13 now (and my babies as well) and my girl just (and I mean just) forgave my mother for not being there when she was coming out of surgery.

Heating pads and don't plan on going anywhere for a couple of days, they will more than likely be fine in a day or two, but I like to keep an eye on them for 3 or 4 days. Time, care and love...

Talk to your Vet... call them for any questions you might remember later. Most vet offices are great about answering questions... and if they aren't - get a different vet. Get the vet to write anything down that you don't think that you will remember.

Their personalities won't really change if they are young enough. Keep the litter clean (nothing like feeling crappy and then having to go to a dirty litter box) and make sure that they don't have to 'climb' into it.

Breath. They are resilient little things... Please, please, though, rethink the declawing...

Best of luck!

Answer 7

I have 2 cats and got them both neutered and declawed at the same time! Cats do very well having their claws removed. One of mine was back to normal literally the second we got home! The other one took about a week. They give you special litter to put in their boxes to prevent infection. They will do fine!

Answer 8

You are wise to neuter your kitties. They will recover fairly quickly. The vet will give you aftercare instructions. They will still be the same little kitties. Just give them somewhere quiet to rest for the first couple of days. Having them both done at the same time is a good idea because they'll both be resting at the same time and won't annoy each other.

But PLEASE PLEASE do not declaw your lovely kittens. You do hear of people who do this and it is VERY CRUEL. It's an amputation and their little toes will be very sore afterwards. I cannot emphasize this enough.

If you are worried about them scratching furniture just put a small straw mat down for them. They love to scratch these.

Answer 9

Definitely get them fixed the same day, it will be easier for them to cope (if one is gone the other will freak out). They should be just fine. I took mine together, they are brother and sister, they recovered just fine, it only took a couple days and they were back to being kittens..........Please don't declaw them, that is quite possibly the cruelest thing you can do to a cat. Think about it, how would you feel if someone pulled your fingernails out one by one. Also, heaven forbid they get out of the house (let's hope you would only consider declawing for indoor cats) and get lost or something, they need to have to claws in order to survive. They don't have opposible thumbs so they can't go out and get a kitty gun to "pop a cap in yo @$$". Their claws are their only means of survival, if they get in a fight that's all they have to defend themselves, if they have to catch their own food their claws will really come in handy (get it, handy........i'm an idiot what can i say, an idiot that is adimate about NOT declawing cats). If you're worried about them ruining your furniture work with them to only scratch on designated areas, cats are pretty smart, it won't take much work. IF you do declaw them your vet will definitely give you instructions on how to care for them while they're healing. Good luck.

Answer 10

Don't declaw your cats just as you would not do that multilating surgery to a child. I had a friend whose baby scratched the cornea of her eye with her fingernail. My friend was in pain for over a year and actually got addicted to percodan (her husband was a doctor). Do you think she would have ever considered having the ends of her baby's fingers removed because of this accident? Why do we continue to do this to cats when the operation is outlawed in every country of Western Europe?

Kittens can recover better from any surgery than an adult cat and the complications from the surgery can end up resulting in cats who bite and do not use their litterboxes. I have been in shelters too many years and seen too many cats "surrendered" for these reasons.