Is it normal for a cat to 'dissapear' after surgery?

Question

My cat just got back from the vet today. We brought her in for a normal 'snip, snip' is what we call it. Really she just got fixed. The Dr says that she is underweight 5lb for a 6year old, and surmised that it was because of the uterus. When he opened her up she, in all of his 20 years, has never seen a more twisted and gnarled uterus ever! He thinks this is why she is so skinny. When I brought her home we decided to put her in my mothers room and shut the door for some peace and quiet. However when we got back from picking some food up for her, we went to the room and no cat.... we looked everywhere! Now is this a normal thing?
Should I be dreading all the things that the vet told me could go wrong.. Like her stitches coming appart and her 'intestens come spewing out' or anatheasic death. I cant help but dread that shes dead and thats why she cant hear us looking around for her.
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So is it normal for the cat to do this?
(sorry about spelling... I'm not great at it.)

Answer 1

Okay, unless the cat can appear and disappear at will, she is still in the bedroom. Unless there was an open window or an opening in the top of the closet for her to crawl through.

I would get down on my hands and knees and look at the bottom of the box springs and see if she has crawled up in there. We had a shy cat that used to do that. He found a small hole in the covering of the box springs, crawled in there and I could not find him for 2 days. My daughter finally found him and dragged him out. If she is not in there, check out behind dressers, under dressers, in the back of closets. Check for small holes in the walls that she may have crawled into. The cat is very small and can get into a very tight spot. I would keep looking for her until I find her. And yes, it is not uncommon for a cat that has had surgery to go and hide. They have had a traumatic experience and want to be alone to sort out their terror. Keep looking for her, she will show up.

Answer 2

Completely normal for cats to hide when they are not feeling well. Many times cats will disappear when they are in labor as well and show up after the kittens are born. If you are sure she is still in the room check everywhere, you don't have to move her if she is comfortable but you want to make sure she is not stuck somewhere that she can't get out of. Like the previous reader said, check in the box spring under the bed, cats love box springs. Check any holes in the room even if it seems like she wouldn't fit, e.g. open vents, shoe boxes in a closet, etc. She may just come walking out tomorrow or the next day as if she was there the whole time, but you still should try to find her just in case. I don't think anything horrible happened from surgery, generally cats just don't feel good for a couple days after.

Answer 3

it is not unusual for some cats to hide after a stressful day like the one your kitty had. Cats are great at hiding. Keep food out where she can find it. She may come out during the night or tomorrow.
When you look for her, check every little bit of hidden space you can find. Behind furniture, under bed, closets (behind clothes, shoes, boxes, or anything else you may have in there).
My desk has a bottom drawer, and at the back of the desk is a small space, or cubby, where the drawer doesn't go quite all the way back. My cat hides there. It took me forever to find this hiding place. So, it doesn't matter how small a place, check it.
Is it possible she could have gotten outside? You should check the rest of the house and outside as well in case someone let her out of the room without realizing it.

Answer 4

Well, if you're sure she couldn't get out of the room, she's in there somewhere! She could be in back of a closet or even in the box springs of the bed. Look everywhere! Anesthetic deaths happend during surgery, not afterward. And guts coming out would be very unusual if the surgery was performed correctly! Most cats will hide when they don't feel good. You need to find her so you can give her the pain medication the vet prescribed.

Answer 5

Keep looking. She's probably really good at hiding. My cat hid after she was spayed. Your cat is older than most are when they get fixed. She probably just had a freaky experience- who likes the vet? And she is probably feeling groggy and icky. Cats do tend to hide when they don't feel well. She'll probably come out soon.

Answer 6

She is probably feeling pretty sore and maybe somewhat disoriented from the anesthesia. Did the vet give you any pain medication for her (don't you give any human meds like aspirin) or suggest she might need to wear a collar for a few days to keep her from bothering her stitches?

You need to take care of her and watch her for a few days to see how she is doing and report any problems to the vet who did the spay.

Answer 7

Did you look under the bed....not on the floor but the lining on the box spring...she may have made a hole to crawl into the box spring..mine did that after her snip snip.

Answer 8

I lost my cat twice. We looked everywhere. We found him inside the clothes drawer and the next time underneath the desk shelving area. My husband locked him up without knowing he slipped inside. I hope you find her. Looked harder! Every where that you know a cat can't possibly be, look there also.

Answer 9

well, you need to look for a place where she could have gotten out from your mother's room, if not, look again, i know my cat gets into the darndest places. Mine found a hiding spot after she got spayed and only came out to use her litter box, so if you find her, dont be worried, its just something they do.

Answer 10

Well...I figure the cat was pretty scared, so I would assume it to be normal. You should find her as soon as you can and keep her in a place where you can keep an eye on her.