Urgent Advice Needed re Nursing Feral who Was Desexed Today and Needs to be Released

Disaster here. I've been rescuing all the kitties on my street and was down to the last 2...took them to vet this morning, told vet I was worried one might be nursing and if so, to not desex it, ring me and I would collect it immediately and release it til I could find the kittens. To make a long story short, they didn't do that and 2 hours ago I discovered she is nursing and they went ahead and desexed her (I don't know how they misunderstood, but I can't worry about that much now). I've been looking for kittens around here for 2 months, and can't find any.....its a vast area, much of it inaccessible (by railway tracks) and there is lots of bush type terrain that they could be in. I even made the city electricity open a generator station for me today to look into. So I have no chance of finding them... vet thinks they are probably at least 4 weeks old based on her ovary size. I am so upset. When can I release her safely? She has stitches on the side and according to vet can still nurse. Do I have any chance of trapping her again after I find the kittens (or after they are old enough to be on their own if I never find them?).
I should have added that I trapped her about 21 hours ago and she was desexed about 5 hours ago now.
BTW, its even more upsetting because she was the last cat in a colony of 12 and will; now have to be out there on her own. Thanks so much.
Naomi

UPDATE: Just collected kitty from vet...he said something different this time, or so it seems ...said they knew I was concerned and made decision to go ahead on basis she wasn't expelling milk anymore. I was sure he told me she was nursing when I spoke to him earlier????? He thinks kittens likely old enough to scavenge for themselves if they are still alive, and doesn't think I should release the kitty. He was adamant she wasn't expelling milk despite being squeezed. Thoughts??

Stitches on the side? Ie the small operation, not the big in the belly? And dissolving stitches??

It should be enough to keep here two days was I told. They are survivors these semiferals...
Even 24 hour can suffice thay say, but she isnt living nearby, must go a longer way to her kittens...

I saw you had the same question in another forum too.
The knowleable and experienced Hissy answered. Follow the advice, she IS experienced.

Thanks Stefan. I know Hissy is really experienced so this is so hard. Cause I also know the vets been looking after feral cats for years & that he's got a lot of experience and can't imagine why he'd tell me all this if it wasn't right?, so it's so hard to know what to do. But I do know that if I let mom back out, none of them will have much of a life and will be lucky to make it past a year....and that's based on MY experience here! She was about rescue #30 for me at my current address! Out of those, only 3 were over a year old. With litters of kittens, kittens are constantly being found dead on the side of the road here. Rarely do more than 2 or 3 survive out of each litter, and sometimes none. The last cat (who I also rescued yesterday) lost all hers on the street....they should have been 11 weeks old today. I'm just so glad I was still able to save at least her, and would hate to miss that opportunity with this one.
Plus I can't help but think it's quite significant that she doesn't want to go out?? Wouldn't she want to if there were still kittens there relying on her?
Such a hard decision.
Thanks again,
Naomi

Homecats are taken almost directly to their kittens, and do nurse them and give them milk.
Of course, their humans do look to them the wounds is OK, and no fever running. And they dont need to go much, or seek after food.
At other side; the semiferals are survivors, those made of tought material. Otherwise they wouldnt be there...

She doesnt want to get out, therefore you suspect the kittens were dead already before you did catch her?

Yes, it is a dilemma. If the kittens ARE alive, their only chance is mama coming back soon.

If they are already gone, it would endanger mama to release her too early.

If she dont want to go out - it may be she cant as yet. But it can also be a sort of sign. It is perhaps possible for you to foster her into a tame cat. Preferably now. Now when she is sick and you are helping her the "window" is open ajar again.

Let the fate decide I think. If she wants to go out, take her out to where you think the nest is. If she dont insist on going out, keep her and foster her.

Three weeks ago the cat I captured was discovered by the O.R. staff to be lactating, which meant that she had a litter of kittens that she was still nursing. Knowing she would not easily be recaptured I made the tough decision to have her spayed; fortunately, one of the supervising vets knew how to perform a "flank spay".

Normal spay surgery is done with a belly incision, but this should not be done with a nursing cat. Kittens are pretty aggressive sucklers and can unintentionally reopen the sutured incision. So the vet goes in from the side; the incision is undisturbed by the feeding kittens.

I captured the cat the night before the clinic, kept her overnight and released her the following night, so she was gone about 48 hours. I never saw the kittens so I don't know if they made it. Depending on the age of the kitten, the greater danger isn't starvation but hypothermia; this prompted me to release the cat earlier that I would normally (and the weather was pretty crappy that night)....

Naomih, how is it going?

Ie, what was your decision?

Normal spay surgery is done with a belly incision, but this should not be done with a nursing cat. Kittens are pretty aggressive sucklers and can unintentionally reopen the sutured incision. So the vet goes in from the side; the incision is undisturbed by the feeding kittens.

Click to expand...

Not all locations/vets perform flank spays...and I do not want to discourage individuals from having the spay procedure done. The clinic I volunteer at performs the belly incision for ALL SPAYs. I would rather that a cat be spayed (either by flank or by belly) than have someone wait because they are concerned about how the spay is performed. It is however important to ensure that all spays on feral cats are done with dissolving stitches that will not need to be removed as it is difficult to retrap a feral.

Katie