Spay Questions

Not sure if this is the correct forum or not?

I feel like a fool. I think Daphne is in heat or close to it. She is almost 5 months old.
She hasn't started yowling yet, but she is extra lovely-dovey to me and Seb and she "assumes the position" often. She also cleans her bottom all the time. I haven't noticed any blood.
Plus, Seb will sometimes show more than a passing interest. So, she has a spay appointment Saturday. Until then I am keeping them separated when I am not home.
Seb has been neutered for 10 years but I don't think he realizes it. It breaks my heart to separate them.

The vet told me the spay would be $50, rabies shot $10, then there are extras I can get. Painkiller injection, pain pills for at home, dissolving stitches. They won't recommend because it is my choice. I haven't had a young cat in so long I cannot remember what is the best. Should I pay for all those things? Are the pain pills usually needed? What about the stitches - which is best for her?

I also called around to other vets for quotes - could not believe the prices. The one nearest me is $275, two others are $195 and $175.

It cost me about $100-125 with Ling - that included spaying and all shots. This was at a reduced cost clinic.

At $50 for spaying compared to the other ones, I'd be a little suspicious. I can see shopping around, but that's too much of a difference in prices. What do the other vets include in their prices.

$50 sounds more like a neuter rather then a spay. I've never had my cats or dogs given pain pills to take home. Sure they layed around for a day or two (probably did hurt) but it never dawned on me to give or ask about pain pills - they recovered fine in a few days.

I posted questions like this awhile back:
Hope this thread helps
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...highlight=spay

Originally Posted by Bonnie1965

I feel like a fool. I think Daphne is in heat or close to it. She is almost 5 months old.
She hasn't started yowling yet, but she is extra lovely-dovey to me and Seb and she "assumes the position" often. She also cleans her bottom all the time. I haven't noticed any blood.
Plus, Seb will sometimes show more than a passing interest. So, she has a spay appointment Saturday. Until then I am keeping them separated when I am not home.
Seb has been neutered for 10 years but I don't think he realizes it. It breaks my heart to separate them.

The vet told me the spay would be $50, rabies shot $10, then there are extras I can get. Painkiller injection, pain pills for at home, dissolving stitches. They won't recommend because it is my choice. I haven't had a young cat in so long I cannot remember what is the best. Should I pay for all those things? Are the pain pills usually needed? What about the stitches - which is best for her?

I also called around to other vets for quotes - could not believe the prices. The one nearest me is $275, two others are $195 and $175.

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I never saw any blood (not anything like a dog in heat), I waited until she was over a year (so don't feel stupid about 5 months)
Why would you keep them seperated if he is fixed?
Our spay was reasonable, that included an overnight stay, pre bloodwork, pain killer injection, pain pills, and internal stitches that dissolved on their own. It was done very well and very professionally but all that was probably overkill. I say that mainly due to that other thread - as you can tell from the other thread, many people don't do all that and their kitties are fine.

It is a low cost clinic - Companion Pet. They charge the $50 plus the $10 for rabies. She has already has her other two sets of kitten shots. This is the clinic I usually go to.

The low-cast spay-neuter certificate offered by the Oregon Humane Society here is $28 for neuter and $38 for spay, so not much different there.

The expesive ones are more upscale clinics. The $275 was laser surgery and they only do one procedure a day.
Oh, and they included all the blood work. Hope this makes some type of sense. I am tired.

Originally Posted by Bonnie1965

It is a low cost clinic - Companion Pet. They charge the $50 plus the $10 for rabies. She has already has her other two sets of kitten shots. This is the clinic I usually go to.

The low-cast spay-neuter certificate offered by the Oregon Humane Society here is $28 for neuter and $38 for spay, so not much different there.

The expesive ones are more upscale clinics. The $275 was laser surgery and they only do one procedure a day.
Oh, and they included all the blood work. Hope this makes some type of sense. I am tired.

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I personally wouldn't give any shots while they are getting operated on. Routine surgery or not, it is still a surgery and for my own cat I would assume immunizations don't help the recovery process. I don't think they should be given right before or during surgery.

Ok then that sounds better I think I'd go with the dissolving stiches and pay extra for that - not the pain pills. Some cats stress out more when you try to give them pills then if you just leave them alone and keep them fairly quiet and try not to let them be jumping around/on stuff.

Thanks I did a search for spaying since I thought I remembered that thread but it didn't come up - or I am looney

I take her in Saturday morning and pick her up that evening. I think I'll go for the regular stitches and have them check her when they remove them, I'll feel better that way. They don't charge for followup visits.

I am keeping them separated because Seb evidently remembers something from his life before neutering. As she wiggles all over the floor - so long and lean she looks like a caterpillar - he will grab her neck and make all kinds of noises as well. It is a regular symphony here. I suppose I am not sure if he could inadvertently hurt her. *sigh*

I should have taken her last month!

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Ok then that sounds better

I think I'd go with the dissolving stiches and pay extra for that - not the pain pills.

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Oops, I missed this post. Are the dissolving stitches better? I could do that.

I like dissoliving stitches because you don't have to take them out!

I think I paid $250 for the spay we did last year. (The cheapest vet I found was about $200.) That included pain medicine just before going home (no take-home pills though) and dissolving stitches. I don't think those things were ever presented as an option, that's just what the vet does and they were included in the price. I like the dissolving stitches too, so they don't have to be removed.

My 2 cents for what it's worth, I also have never given pain pills after leaving the vet's office. If they feel a bit of pain it will stop them from overdoing it and perhaps hurting themselves. Having had a hysterectomy myself, I know there is some pain involved but not enough to have to take pain killers after the operation and the first administation of pain meds. But then I'm one of those people that don't believe in over-medicating for any reason.

I'm not sure if "dissolving" stitches are the same as internal stitches....but if they are I would definitely pay the extra for that. Somehow I don't think that they are the same, as I remember Beandip had external dissolving stitches for an operation. What I'm trying to say is that internal stitches are great...it leaves nothing for the cat to pick at and disturb. All my girls had internal stitches for their spays and they never bothered the incisions at all. No cone collars, no worrying, nothing.

I too would be hesitant to get a rabies shot the same day as a spay. I would do that for a feral cat to minimize trips to the vet but otherwise I'd try for a different day if possible.

FWIW, 3 of mine were spayed in January. It was $95 at a cat-only clinic. Prices seem to be lower here for most things, though. I think it's gone up to $110 now. Interesting that the low cost clinics here are a bit more expensive than yours, though. I checked recently - $58 was the lowest I could find for a spay.

Me too - when I got my tubes tied, I didn't take pain pills cause the "pain" would remind me not to be doing stuff I shouldn't be doing

Of course, friend of mine had females that came home from spaying and ran to the top of the tree house when the carrier was open! Apparently pain didn't phase them


Speaking of shots - Ling had to go in a few days before spay to get shots - so if there was a reaction they would know.

Chole, my almost 3 year old was finally spayed one week ago today. Everything cost me 102.00. The spay was 40 bucks. I also got the rabies vaccinations, her annuals, additional paid meds and something else that I can't remember. She got the dissolvable sutures which appear to have started to dissolve upon inspection of the incision this morning. I thought she was going to die lol, after I brought her home. I opened the door to her kennel when we got home and she scooted on out. She was till woozy from the anesthesia for most of the first nite. She couldn't walk without falling over. The next day, last Saturday, she was much better. Started walking without falling over and jumping back on top of her condo to sleep. One week later and she's back to her old self, minus the screams of being in heat. We definitely have rested easily at night for the past week. Her appetite seams to have increased. Anyways, i'm rambling...

Funny coincidence, we have an older cat, Courtney, he's about 6 and he's been neutered since we got him (about 1 years old) and he too, would try to "lick" Chloe when she was in heat.

Good luck tomorrow!

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

It cost me about $100-125 with Ling - that included spaying and all shots. This was at a reduced cost clinic.

At $50 for spaying compared to the other ones, I'd be a little suspicious. I can see shopping around, but that's too much of a difference in prices. What do the other vets include in their prices.

$50 sounds more like a neuter rather then a spay. I've never had my cats or dogs given pain pills to take home. Sure they layed around for a day or two (probably did hurt) but it never dawned on me to give or ask about pain pills - they recovered fine in a few days.

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I paid for pain meds too but they administered the meds after the surgery while she was waiting for me to pick her up so I didn't have meds to bring home. Chloe's spay was $40 at the SPCA here in Dallas. My bill still game to over $100 after paying for additional treatments.

I never had a cat in heat because I've always had the pre-mature spay done at 6-8 weeks. However I have never gotten pain pills with mine and my kittens where always back on there feet playing like normal in as little as a few hours. However I did have the dissolving stitches, like you I was unsure about them but thought all the stitches I had over the years and loved the dissolving ones because I didn't have to go back to the doctor and they just seemed to be less painful. As for cats though it could be the same. Does your cat react to surgery's well, or is she pretty pain sensative? You could always take her home for a day and monitor her, if you feel she's in a lot of pain than you can always call your vet back and get them if she seems fine than you wouldn't have spent extra money on something you didn't need, You could always use it to buy kitty treats lol.

Thanks everyone Tomorrow she gets spayed. She is almost 5 months so has never had a surgery. Will let you all know how she does.

oops: guess I should say today!

I too would be hesitant to get a rabies shot the same day as a spay. I would do that for a feral cat to minimize trips to the vet but otherwise I'd try for a different day if possible.

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Me too, what is the point, is your cat going outside? And if they think she could get rabies from another cat at the vet then they are doing something wrong, if they think she could pick it up on the table, then it needs to be given to her 2 weeks before the operation. But can she? I think you can only get it from a bite. My vet told me make sure all cats that are spayed have their shots up to date (indoor shots)

never had a cat in heat because I've always had the pre-mature spay done at 6-8 weeks. However I have never gotten pain pills with mine and my kittens where always back on there feet playing like normal in as little as a few hours.

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Yeha I herd of that, if they go in to heat just once it takes longer to heal, so vets think it is best to get them fixed before the first heat cycle. and if they are in heat while being spayed then it is even more hard on them. like my girl. And if they are short haired then they usually have a higher pain tolerance. that is what I have herd.