Spaying Aftercare

We basically adopted 2 little strays that were left in our shed last May. They were gone for a long time, but they came back and since the end of summer/early fall we've been taking care of them.

They stay outside but we have a cat house for them and we feed them daily. We've also earned their trust enough to pet them and my mom can occasionally pick them up.

We just found out they are girls and we took one of them, Charli, to get spayed and tomorrow I have to pick her up. She is supposed to stay indoors for a week but we have 2 inside cats that are ten times bigger than her and she isn't used to being around people that much anyway.

What are some suggestions for keeping her indoors without her getting hurt/stressed. Were can we keep her? Should we keep her in a carrier? Shut her in the bathroom and check on her? We've never experienced this before.

THanks in advance!

When mine were fixed we put them in the Bathroom with a Pan food and water. Just keep checking on her and do ot let her near the other Cats.

I would keep her in the bathroom. Remember that she's going to be really scared, so you're going to have to make a safe spot for her. Even if you keep the carrier in there with clean towels and the door propped open. You don't want her freaking out and flying around the bathroom. Before you bring her in, have a litter pan, food, and water set up. Try not to stress her out when she's inside. She may not want to interact with you too much, so don't force anything on her so she won't stress.

That's awesome that she got spayed! Good for you!

Also, would it be safe to hold her?

Only if she initiates it. The most important thing is that she doesn't break open her stitches, and if you push interaction she's not ready for, she might flip out. If you've ever seen a feral flip out in a room, it's not a pretty sight. I would have the room set up, and put her in her carrier in there, door closed for a little bit. If she remains calm, you can open the carrier door, but just prop it open. Don't try to pull her out or look in at her. While she's there, just do only what's necessary...change food, water, clean litter, but nothing else. Is that the only bathroom? If there's another, I would use that for your purposes, and leave that bathroom to her. She's going to be scared and in pain. If she seems happy with company, you can try talking softly while you're in the room, but don't look at her. Let her take the lead.

You can try holding her in the bathroom if she lets you. I did hold mine but was very careful with them.

Originally Posted by mews2much

You can try holding her in the bathroom if she lets you. I did hold mine but was very careful with them.

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The cat she has is semi-feral though...that's a whole different set of rules unfortunately.

Alrighty.

Yes we have a whole different bathroom for our kitties. For the time being we're going to take their litter box out and put it elsewhere, and set up a special one for her and her food and water.

I am afraid that after she's healed and we put her back outside and stuff that she is going to be even more unsocial with us. We've made so much progress and lately she and her sister have been loving attention but I'm afraid that now she'll leave or not want us around anymore.

Perhaps for a bit, but she'll get over it...especially if you're feeding them! Lots of times they get calmer and sweeter after a spay. My girl JinJin (in my sig below) was very feral when I trapped her. When she weaned her kittens, and they were adopted out, I made some slow progress with her. I was worried about setting her back with the spay, but quite the opposite happened. I made my best progress a couple of days after the spay. But remember, too, I was socializing her for a few months indoors by then. If you push your girl too much, she's going to learn to fear you. If you respect her space, she'll remember that.

What makes me feel even worse is that her sister is still outside sleeping in the cat house. I keep wondering if she misses her? We would try to bring her in but she's more feral than Charli so.... its not really an option at the time.

Originally Posted by A&As Mommy

What makes me feel even worse is that her sister is still outside sleeping in the cat house. I keep wondering if she misses her? We would try to bring her in but she's more feral than Charli so.... its not really an option at the time.

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It can be done, and she needs spaying. Like I said, Jin was feral, and I brought her in. I had to use a humane trap for her. You would have to make plans...setting an appointment, and trying to trap her. It's better now with a trap, rather than waiting, and then she has kittens...that's when you have real problems.

I still have Scars from Ferals I caught. When Stripe was fixed we had tamed her and she turned into a great Cat. A feral I would leave her alone in the bathroom. I have had ones taht were scared of people thier whoe life. I didnt reize your Cat is still that Feral.

I picked Charli up from the vet this morning. I put a little blanket, a small amount of food and drink, and a small litter pan in the bathroom, and then set the carrier in their and opened the door. I then went out and shut the door and I checked back to see if she was out and she was, she was hiding behind the toilet. So I stood there a minute or two and she came out and laid down on the blanket and I pet her and she was purring so loudly and kept wanting me to pet her head. After about 10 minutes or so I went out of the bathroom again and when I went back in later she was hiding behind the toilet sleeping again so I just left her.

Aw, she already trusts you for her to come out for petting. I hope you are able to get her sister and have her spayed as well. Maybe you could do it sooner than later and they could convalesce together.

I think we are taking her next week or the week after. We realize we need to do it soon but it was $134.42 for the spaying, eye meds, and shots. Which isn't too bad, but it only cost $181 for both of my boy cats together. So it's a little more than we anticipated. So we are going to try to do it within the next 2 weeks. Hopefully they will still be close to each other once we get this process done.

Charli drank a bit of her milk and a few pieces of dry cat food. Then she wanted me to pet her and laid down and was purring and licking my hand and then she crawled back behind the toilet again.

I have 2 females. When the first one was spayed it was a big deal for her. At that time she was the only cat in the house. She was not able to get up on the couch herself. We made a ladder out of pillows for her to climb up. Her recovery was slow, she was about 1 yr. at the time. She was a rescued stray and had a 3 mo. kitten. The other was a feral who also was rescued at about 3 mo. and spayed at 5 mo. she had no problem. We put her in a bedroom overnight and the next morning she was trying to play under the door. No problem at all. It was like nothing had happened. I do think that ferals are stronger.

Our stray girls are both 9 months. So far Charli is doing well. Everytime I've checked on her recently she's been sleeping.

How often should I check on her?

I would check on her ever few hours. I paid 300 to have one of my Cats fixed. My Vet is high priced.