Shes spayed!

So my momma cat Spazzy is newly spayed as of today. (yay!)...How do I know if shes in pain and I should give her a dose of her pain med?

They sent her home with meds? What did they send?

They probably gave her something this morning/before she left. As for telling when she's sore, she'll not want to move around as much and will probably walk a little slower keeping her back legs a bit stiff. It's a hard walk to describe, but it's the same basic walk that all animals and humans get when they don't want to cause themselves more pain when moving.

its buprenorphine...they gave VERY little and ive already lost half of it just trying to give her a dose. She absolutly refuses. She just seems to wince a little when moving around. But otherwise just looks and acts like any other animal after surgery. And the incision looks nice and clean

Probably wait - To give a liquid med you have to lightly scuff the cat and lift their front feet off of the floor. This should cause the mouth to slightly open - put the end of the syringe in the corner of the mouth, but make sure that the end will squirt the fluid right down the back of her mouth. This keeps them from tasting it as much.

Keep an eye on that incision. When they get infected in the cats I have it's typically around 4-5 days after the surgery.

Do they cry out when there in pain? Like is she going to make it known?

Originally Posted by Zelda7227

Do they cry out when there in pain? Like is she going to make it known?

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Well.. Some cats will if it's really bad or a sudden pain. But generally cats stay quiet and try to hide it. The only way you can tell is by knowing your cat and her subtle behaviors fairly well.

I have one that had oxalate burns in his mouth and esophagus from getting into something he shouldn't have. He's about the only cat I have ever seen that cried and moaned. But he's a big wuss and doesn't have any decent cat common sense.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Probably wait - To give a liquid med you have to lightly scuff the cat and lift their front feet off of the floor. This should cause the mouth to slightly open - put the end of the syringe in the corner of the mouth, but make sure that the end will squirt the fluid right down the back of her mouth. This keeps them from tasting it as much.

Keep an eye on that incision. When they get infected in the cats I have it's typically around 4-5 days after the surgery.

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Actually, buprenex (buprenorphine) should be put in the mouth on the gums, not down the throat.

it is a good pain med, but will make her a little dopey.

It's interesting to me that more vets seem to be prescribing pain meds after spay. I've never had a cat prescribed pain meds for a spay.

The anesthesia stays in the body helping with pain relief for a good while. Cats don't experience pain the same way humans do, and some pain is not necessarily a bad thing, as it is nature's way of keeping them still while they heal.

On the other hand, if the vet thinks she may need it, and you think she needs it, there isn't any reason not to use it.

If she can fight you off, she's probably doing okay without it.

Congratulations to Spazzy on her spay!

It was optional to get the pain med. I took her to a low cost clinic. I just got it just in case. If most cats dont need it though, and she seems just fine right now...just sleepy, then Ill think she will be ok. Thanks for the advice!

Originally Posted by otto

Actually, buprenex (buprenorphine) should be put in the mouth on the gums, not down the throat.

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The anesthesia stays in the body helping with pain relief for a good while. Cats don't experience pain the same way humans do, and some pain is not necessarily a bad thing, as it is nature's way of keeping them still while they heal.

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I've only had to give metacam so far - but otherwise that position should work for getting the mouth open.

As for how well the anesthesia is.. Tanna was quivering from the pain in her feet today, I don't think yesterday's anesthesia does much good that long after.

Mine got the buprenex for pain for 2-3 days.
It does help and it should go on the gums.

I don't know about how much pain some feel. Goldie was climbing trees the day after her spay, and she was not on pain meds and had a spay/abort since she was already 2 weeks pregnant, we had no clue she was already pregnant again(though we knew it was very possible with the virile neighborhood Tom(he gave 4 females 15 kittens) at the time, we did suspect Biter was but she wasn't Mama was in heat(thought she might have been pregnant), and we thought Half-tail might be but she wasn't.

Attitude was jumping around, acting crazy, wrestling with Nuts and essentially doing everything she wasn't supposed to do right after surgery. When the vet called the next day to see how she was I told her she was doing everything she wasn't supposed to be doing minus licking her wound(she didn't seem to care about it) she laughed and said it's impossible to get a kitten to not act like a kitten(she was spayed after going into heat at 5 months.) Attitude was the only one who got pain meds. Goldie, Mama and Biter went to low cost spay/neither that didn't even offer them, I knew I wouldn't be able to get hold of Half-tail to give her anything, she went to a different spay/neuter place, I like it I might use them to spay Nuts and that's saying a lot considering I happily paid my vet over $200 to do Attitude since I didn't trust the low cost place to do her, not to mention they were NOT tipping her ear, she was a house cat, not to mention it just seems barbaric(even though I know it serves a very important purpose, they won't get spayed again.) Half-tail still has a full ear Mama and Biter are missing half of one of their ears I about died when I saw Mama,the first one to get done, half her freaking ear was GONE. This was before I found out about the one that did Half-tail, I did get a pain shot for Half-tail after surgery. I want the best for Attitude and Nuts and I wish I could afford to have all of them spayed and neutered by my vet but I can't even afford to get Nuts done, every time I have enough someone has to go to the vet for something, Mama's intestines fall out her butt, Attitude(who is spayed) comes down with mastitis, Goldie Jr somehow f***s up his leg. I actually found out about the other spay/neuter the day after I had the 'Tude done when I rushed Mama to the place that actually does them and are a full service vet clinic, for her prolapse.

They have an option for bloodwork, post surgery pain shot, take home pain meds, basically everything Attitude had, for less money and they did an awesome job on Half-tail. That is saying a lot for me to trust them with my baby and the rest of my babies(my 3 outside boys.)

Attitude is easy to give meds to(she has had multiple rounds of antibiotics since she was 8 weeks old for various crap.) Stick the syringe against her teeth she opens up I squirt in her mouth and she swallows it. I guess I'm just lucky. With Nuts I will def ask if I can get the pain meds in pill form. The last time they tried to give him a liquid was when he was dewormed and I think he ended up deworming the vet. I think Dr. Jessen got more of the dewormer in him than Nuts, he does not do liquid medication.

Taryn